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THE NIGHT LAND


WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON


1912




THE DREAMS THAT ARE ONLY DREAMS


"This to be Love, that your spirit to live in a natural holiness with
the Beloved, and your bodies to be a sweet and natural delight that
shall be never lost of a lovely mystery.... And shame to be unborn, and
all things to go wholesome and proper, out of an utter greatness of
understanding; and the Man to be an Hero and a Child before the Woman;
and the Woman to be an Holy Light of the Spirit and an Utter Companion
and in the same time a glad Possession unto the Man.... And this doth be
Human Love...."

"...for this to be the especial glory of Love, that it doth make unto
all Sweetness and Greatness, and doth be a fire burning all Littleness;
so that did all in this world to have met The Beloved, then did
Wantonness be dead, and there to grow Gladness and Charity, dancing in
the years."




I

MIRDATH THE BEAUTIFUL


    "And I cannot touch her face
    And I cannot touch her hair,
    And I kneel to empty shadows--
    Just memories of her grace;
    And her voice sings in the winds
    And in the sobs of dawn
    And among the flowers at night
    And from the brooks at sunrise
    And from the sea at sunset,
    And I answer with vain callings ..."

It was the Joy of the Sunset that brought us to speech. I was gone a
long way from my house, walking lonely-wise, and stopping often that I
view the piling upward of the Battlements of Evening, and to feel the
dear and strange gathering of the Dusk come over all the world about me.

The last time that I paused, I was truly lost in a solemn joy of the
Glory of the Coming Night; and maybe I laughed a little in my throat,
standing there alone in the midst of the Dusk upon the World. And, lo!
my content was answered out of the trees that bounded the country road
upon my right; and it was so as that some one had said: "And thou also!"
in glad understanding, that I laughed again a little in my throat; as
though I had only a half-believing that any true human did answer my
laugh; but rather some sweet Delusion or Spirit that was tuned to my
mood.

But she spoke and called me by my name; and when I had gone to the side
of the road, that I should see her somewhat, and discover whether I knew
her, I saw that she was surely that lady, who for her beauty was known
through all of that sweet County of Kent as Lady Mirdath the Beautiful;
and a near neighbour to me; for the Estates of her Guardian abounded
upon mine.

Yet, until that time, I had never met her; for I had been so oft and
long abroad; and so much given to my Studies and my Exercises when at
home, that I had no further Knowledge of her than Rumour gave to me odd
time; and for the rest, I was well content; for as I have given hint, my
books held me, and likewise my Exercises; for I was always an athlete,
and never met the man so quick or so strong as I did be; save in some
fiction of a tale or in the mouth of a boaster.

Now, I stood instantly with my hat in my hand; and answered her gentle
bantering so well as I might, the while that I peered intent and
wondering at her through the gloom; for truly Rumour had told no tale to
equal the beauty of this strange maid; who now stood jesting with so
sweet a spirit, and claiming kinship of Cousinhood with me, as was
truth, now that I did wake to think.

And, truly, she made no ado; but named me frank by my lad's name, and
gave laughter and right to me to name her Mirdath, and nothing less or
more--at that time. And she bid me then to come up through the hedge,
and make use of a gap that was her own especial secret, as she
confessed, when she took odd leave with her maid to some country frolic,
drest as village maids; but not to deceive many, as I dare believe.

And I came up through the gap in the hedge and stood beside her; and
tall she had seemed to me, when I looked up at her; and tall she was, in
truth; but indeed I was a great head taller. And she invited me then to
walk with her to the house, that I meet her Guardian and give word to my
sorrow that I had so long neglected to make call upon them; and truly
her eyes to shine with mischief and delight, as she named me so for my
amissness.

But, indeed, she grew sober in a moment, and she set up her finger to me
to hush, as that she heard somewhat in the wood that lay all the way
upon our right. And, indeed, something I heard too; for there was surely
a rustling of the leaves, and anon a dead twig crackt with a sound clear
and sharp in the stillness.

And immediately there came three men running out of the wood at me; and
I called to them sharply to keep off or beware of harm; and I put the
maid to my back with my left hand, and had my oak staff ready for my
use.

But the three men gave out no word of reply; but ran in at me; and I saw
somewhat of the gleam of knives; and at that, I moved very glad and
brisk to the attack; and behind me there went shrill and sweet, the call
of a silver whistle; for the Maid was whistling for her dogs; and maybe
the call was also a signal to the men-servants of her house.

Yet, truly, there was no use in help that was yet to come; for the need
did be then and instant; and I nowise loath to use my strength before
my sweet cousin. And I stepped forward, briskly, as I have told; and
the end of my staff I drove into the body of the left-ward man, so that
he dropped like a dead man. And I hit very sharply at the head of
another, and surely crackt it for him; for he made instantly upon the
earth; but the third man I met with my fist, and neither had he any
great need of a second blow; but went instant to join his companions,
and the fight thus to have ended before it was even proper begun, and I
laughing a little with a proper pride, to know the bewilderment that I
perceived in the way that the Lady Mirdath, my cousin, stood and
regarded me through the dusk of the hushed even.

But, indeed, there was no time left to us, before there came bounding
up, three great boar-hounds, that had been loosed to her whistle; and
she had some ado to keep the brutes off me; and I then to beat them off
the men upon the earth, lest they maul them as they lay. And directly,
there was a noise of men shouting, and the light of lanthorns in the
night, and the footmen of the house to come running with lanthorns and
cudgels; and knew not whether to deal with me, or not, in the first
moment, even as the dogs; but when they saw the men upon the ground, and
learned my name and saw me proper, they kept well their distance and had
no lack of respect; but, indeed, my sweet cousin to have the most of
any; only that she showed no intent to keep distance of me; but to have
a new and deeper feeling of kinship than she at first had shown.

And the men-servants asked what should be done with the foot-pads;
seeing that they were now recovering. But, indeed, I left the matter,
along with some silver, to the servants; and very sound justice they
dealt out to the men; for I heard their cries a good while after we had
gone away.

Now, when we were come up to the Hall, my cousin must take me in to her
Guardian, Sir Alfred Jarles, an old man and venerable that I knew a
little in passing and because our estates abounded. And she praised me
to my face, yet quaintly-wise; and the old man, her Guardian thanked me
most honourably and with a nice courtesy; so that I was a welcome
house-friend from that time onward.

And I stayed all that evening, and dined, and afterward went out again
into the home-grounds with the Lady Mirdath; and she more friendly to me
than ever any woman had been; and seemed to me as that she had known me
always. And, truly, I had the same feeling in my heart towards her; for
it was, somehow, as though we knew each the way and turn of the other,
and had a constant delight to find this thing and that thing to be in
common; but no surprise; save that so pleasant a truth had so natural a
discovery.

And one thing there was that I perceived held the Lady Mirdath all that
dear fore-night; and this was, indeed, the way that I had my pleasure so
easy with the three foot-pads. And she asked me plainly whether I was
not truly very strong; and when I laughed with young and natural pride,
she caught my arm suddenly to discover for herself how strong I might
be. And, surely, she loosed it even the more sudden, and with a little
gasping of astonishment, because it was so great and hard. And
afterward, she walked by me very silent, and seeming thoughtful; but she
went never any great way off from me.

And, truly, if the Lady Mirdath had a strange pleasure in my strength, I
had likewise a constant wonder and marvel in her beauty, that had shown
but the more lovely in the candle-light at dinner.

But there were further delights to me in the days that came; for I had
happiness in the way that she had pleasure of the Mystery of the
Evening, and the Glamour of Night, and the Joy of Dawn, and all
suchlike.

And one evening, that I ever remember, as we wandered in the park-lands,
she began to say--half unthinking--that it was truly an elves-night. And
she stopped herself immediately; as though she thought I should have no
understanding; but, indeed, I was upon mine own familiar ground of
inward delight; and I replied in a quiet and usual voice, that the
Towers of Sleep would grow that night, and I felt in my bones that it
was a night to find the Giant's Tomb, or the Tree with the Great Painted
Head, or--And surely I stopped very sudden; for she gripped me in that
moment, and her hand shook as she held me; but when I would ask her what
ailed, she bid me, very breathless, to say on, to say on. And, with a
half understanding, I told her that I had but meant to speak of the Moon
Garden, that was an olden and happy fancy of mine.

And, in verity, when I said that, the Lady Mirdath cried out something
in a strange low voice, and brought me to a halt, that she might face
me. And she questioned me very earnest; and I answered just so earnest
as she; for I was grown suddenly to an excitement, in that I perceived
she knew also. And, in verity, she told me that she had knowledge; but
had thought that she was alone in the world with her knowledge of that
strange land of her dreams; and now to find that I also had travelled in
those dear, strange dream lands. And truly the marvel of it--the marvel
of it! As she to say time and oft. And again, as we walked, she gave out
word that there was little wonder she had been urged to call to me that
night, as she saw me pause upon the road; though, indeed, she had
learned of our cousin-ship before, having seen me go by on my horse
pretty oft, and inquired concerning me; and mayhap daintily irked that I
had so little heed of Lady Mirdath the Beautiful. But, indeed, I had
thought of other matters; yet had been human enough, had I but met her
proper before I see her.

Now you must not think that I was not utter stirred by the wonder of
this thing, that we had both a dreamful knowledge of the same matters,
of which each had thought none other knew. Yet, when I questioned more,
there was much that had been in my fancies that was foreign to her, and
likewise much that had been familiar to her, that was of no meaning to
me. But though there was this, that brought a little regret to us, there
would be, time and again, some new thing that one told, that the other
knew and could finish the telling of, to the gladness and amazement of
both.

And so shall you picture us wandering and having constant speech, so
that, hour by hour, we grew gladly aged in dear knowledge and sweet
friendship of the other.

And truly, how the time passed, I know not; but there came presently a
hullabaloo, and the shouts of men's voices and the baying of dogs, and
the gleam of lanthorns, so that I knew not what to think; until, very
sudden, and with a sweet and strange little laughter, the Lady Mirdath
to perceive that we had missed the hours utter in our converse; so that
her Guardian (made uneasy because of the three foot-pads) had ordered a
search. And we all that time a-wander together in happy forgetfulness.

And we turned homeward, then, and came towards the lights; but indeed,
the dogs found us before we were come there; and they had grown to know
me now, and leaped about me, barking very friendly; and so in a minute
the men had discovered us, and were gone back to tell Sir Jarles that
all was well.

And this was the way of our meeting and the growing of our acquaintance,
and the beginning of my great love for Mirdath the Beautiful.

Now, from that time onward, evening by evening would I go a-wander along
the quiet and country road that led from my estate to the estate of Sir
Jarles. And always I went inward by the hedge-gap; and oft I should find
the Lady Mirdath walking in that part of the woods; but always with her
great boar-hounds about her; for I had begged that she do this thing for
her sweet safety; and she to seem wishful to pleasure me; but truly to
be just so oft utter perverse in diverse matters; and to strive to
plague me, as though she would discover how much I would endure and how
far she might go to anger me.

And, truly, well I remember how that one night, coming to the hedge-gap,
I saw two country-maids come thence out from the woods of Sir Jarles';
but they were naught to me, and I would have gone upward through the
gap, as ever; only that, as they passed me, they curtseyed somewhat
over-graceful for rough wenches. And I had a sudden thought, and came up
to them to see them more anigh; and truly I thought the taller was
surely the Lady Mirdath. But, indeed, I could not be sure; for when I
asked who she did be, she only to simper and to curtsey again; and so
was I very natural all in doubt; but yet sufficient in wonder (having
some knowledge of the Lady Mirdath) to follow the wenches, the which I
did.

And they then, very speedy and sedate, as though I were some rack-rape
that they did well to be feared of alone at night; and so came at last
to the village green, where a great dance was a-foot, with torches, and
a wandering fiddler to set the tune; and ale in plenty.

And the two to join the dance, and danced very hearty; but had only each
the other for a partner, and had a good care to avoid the torches. And
by this, I was pretty sure that they were truly the Lady Mirdath and her
maid; and so I took chance when they had danced somewhat my way, to step
over to them, and ask boldly for a dance. But, indeed, the tall one
answered, simpering, that she was promised; and immediately gave her
hand to a great hulking farmer-lout, and went round the green with him;
and well punished she was for her waywardness; for she had all her skill
to save her pretty feet from his loutish stampings; and very glad she
was to meet the end of the dance.

And I knew now for certainty that it was Mirdath the Beautiful, despite
her plan of disguise, and the darkness and the wench's dress and the
foot-gear that marred her step so great. And I walked across to her, and
named her, whispering, by name; and gave her plain word to be done of
this unwisdom, and I would take her home. But she to turn from me, and
she stamped her foot, and went again to the lout; and when she had
suffered another dance with him, she bid him be her escort a part of the
way; the which he was nothing loath of.

And another lad, that was mate to him, went likewise; and in a moment,
so soon as they were gone away from the light of the torches, the rough
hind-lads made to set their arms about the waists of the two wenches,
not wetting who they had for companions. And the Lady Mirdath was no
longer able to endure, and cried out in her sudden fear and disgust, and
struck the rough hind that embraced her, so hard that he loosed her a
moment, swearing great oaths. And directly he came back to her again,
and had her in a moment, to kiss her; and she, loathing him to the very
death, beat him madly in the face with her hands; but to no end, only
that I was close upon them. And, in that moment, she screamed my name
aloud; and I caught the poor lout and hit him once, but not to harm him
overmuch; yet to give him a long memory of me; and afterward I threw him
into the side of the road. But the second hind, having heard my name,
loosed from the tiring-maid, and ran for his life; and, indeed, my
strength was known all about that part.

And I caught Mirdath the Beautiful by her shoulders, and shook her very
soundly, in my anger. And afterward, I sent the maid onward; and she,
having no word from her Mistress to stay, went forward a little; and in
this fashion we came at last to the hedge-gap, with the Lady Mirdath
very hushed; but yet walking anigh to me, as that she had some secret
pleasure of my nearness. And I led her through the gap, and so homeward
to the Hall; and there bid her good-night at a side door that she held
the key of. And, truly, she bid me good-night in an utter quiet voice;
and was almost as that she had no haste to be gone from me that night.

Yet, when I met her on the morrow, she was full of a constant impudence
to me; so that, having her alone to myself, when the dusk was come, I
asked her why she would never be done of her waywardness; because that I
ached to have companionship of her; and, instead, she denied my need.
And, at that, she was at once very gentle; and full of a sweet and
winsome understanding; and surely knew that I wished to be rested; for
she brought out her harp, and played me dear olden melodies of our
childhood-days all that evening; and so had my love for her the more
intent and glad. And she saw me that night to the hedge-gap, having her
three great boar-hounds with her, to company her home again. But,
indeed, I followed her afterwards, very silent, until I saw her safe
into the Hall; for I would not have her alone in the night; though she
believed that I was then far away on the country road. And as she walked
with her dogs, one or another would run back to me, to nose against me
friendly-wise; but I sent them off again very quiet; and she had no
knowledge of aught; for she to go singing a love-song quietly all the
way home. But whether she loved me, I could not tell; though she had a
nice affection for me.

Now, on the following evening, I went somewhat early to the gap; and lo!
who should be standing in the gap, talking to the Lady Mirdath; but a
very clever-drest man, that had a look of the Court about him; and he,
when I approached, made no way for me through the gap; but stood firm,
and eyed me very insolent; so that I put out my hand, and lifted him
from my way.

And lo! the Lady Mirdath turned a bitterness of speech upon me that gave
me an utter pain and astonishment; so that I was assured in a moment
that she had no true love for me, or she had never striven so to put me
to shame before the stranger, and named me uncouth and brutal to a
smaller man. And, indeed, you shall perceive how I was in my heart in
that moment.

And I saw that there was some seeming of justice in what the Lady
Mirdath said; but yet might the man have shown a better spirit; and
moreover Mirdath the Beautiful had no true call to shame me, her true
friend and cousin, before this stranger. Yet did I not stop to argue;
but bowed very low to the Lady Mirdath; and afterward I bowed a little
to the man and made apology; for, indeed, he was neither great nor
strong-made; and I had been better man to have shown courtesy to him; at
least in the first.

And so, having done justice to my own respect, I turned and went on, and
left them to their happiness.

Now, I walked then, maybe twenty good miles, before I came to my own
home; for there was no rest in me all that night, or ever, because that
I was grown deadly in love of Mirdath the Beautiful; and all my spirit
and heart and body of me pained with the dreadful loss that I was come
so sudden upon.

And for a great week I had my walks in another direction; but in the end
of that week, I must take my walk along the olden way, that I might
chance to have but a sight of My Lady. And, truly, I had all sight that
ever man did need to put him in dread pain and jealousy; for, truly, as
I came in view of the gap, there was the Lady Mirdath walking just
without the borders of the great wood; and beside her there walked the
clever-drest man of the Court, and she suffered his arm around her, so
that I knew they were lovers; for the Lady Mirdath had no brothers nor
any youthful men kin.

Yet, when Mirdath saw me upon the road, she shamed in a moment to be so
caught; for she put her lover's arm from about her, and bowed to me, a
little changed of colour in the face; and I bowed very low--being but a
young man myself--; and so passed on, with my heart very dead in me. And
as I went, I saw that her lover came again to her, and had his arm once
more about her; and so, maybe, they looked after me, as I went very
stiff and desperate; but, indeed, I looked not back on them, as you may
think.

And for a great month then, I went not near to the gap; for my love
raged in me, and I was hurt in my pride; and, truly, neither had a true
justice been dealt to me by the Lady Mirdath. Yet in that month, my love
was a leaven in me, and made slowly a sweetness and a tenderness and an
understanding that were not in me before; and truly Love and Pain do
shape the Character of Man.

And in the end of that time, I saw a little way into Life, with an
understanding heart, and began presently to take my walks again past the
gap; but truly Mirdath the Beautiful was never to my sight; though one
evening I thought she might be not a great way off; for one of her great
boar-hounds came out of the wood, and down into the road to nose against
me, very friendly, as a dog oft doth with me.

Yet, though I waited a good time after the dog had left me, I had no
sight of Mirdath, and so passed on again, with my heart heavy in me; but
without bitterness, because of the understanding that was begun to grow
in my heart.

Now, there passed two weary and lonely weeks, in which I grew sick to
have knowledge of the beautiful maid. And, truly, in the end of that
time, I made a sudden resolving that I would go in through the gap, and
come to the home-grounds about the Hall, and so maybe have some sight of
her.

And this resolving I had one evening; and I went out immediately, and
came to the gap, and went in through the gap, and so by a long walking
to the gardens about the Hall. And, truly, when I was come there, I saw
a good light of lanthorns and torches, and a great company of people
dancing; and all drest in quaint dress; so that I knew they had a
festival for some cause. And there came suddenly a horrid dread into my
heart that this might be the marriage-dance of the Lady Mirdath; but,
indeed, this was foolishness; for I had surely heard of the marriage, if
there had been any. And, truly, in a moment, I remembered that she was
come one-and-twenty years of age on that day, and to the end of her
ward-ship; and this surely to be festival in honour of the same.

And a very bright and pretty matter it was to watch, save that I was so
heavy in the heart with loneliness and longing; for the company was
great and gay, and the lights plentiful and set all about from the
trees; and in leaf-made arbours about the great lawn. And a great table
spread with eating matters and silver and crystal, and great lamps of
bronze and silver went all a-down one end of the lawn; and the dance
constant upon the other part.

And surely, the Lady Mirdath to step out of the dance, very lovely
drest; yet seeming, to mine eyes, a little pale in the looming of the
lights. And she to wander to a seat to rest; and, indeed, in a moment,
there to be a dozen youths of the great families of the country-side, in
attendance about her, making talk and laughter, and each eager for her
favour; and she very lovely in the midst of them, but yet, as I did
think, lacking of somewhat, and a little pale-seeming, as I have told;
and her glance to go odd-wise beyond the groupt men about her; so that I
understood in a moment that her lover was not there, and she to be
a-lack in the heart for him. Yet, why he was not there, I could not
suppose, save that he might have been called back to the Court.

And, surely, as I watched the other young men about her, I burned with a
fierce and miserable jealousy of them; so that I could near have stept
forth and plucked her out from among them, and had her to walk with me
in the woods, as in the olden days, when she also had seemed near to
love. But, truly, what use to this? For it was not they who held her
heart, as I saw plain; for I watched her, with an eager and lonesome
heart, and knew that it was one small man of the Court that was lover to
her, as I have told.

And I went away again then, and came not near to the gap for three great
months, because that I could not bear the pain of my loss; but in the
end of that time, my very pain to urge me to go, and to be worse than
the pain of not going; so that I found myself one evening in the gap,
peering, very eager and shaken, across the sward that lay between the
gap and the woods; for this same place to be as an holy ground to me;
for there was it that first I saw Mirdath the Beautiful, and surely lost
my heart to her in that one night.

And a great time I stayed there in the gap, waiting and watching
hopelessly. And lo! sudden there came something against me, touching my
thigh very soft; and when I looked down, it was one of the boar-hounds,
so that my heart leaped, near frightened; for truly My Lady was come
somewhere nigh, as I did think.

And, as I waited, very hushed and watchful; yet with an utter beating
heart; surely I heard a faint and low singing among the trees, so utter
sad. And lo! it was Mirdath singing a broken love song, and a-wander
there in the dark alone, save for her great dogs.

And I harked, with strange pain in me, that she did be so in pain; and I
ached to bring her ease; yet moved not, but was very still there in the
gap; save that my being was all in turmoil.

And presently, as I harked, there came a slim white figure out from
among the trees; and the figure cried out something, and came to a quick
pause, as I could see in the half-dark. And lo! in that moment, there
came a sudden and unreasoned hope into me; and I came up out of the gap,
and was come to Mirdath in a moment, calling very low and passionate and
eager: "Mirdath! Mirdath! Mirdath!"

And this way I came to her; and her great dog that was with me, to bound
beside me, in thought, mayhap, that it was some game. And when I came to
the Lady Mirdath, I held out my hands to her, not knowing what I did;
but only the telling of my heart that needed her so utter, and craved to
ease her of her pain. And lo! she put out her arms to me, and came into
mine arms with a little run. And there she bode, weeping strangely; but
yet with rest upon her; even as rest was come sudden and wondrous upon
me.

And sudden, she moved in mine arms, and slipt her hands to me, very
dear, and held her lips up to me, like some sweet child, that I kiss
her; but, indeed, she was also a true woman, and in honest and dear love
of me.

And this to be the way of our betrothal; and simple and wordless it was;
yet sufficient, only that there is no sufficiency in Love.

Now, presently, she loosed herself out of mine arms, and we walked
homeward through the woods, very quiet, and holding hands, as children
do. And I then in a while to ask her about the man of the Court; and she
laughed very sweet into the silence of the wood; but gave me no answer,
save that I wait until we were come to the Hall.

And when we were come there, she took me into the great hall, and made a
very dainty and impudent bow, mocking me. And so made me known to
another lady, who sat there, upon her task of embroidering, which she
did very demure, and as that she had also a dainty Mischief lurking in
her.

And truly, the Lady Mirdath never to be done of naughty laughter, that
made her dearly breathless with delight, and to sway a little, and set
the trembling of pretty sounds in her throat; and surely she must pull
down two great pistols from an arm-rack, that I fight a duel to the
death with the lady of the embroidering, who held her face down over her
work, and shook likewise with the wickedness of her laughter that she
could not hide.

And in the end, the Lady of the Embroidering looked up sudden into my
face; and I then to see somewhat of the mischief in a moment; for she
had the face of the man of the Court suit, that had been lover to
Mirdath.

And the Lady Mirdath then to explain to me how that Mistress Alison
(which was her name) was a dear and bosom friend, and she it was that
had been drest in the Court suit to play a prank for a wager with a
certain young man who would be lover to her, an he might. And I then to
come along, and so speedy to offence that truly I never saw her face
plain, because that I was so utter jealous. And so the Lady Mirdath had
been more justly in anger than I supposed, because that I had put hands
upon her friend, as I have told.

And this to be all of it, save that they had planned to punish me, and
had met every evening at the gap, to play at lovers, perchance I should
pass, so that I should have greater cause for my jealousy, and truly
they to have a good revenge upon me; for I had suffered very great a
long while because of it.

Yet, as you do mind, when I came upon them, the Lady Mirdath had a
half-regret, that was very natural, because even then she was in love of
me, as I of her; and because of this, she drew away, as you shall
remember, being--as she confessed--suddenly and strangely troubled and
to want me; but afterwards as much set again to my punishment, because
that I bowed so cold and went away. And indeed well I might.

Yet, truly, all was safe ended now, and I utter thankful and with a mad
delight in the heart; so that I caught up Mirdath, and we danced very
slow and stately around the great hall, the while that Mistress Alison
whistled us a tune with her mouth, which she could very clever, as many
another thing, I wot.

And each day and all day after this Gladness, Mirdath and I could never
be apart; but must go a-wander always together, here and there, in an
unending joy of our togetherness.

And in a thousand things were we at one in delight; for we had both of
us that nature which doth love the blue of eternity which gathers beyond
the wings of the sunset; and the invisible sound of the starlight
falling upon the world; and the quiet of grey evenings when the Towers
of Sleep are builded unto the mystery of the Dusk; and the solemn green
of strange pastures in the moonlight; and the speech of the sycamore
unto the beech; and the slow way of the sea when it doth mood; and the
soft rustling of the night clouds. And likewise had we eyes to see the
Dancer of the Sunset, casting her mighty robes so strange; and ears to
know that there shakes a silent thunder over the Face of Dawn; and much
else that we knew and saw and understood together in our utter joy.

Now, there happened to us about this time a certain adventure that came
near to cause the death of Mirdath the Beautiful; for one day as we
wandered, as ever, like two children in our contentment, I made remark
to Mirdath that there went only two of the great boar-hounds with us;
and she then told me that the third was to the kennels, being sick.

Yet, scarce had she told me so much; ere she cried out something and
pointed; and lo! I saw that the third hound came towards us, at a run,
yet very strange-seeming in his going. And in a moment, Mirdath cried
out that the hound was mad; and truly, I saw then that the brute
slavered as he came running.

And in a moment he was upon us, and made never a sound; but leaped at me
in one instant of time; all before I had any thought of such intent. But
surely, My Beautiful One had a dreadful love for me, for she cast
herself at the dog, to save me, calling to the other hounds. And she was
bitten in a moment by the brute, as she strove to hold him off from me.
But I to have him instant by the neck and the body, and brake him, so
that he died at once; and I cast him to the earth, and gave help to
Mirdath, that I draw the poison from the wounds.

And this I did so well as I might, despite that she would have me stop.
And afterwards, I took her into mine arms, and ran very fierce all the
long and weary way to the Hall, and with hot skewers I burned the
wounds; so that when the doctor came, he to say I have saved her by my
care, if indeed she to be saved. But, truly, she had saved me in any
wise, as you shall think; so that I could never be done of honour to
her.

And she very pale; but yet to laugh at my fears, and to say that she
soon to have her health, and the wounds healed very speedy; but, indeed,
it was a long and bitter time before they were proper healed, and she so
well as ever. Yet, in time, so it was; and an utter weight off my heart.

And when Mirdath was grown full strong again, we set our wedding day.
And well do I mind how she stood there in her bridal dress, on that day,
so slender and lovely as may Love have stood in the Dawn of Life; and
the beauty of her eyes that had such sober sweetness in them, despite
the dear mischief of her nature; and the way of her little feet, and the
loveliness of her hair; and the dainty rogue-grace of her movements; and
her mouth an enticement, as that a child and a woman smiled out of the
one face. And this to be no more than but an hint of the loveliness of
My Beautiful One.

And so we were married.

Mirdath, My Beautiful One, lay dying, and I had no power to hold Death
backward from such dread intent. In another room, I heard the little
wail of the child; and the wail of the child waked my wife back into
this life, so that her hands fluttered white and desperately needful
upon the coverlid.

I kneeled beside My Beautiful One, and reached out and took her hands
very gentle into mine; but still they fluttered so needful; and she
looked at me, dumbly; but her eyes beseeching.

Then I went out of the room, and called gently to the Nurse; and the
Nurse brought in the child, wrapped very softly in a long, white robe.
And I saw the eyes of My Beautiful One grow clearer with a strange,
lovely light; and I beckoned to the Nurse to bring the babe near.

My wife moved her hands very weakly upon the coverlid, and I knew that
she craved to touch her child; and I signed to the Nurse, and took my
child in mine arms; and the Nurse went out from the room, and so we
three were alone together.

Then I sat very gentle upon the bed; and I held the babe near to My
Beautiful One, so that the wee cheek of the babe touched the white cheek
of my dying wife; but the weight of the child I kept off from her.

And presently, I knew that Mirdath, My Wife, strove dumbly to reach for
the hands of the babe; and I turned the child more towards her, and
slipped the hands of the child into the weak hands of My Beautiful One.
And I held the babe above my wife, with an utter care; so that the eyes
of my dying One, looked into the young eyes of the child. And presently,
in but a few moments of time; though it had been someways an eternity,
My Beautiful One closed her eyes and lay very quiet. And I took away the
child to the Nurse, who stood beyond the door. And I closed the door,
and came back to Mine Own, that we have those last instants alone
together.

And the hands of my wife lay very still and white; but presently they
began to move softly and weakly, searching for somewhat; and I put out
my great hands to her, and took her hands with an utter care; and so a
little time passed.

Then her eyes opened, quiet and grey, and a little dazed seeming; and
she rolled her head on the pillow and saw me; and the pain of
forgetfulness went out of her eyes, and she looked at me with a look
that grew in strength, unto a sweetness of tenderness and full
understanding.

And I bent a little to her; and her eyes told me to take her into mine
arms for those last minutes. Then I went very gentle upon the bed, and
lifted her with an utter and tender care, so that she lay suddenly
strangely restful against my breast; for Love gave me skill to hold her,
and Love gave My Beautiful One a sweetness of ease in that little time
that was left to us.

And so we twain were together; and Love seemed that it had made a truce
with Death in the air about us, that we be undisturbed; for there came a
drowse of rest even upon my tense heart, that had known nothing but a
dreadful pain through the weary hours.

And I whispered my love silently to My Beautiful One, and her eyes
answered; and the strangely beautiful and terrible moments passed by
into the hush of eternity.

And suddenly, Mirdath My Beautiful One, spoke,--whispering something.
And I stooped gently to hark; and Mine Own spoke again; and lo! it was
to call me by the olden Love Name that had been mine through all the
utter lovely months of our togetherness.

And I began again to tell her of my love, that should pass beyond death;
and lo! in that one moment of time, the light went out of her eyes; and
My Beautiful One lay dead in mine arms ... My Beautiful One....




II

THE LAST REDOUBT


Since Mirdath, My Beautiful One, died and left me lonely in this world,
I have suffered an anguish, and an utter and dreadful pain of longing,
such as truly no words shall ever tell; for, in truth, I that had all
the world through her sweet love and companionship, and knew all the joy
and gladness of Life, have known such lonesome misery as doth stun me to
think upon.

Yet am I to my pen again; for of late a wondrous hope has grown in me,
in that I have, at night in my sleep, waked into the future of this
world, and seen strange things and utter marvels, and known once more
the gladness of life; for I have learned the promise of the future, and
have visited in my dreams those places where in the womb of Time, she
and I shall come together, and part, and again come together--breaking
asunder most drearly in pain, and again reuniting after strange ages, in
a glad and mighty wonder.

And this is the utter strange story of that which I have seen, and
which, truly, I must set out, if the task be not too great; so that, in
the setting out thereof, I may gain a little ease of the heart; and
likewise, mayhap, give ease of hope to some other poor human, that doth
suffer, even as I have suffered so dreadful with longing for Mine Own
that is dead.

And some shall read and say that this thing was not, and some shall
dispute with them; but to them all I say naught, save "Read!" And having
read that which I set down, then shall one and all have looked towards
Eternity with me--unto its very portals. And so to my telling:

To me, in this last time of my visions, of which I would tell, it was
not as if I _dreamed_; but, as it were, that I _waked_ there into the
dark, _in the future of this world_. And the sun had died; and for me
thus newly waked into that Future, to look back upon this, our Present
Age, was to look back into dreams that my soul knew to be of reality;
but which to those newly-seeing eyes of mine, appeared but as a far
vision, strangely hallowed with peacefulness and light.

Always, it seemed to me when I awaked into the Future, into the
Everlasting Night that lapped this world, that I saw near to me, and
girdling me all about, a blurred greyness. And presently this, the
greyness, would clear and fade from about me, even as a dusky cloud, and
I would look out upon a world of darkness, lit here and there with
strange sights. And with my waking into that Future, I waked not to
ignorance; but to a full knowledge of those things which lit the Night
Land; even as a man wakes from sleep each morning, and knows immediately
he wakes, the names and knowledge of the Time which has bred him, and in
which he lives. And the same while, a knowledge I had, as it were
sub-conscious, of this Present--this early life, which now I live so
utterly alone.

In my earliest knowledge of _that_ place, I was a youth, seventeen years
grown, and my memory tells me that when first I waked, or came, as it
might be said, to myself, in that Future, I stood in one of the
embrasures of the Last Redoubt--that great Pyramid of grey metal which
held the last millions of this world from the Powers of the Slayers.

And so full am I of the knowledge of that Place, that scarce can I
believe that none here know; and because I have such difficulty, it may
be that I speak over familiarly of those things of which I know; and
heed not to explain much that it is needful that I should explain to
those who must read here, in this our present day. For there, as I stood
and looked out, I was less the man of years of _this_ age, than the
youth of _that_, with the natural knowledge of _that_ life which I had
gathered by living all my seventeen years of life there; though, until
that my first vision, I (of this Age) knew not of that other and Future
Existence; yet woke to it so naturally as may a man wake here in his bed
to the shining of the morning sun, and know it by name, and the meaning
of aught else. And yet, as I stood there in the vast embrasure, I had
also a knowledge, or memory, of this present life of ours, deep down
within me; but touched with a halo of dreams, and yet with a conscious
longing for One, known even there in a half memory as Mirdath.

As I have said, in my earliest memory, I mind that I stood in an
embrasure, high up in the side of the Pyramid, and looked outwards
through a queer spy-glass to the North-West. Aye, full of youth and with
an adventurous and yet half-fearful heart.

And in my brain was, as I have told, the knowledge that had come to me
in all the years of my life in the Redoubt; and yet until that moment,
this _Man of this Present Time_ had no knowledge of that future
existence; and now I stood and had suddenly the knowledge of a life
already spent in that strange land, and deeper within me the misty
knowings of this our present Age, and, maybe, also of some others.

To the North-West I looked through the queer spy-glass, and saw a
landscape that I had looked upon and pored upon through all the years of
that life, so that I knew how to name this thing and that thing, and
give the very distances of each and every one from the "Centre-Point" of
the Pyramid, which was that which had neither length nor breadth, and
was made of polished metal in the Room of Mathematics, where I went
daily to my studies.

To the North-West I looked, and in the wide field of my glass, saw plain
the bright glare of the fire from the Red Pit, shine upwards against the
underside of the vast chin of the North-West Watcher--The Watching Thing
of the North-West.... "That which hath Watched from the Beginning, and
until the opening of the Gateway of Eternity" came into my thoughts, as
I looked through the glass ... the words of Aesworpth, the _Ancient_
Poet (though incredibly _future_ to this our time). And suddenly they
seemed at fault; for I looked deep down into my being, and saw, as
dreams are seen, the sunlight and splendour of _this_ our Present Age.
And I was amazed.

And here I must make it clear to all that, even as I waked from _this_
Age, suddenly into _that_ life, so must I--_that_ youth there in the
embrasure--have awakened then to the knowledge of _this_ far-back life
of ours--seeming to him a vision of the very beginnings of eternity, in
the dawn of the world. Oh! I do but dread I make it not sufficient clear
that I and he were both _I_--the same soul. He of that far date seeing
vaguely the life that _was_ (that I do now live in this present Age);
and I of this time beholding the life that I yet shall live. How utterly
strange!

And yet, I do not know that I speak holy truth to say that I, in that
future time, had _no_ knowledge of _this_ life and Age, before that
awakening; for I woke to find that I was one who stood apart from the
other youths, in that I had a dim knowledge--visionary, as it were, of
the past, which confounded, whilst yet it angered, those who were the
men of learning of that age; though of this matter, more anon. But this
I do know, that from that time, onwards, my knowledge and assuredness of
the Past was tenfold; for this my memory of that life told me.

And so to further my telling. Yet before I pass onwards, one other thing
is there of which I shall speak--In the moment in which I waked out of
that youthfulness, into the assured awaredness of _this_ our Age, in
that moment the hunger of this my love flew to me across the ages; so
that what had been but a memory-dream, grew to the pain of _Reality_,
and I knew suddenly that I _lacked_; and from that time onwards, I went,
listening, as even now my life is spent.

And so it was that I (fresh-born in that future time) hungered strangely
for My Beautiful One with all the strength of that new life, knowing
that she had been mine, and might live again, even as I. And so, as I
have said, I hungered, and found that I listened.

And now, to go back from my digression, it was, as I have said, I had
amazement at perceiving, in memory, the unknowable sunshine and
splendour of this age breaking so clear through my hitherto most vague
and hazy visions; so that the ignorance of, Aesworpth was shouted to me
by the things which now I _knew_.

And from that time, onward, for a little space, I was stunned with all
that I knew and guessed and felt; and all of a long while the hunger
grew for that one I had lost in the early days--she who had sung to me
in those faery days of light, that _had been_ in verity. And the
especial thoughts of that age looked back with a keen, regretful wonder
into the gulf of forgetfulness.

But, presently, I turned from the haze and pain of my dream-memories,
once more to the inconceivable mystery of the Night Land, which I viewed
through the great embrasure. For on none did it ever come with weariness
to look out upon all the hideous mysteries; so that old and young
watched, from early years to death, the black monstrosity of the Night
Land, which this our last refuge of humanity held at bay.

To the right of the Red Pit there lay a long, sinuous glare, which I
knew as the Vale of Red Fire, and beyond that for many dreary miles the
blackness of the Night Land; across which came the coldness of the light
from the Plain of Blue Fire.

And then, on the very borders of the Unknown Lands, there lay a range of
low volcanoes, which lit up, far away in the outer darkness, the Black
Hills, where shone the Seven Lights, which neither twinkled nor moved
nor faltered through Eternity; and of which even the great spy-glass
could make no understanding; nor had any adventurer from the Pyramid
ever come back to tell us aught of them. And here let me say, that down
in the Great Library of the Redoubt, were the histories of all those,
with their discoveries, who had ventured out into the monstrousness of
the Night Land, risking not the life only, but the spirit of life.

And surely it is all so strange and wonderful to set out, that I could
almost despair with the contemplation of that which I must achieve; for
there is so much to tell, and so few words given to man by which he may
make clear that which lies beyond the sight and the present and general
knowings of Peoples.

How shall you ever know, as I know in verity, of the greatness and
reality and terror of the thing that I would tell plain to all; for we,
with our puny span of recorded life must have great histories to tell,
but the few bare details we know concerning years that are but a few
thousands in all; and I must set out to you in the short pages of this
my life there, a sufficiency of the life that had been, and the life
that was, both within and without that mighty Pyramid, to make clear to
those who may read, the truth of that which I would tell; and the
histories of that great Redoubt dealt not with odd thousands of years;
but with very millions; aye, away back into what they of that Age
conceived to be the early days of the earth, when the sun, maybe, still
gloomed dully in the night sky of the world. But of all that went
before, nothing, save as myths, and matters to be taken most cautiously,
and believed not by men of sanity and proved wisdom.

And I, ...how shall I make all this clear to you who may read? The thing
cannot be; and yet I must tell my history; for to be silent before so
much wonder would be to suffer of too full a heart; and I must even ease
my spirit by this my struggle to tell to all how it was with me, and how
it will be. Aye, even to the memories which were the possession of that
far future youth, who was indeed I, of his childhood's days, when his
nurse of that Age swung him, and crooned impossible lullabies of this
mythical sun which, according to those future fairy-tales, had once
passed across the blackness that now lay above the Pyramid.

Such is the monstrous futureness of this which I have seen through the
body of that far-off youth.

And so back to my telling. To my right, which was to the North, there
stood, very far away, the House of Silence, upon a low hill. And in that
House were many lights, and no sound. And so had it been through an
uncountable Eternity of Years. Always those steady lights, and no
whisper of sound--not even such as our distance-microphones could have
discovered. And the danger of this House was accounted the greatest
danger of all those Lands.

And round by the House of Silence, wound the Road Where The Silent Ones
Walk. And concerning this Road, which passed out of the Unknown Lands,
nigh by the Place of the Ab-humans, where was always the green, luminous
mist, nothing was known; save that it was held that, of all the works
about the Mighty Pyramid, it was, alone, the one that was bred, long
ages past, of healthy human toil and labour. And on this point alone,
had a thousand books, and more, been writ; and all contrary, and so to
no end, as is ever the way in such matters.

And as it was with the Road Where The Silent Ones Walk, so it was with
all those other monstrous things ... whole libraries had there been made
upon this and upon that; and many a thousand million mouldered into the
forgotten dust of the earlier world.

I mind me now that presently I stepped upon the central
travelling-roadway which spanned the one thousandth plateau of the Great
Redoubt. And this lay six miles and thirty fathoms above the Plain of
the Night Land, and was somewhat of a great mile or more across. And so,
in a few minutes, I was at the South-Eastern wall, and looking out
through The Great Embrasure towards the Three Silver-fire Holes, that
shone before the Thing That Nods, away down, far in the South-East.
Southward of this, but nearer, there rose the vast bulk of the
South-East Watcher--The Watching Thing of the South-East. And to the
right and to the left of the squat monster burned the Torches; maybe
half-a-mile upon each side; yet sufficient light they threw to show the
lumbered-forward head of the never-sleeping Brute.

To the East, as I stood there in the quietness of the Sleeping-Time on
the One Thousandth Plateau, I heard a far, dreadful sound, down in the
lightless East; and, presently, again--a strange, dreadful laughter,
deep as a low thunder among the mountains. And because this sound came
odd whiles from the Unknown Lands beyond the Valley of The Hounds, we
had named that far and never-seen Place "The Country Whence Comes The
Great Laughter." And though I had heard the sound, many and oft a time,
yet did I never hear it without a most strange thrilling of my heart,
and a sense of my littleness, and of the utter terror which had beset
the last millions of the world.

Yet, because I had heard the Laughter oft, I paid not over-long
attention to my thoughts upon it; and when, in a little it died away
into that Eastern Darkness, I turned my spy-glass upon the Giants' Pit,
which lay to the South of the Giants' Kilns. And these same Kilns were
tended by the giants, and the light of the Kilns was red and fitful, and
threw wavering shadows and lights across the mouth of the pit; so that I
saw giants crawling up out of the pit; but not properly seen, by reason
of the dance of the shadows. And so, because ever there was so much to
behold, I looked away, presently, to that which was plainer to be
examined.

To the back of the Giants' Pit was a great, black Headland, that stood
vast, between the Valley of The Hounds (where lived the monstrous Night
Hounds) and the Giants. And the light of the Kilns struck the brow of
this black Headland; so that, constantly, I saw things peer over the
edge, coming forward a little into the light of the Kilns, and drawing
back swiftly into the shadows. And thus it had been ever, through the
uncounted ages; so that the Headland was known as The Headland From
Which Strange Things Peer; and thus was it marked in our maps and charts
of that grim world.

And so I could go on ever; but that I fear to weary; and yet, whether I
do weary, or not, I must tell of this country that I see, even now as I
set my thoughts down, so plainly that my memory wanders in a hushed and
secret fashion along its starkness, and amid its strange and dread
habitants, so that it is but by an effort I realise me that my body is
not there in this very moment that I write. And so to further tellings:

Before me ran the Road Where The Silent Ones Walk; and I searched it, as
many a time in my earlier youth had I, with the spy-glass; for my heart
was always stirred mightily by the sight of those Silent Ones.

And, presently, alone in all the miles of that night-grey road, I saw
one in the field of my glass--a quiet, cloaked figure, moving along,
shrouded, and looking neither to right nor left. And thus was it with
these beings ever. It was told about in the Redoubt that they would harm
no human, if but the human did keep a fair distance from them; but that
it were wise never to come close upon one. And this I can well believe.

And so, searching the road with my gaze, I passed beyond this Silent
One, and past the place where the road, sweeping vastly to the
South-East, was lit a space, strangely, by the light from the
Silver-fire Holes. And thus at last to where it swayed to the South of
the Dark Palace, and thence Southward still, until it passed round to
the Westward, beyond the mountain bulk of the Watching Thing in the
South--the hugest monster in all the visible Night Lands. My spy-glass
showed it to me with clearness--a living hill of watchfulness, known to
us as The Watcher Of The South. It brooded there, squat and tremendous,
hunched over the pale radiance of the Glowing Dome.

Much, I know, had been writ concerning this Odd, Vast Watcher; for it
had grown out of the blackness of the South Unknown Lands a million
years gone; and the steady growing nearness of it had been noted and set
out at length by the men they called Monstruwacans; so that it was
possible to search in our libraries, and learn of the very coming of
this Beast in the olden-time.

And, while I mind me, there were even then, and always, men named
Monstruwacans, whose duty it was to take heed of the great Forces, and
to watch the Monsters and the Beasts that beset the great Pyramid, and
measure and record, and have so full a knowledge of these same that, did
one but sway an head in the darkness, the same matter was set down with
particularness in the Records.

And, so to tell more about the South Watcher. A million years gone, as I
have told, came it out from the blackness of the South, and grew
steadily nearer through twenty thousand years; but so slow that in no
one year could a man perceive that it had moved.

Yet it had movement, and had come thus far upon its road to the Redoubt,
when the Glowing Dome rose out of the ground before it--growing slowly.
And this had stayed the way of the Monster; so that through an eternity
it had looked towards the Pyramid across the pale glare of the Dome, and
seeming to have no power to advance nearer.

And because of this, much had been writ to prove that there were other
forces than evil at work in the Night Lands, about the Last Redoubt. And
this I have always thought to be wisely said; and, indeed, there to be
no doubt to the matter, for there were many things in the time of which
I have knowledge, which seemed to make clear that, even as the Forces of
Darkness were loose upon the End of Man; so were there other Forces out
to do battle with the Terror; though in ways most strange and unthought
of by the human mind. And of this I shall have more to tell anon.

And here, before I go further with my telling, let me set out some of
that knowledge which yet remains so clear within my mind and heart. Of
the coming of these monstrosities and evil Forces, no man could say much
with verity; for the evil of it began before the Histories of the Great
Redoubt were shaped; aye, even before the sun had lost all power to
light; though, it must not be a thing of certainty, that even at this
far time the invisible, black heavens held no warmth for this world; but
of this I have no room to tell; and must pass on to that of which I have
a more certain knowledge.

The evil must surely have begun in the Days of the Darkening (which I
might liken to a story which was believed doubtfully, much as we of this
day believe the story of the Creation). A dim record there was of olden
sciences (that are yet far off in our future) which, disturbing the
unmeasurable Outward Powers, had allowed to pass the Barrier of Life
some of those Monsters and Ab-human creatures, which are so wondrously
cushioned from us at this normal present. And thus there had
materialized, and in other cases developed, grotesque and horrible
Creatures, which now beset the humans of this world. And where there was
no power to take on material form, there had been allowed to certain
dreadful Forces to have power to affect the life of the human spirit.
And this growing very dreadful, and the world full of lawlessness and
degeneracy, there had banded together the sound millions, and built the
Last Redoubt; there in the twilight of the world--so it seems to us, and
yet to them (bred at last to the peace of usage) as it were the
Beginning; and this I can make no clearer; and none hath right to expect
it; for my task is very great, and beyond the power of human skill.

And when the humans had built the great Pyramid, it had one thousand
three hundred and twenty floors; and the thickness of each floor was
according to the strength of its need. And the whole height of this
pyramid exceeded seven miles, by near a mile, and above it was a tower
from which the Watchmen looked (these being called the Monstruwacans).
But where the Redoubt was built, I know not; save that I believe in a
mighty valley, of which I may tell more in due time.

And when the Pyramid was built, the last millions, who were the Builders
thereof, went within, and made themselves a great house and city of this
Last Redoubt. And thus began the Second History of this world. And how
shall I set it all down in these little pages! For my task, even as I
see it, is too great for the power of a single life and a single pen.
Yet, to it!

And, later, through hundreds and thousands of years, there grew up in
the Outer Lands, beyond those which lay under the guard of the Redoubt,
mighty and lost races of terrible creatures, half men and half beast,
and evil and dreadful; and these made war upon the Redoubt; but were
beaten off from that grim, metal mountain, with a vast slaughter. Yet,
must there have been many such attacks, until the electric circle was
put about the Pyramid, and lit from the Earth-Current. And the lowest
half-mile of the Pyramid was sealed; and so at last there was a peace,
and the beginnings of that Eternity of quiet watching for the day when
the Earth-Current shall become exhausted.

And, at whiles, through the forgotten centuries, had the Creatures been
glutted time and again upon such odd bands of daring ones as had
adventured forth to explore through the mystery of the Night Lands; for
of those who went, scarce any did ever return; for there were eyes in
all that dark; and Powers and Forces abroad which had all knowledge; or
so we must fain believe.

And then, so it would seem, as that Eternal Night lengthened itself upon
the world, the power of terror grew and strengthened. And fresh and
greater monsters developed and bred out of all space and Outward
Dimensions, attracted, even as it might be Infernal sharks, by that
lonely and mighty hill of humanity, facing its end--so near to the
Eternal, and yet so far deferred in the minds and to the senses of those
humans. And thus hath it been ever.

And all this but by the way, and vague and ill told, and set out in
despair to make a little clear the beginnings of that State which is so
strange to our conceptions, and yet which had become a Condition of
Naturalness to Humanity in that stupendous future.

Thus had the giants come, fathered of bestial humans and mothered of
monsters. And many and diverse were the creatures which had some human
semblance; and intelligence, mechanical and cunning; so that certain of
these lesser Brutes had machinery and underground ways, having need to
secure to themselves warmth and air, even as healthy humans; only that
they were incredibly inured to hardship, as they might be wolves set in
comparison with tender children. And surely, do I make this thing clear?

And now to continue my telling concerning the Night Land. The Watcher of
the South was, as I have set to make known, a monster differing from
those other Watching Things, of which I have spoken, and of which there
were in all four. One to the North-West, and one to the South-East, and
of these I have told; and the other twain lay brooding, one to the
South-West, and the other to the North-East; and thus the four watchers
kept ward through the darkness, upon the Pyramid, and moved not, neither
gave they out any sound. Yet did we know them to be mountains of living
watchfulness and hideous and steadfast intelligence.

And so, in a while, having listened to the sorrowful sound which came
ever to us over the Grey Dunes, from the Country of Wailing, which lay
to the South, midway between the Redoubt and the Watcher of the South, I
passed upon one of the moving roadways over to the South-Western side of
the Pyramid, and looked from a narrow embrasure thence far down into the
Deep Valley, which was four miles deep, and in which was the Pit of the
Red Smoke.

And the mouth of this Pit was one full mile across, and the smoke of the
Pit filled the Valley at times, so that it seemed but as a glowing red
circle amid dull thunderous clouds of redness. Yet the red smoke rose
never much above the Valley; so that there was clear sight across to the
country beyond. And there, along the further edge of that great depth,
were the Towers, each, maybe, a mile high, grey and quiet; but with a
shimmer upon them.

Beyond these, South and West of them, was the enormous bulk of the
South-West Watcher, and from the ground rose what we named the Eye
Beam--a single ray of grey light, which came up out of the ground, and
lit the right eye of the monster. And because of this light, that eye
had been mightily examined through unknown thousands of years; and some
held that the eye looked through the light steadfastly at the Pyramid;
but others set out that the light blinded it, and was the work of those
Other Powers which were abroad to do combat with the Evil Forces. But
however this may be, as I stood there in the embrasure, and looked at
the thing through the spy-glass, it seemed to my soul that the Brute
looked straightly at me, unwinking and steadfast, and fully of a
knowledge that I spied upon it. And this is how I felt.

To the North of this, in the direction of the West, I saw The Place
Where The Silent Ones Kill; and this was so named, because there, maybe
ten thousand years gone, certain humans adventuring from the Pyramid,
came off the Road Where The Silent Ones Walk, and into that place, and
were immediately destroyed. And this was told by one who escaped; though
he died also very quickly, for his heart was frozen. And this I cannot
explain; but so it was set out in the Records.

Far away beyond The Place Where The Silent Ones Kill, in the very mouth
of the Western Night was the Place of the Ab-humans, where was lost the
Road Where The Silent Ones Walk, in a dull green, luminous mist. And of
this place nothing was known; though much it held the thoughts and
attentions of our thinkers and imaginers; for some said that there was a
Place Of Safety, differing from the Redoubt (as we of this day suppose
Heaven to differ from the Earth), and that the Road led thence; but was
barred by the Ab-humans. And this I can only set down here; but with no
thought to justify or uphold it.

Later, I travelled over to the North-Eastern wall of the Redoubt, and
looked thence with my spy-glass at the Watcher of the North-East--the
Crowned Watcher it was called, in that within the air above its vast
head there hung always a blue, luminous ring, which shed a strange light
downwards over the monster--showing a vast, wrinkled brow (upon which an
whole library had been writ); but putting to the shadow all the lower
face; all save the ear, which came out from the back of the head, and
belled towards the Redoubt, and had been said by some observers in the
past to have been seen to quiver; but how that might be, I knew not; for
no man of our days had seen such a thing.

And beyond the Watching Thing was The Place Where The Silent Ones Are
Never, close by the great road; which was bounded upon the far side by
The Giant's Sea; and upon the far side of that, was a Road which was
always named The Road By The Quiet City; for it passed along that place
where burned forever the constant and never-moving lights of a strange
city; but no glass had ever shown life there; neither had any light ever
ceased to burn.

And beyond that again was the Black Mist. And here, let me say, that the
Valley of The Hounds ended towards the Lights of the Quiet City.

And so have I set out something of that land, and of those creatures and
circumstances which beset us about, waiting until the Day of Doom, when
our Earth-Current should cease, and leave us helpless to the Watchers
and the Abundant Terror.

And there I stood, and looked forth composedly, as may one who has been
born to know of such matters, and reared in the knowledge of them. And,
anon, I would look upward, and see the grey, metalled mountain going up
measureless into the gloom of the everlasting night; and from my feet
the sheer downward sweep of the grim, metal walls, six full miles, and
more, to the plain below.

And one thing (aye! and I fear me, many) have I missed to set out with
particularness:

There was, as you do know, all around the base of the Pyramid, which was
five and one-quarter miles every way, a great circle of light, which was
set up by the Earth-Current, and burned within a transparent tube; or
had that appearance. And it bounded the Pyramid for a clear mile upon
every side, and burned for ever; and none of the monsters had power ever
to pass across, because of what we did call The Air Clog that it did
make, as an invisible Wall of Safety. And it did give out also a more
subtile vibration, that did affect the weak Brain-Elements of the
monsters and the Lower Men-Brutes. And some did hold that there went
from it a further vibration of a greater subtileness that gave a
protecting against the Evil Forces. And some quality it had truly
thiswise; for the Evil Powers had no ability to cause harm to any
within. Yet were there some dangers against which it might not avail;
but these had no cunning to bring harm to any _within_ the Great Redoubt
who had wisdom to meddle with no dreadfulness. And so were those last
millions guarded until the Earth-Current should be used to its end. And
this circle is that which I have called the Electric Circle; though with
failure to explain. But there it was called only, The Circle.

And thus have I, with great effort, made a little clear that grim land
of night, where, presently, my listening heard one calling across the
dark. And how that this grew upon me, I will set out forthwith.




III

THE QUIET CALLING


Now, oft had I heard tell, not only in that great city which occupied
the thousandth floor, but in others of the one thousand, three hundred
and twenty cities of the Pyramid, that there was somewhere out in the
desolation of the Night Lands a second Place of Refuge, where had
gathered, in another part of this dead world, some last millions of the
human race, to fight unto the end.

And this story I heard everywhere in my travels through the cities of
the Great Redoubt, which travels began when I came upon my seventeenth
year, and continued for three years and two hundred and twenty five
days, being even then but one day in each city, as was the custom in the
training of every child.

And truly it was a great journey, and in it I met with many, whom to
know was to love; but whom never could I see again; for life has not
space enough; and each must to his duty to the security and well-being
of the Redoubt. Yet, for all that I have set down, we travelled much,
always; but there were so many millions, and so few years.

And, as I have said, everywhere I went there was the same story of this
other Place of Refuge; and in such of the Libraries of those cities as I
had time to search, there were great numbers of works upon the existence
of this other Refuge; and some, far back in the years, made assertion
with confidence that such a Place was in verity; and, indeed, no doubt
did there seem in those by-gone ages; but now these very Records were
read only by Scholars, who doubted, even whilst they read. And so is it
ever.

But of the reality of this Refuge, I had never a sound doubt, from the
day of my hearing concerning it from our Master Monstruwacan, who with
all his assistants occupied the Tower of Observation in the apex of the
Pyramid. And here let me tell that he and I had always an affinity and
close friendship one for the other; though he was full grown, and I but
a youth; yet so it was; and thus, when I had come to an age of
twenty-one years of life, he opened to me a post within the Tower of
Observation; and this was a most wondrous good fortune to me; for in all
the vast Redoubt, to be appointed to the Tower of Observation was the
most desired; for thereby, even as in these days doth Astronomy, was the
natural curiosity of Man eased somewhat, even while thwarted.

Now, let me tell here also, lest it be thought that I was unduly
favoured because of my friendship with the Master Monstruwacan, that
there was a sound justification for his choice, in that to me had been
given that strange gift of hearing, which we called Night-Hearing;
though this was but a fanciful name, and meant little. Yet the peculiar
gift was rare, and in all the millions of the Pyramid, there was none
with the gift to a great degree, saving only myself.

And I, because of this gift, could hear the "invisible vibrations" of
the aether; so that, without harking to the calling of our recording
instruments, I could take the messages which came continually through
the eternal darkness; aye, even better than they. And now, it may be the
better understood, how much was to be counted that I had grown to listen
for a voice that had not rung in mine ears for an eternity, and yet
which sang sweet and clear in my memory-dreams; so that it seemed to me
that Mirdath the Beautiful slept within my soul, and whispered to me out
of all the ages.

And then, one day, at the fifteenth hour, when began the Sleep-Time, I
had been pondering this love of mine that lived with me still; and
marvelling that my memory-dreams held the voice of a love that _had
been_ in so remote an age. And pondering and dreaming thus, as a young
man may, I could fancy this aeon-lost One were whispering beauty into
my ears, in verity; so clear had my memory grown, and so much had I
pondered.

And lo! as I stood there, harking and communing with my thoughts, I
thrilled suddenly, as if I had been smitten; for out of all the
everlasting night a whisper was thrilling and thrilling upon my more
subtile hearing.

Through four long years had I listened, since that awakening in the
embrasure, when but a youth of seventeen; and now out of the
world-darkness and all the eternal years of that lost life, which now I
live in this Present Age of ours, was the whisper come; for I knew it
upon that instant; and yet, because I was so taught to wisdom, I
answered by no name; but sent the Master-Word through the night--sending
it with my brain-elements, as I could, and as all may, much or little,
as may be, if they be not clods. And, moreover, I knew that she who
called quietly would have the power to hear without instruments, if
indeed it were she; and if it were but one of the false callings of the
Evil Forces, or more cunning monsters, or as was sometimes thought
concerning these callings, the House of Silence, meddling with our
souls, then would they have no power to say the Master-Word; for this
had been proven through all the Everlasting.

And lo! as I stood, trembling and striving not to be tense, which
destroys the receptivity, there came thrilling round and round my
spiritual essence the throb of the Master-Word, beating steadily in the
night, as doth that marvellous sound. And then, with all that was sweet
in my spirit, I called with my brain elements: "Mirdath! Mirdath!
Mirdath!" And at that instant the Master Monstruwacan entered that part
of the Tower of Observation, where I stood; and, seeing my face, stood
very quiet; for though he had not the power of Night-Hearing, he was
wise and thoughtful, and took much account of my gift; more-over, he had
but come from the Receiving Instrument, and thought vaguely to have
caught the throb of the Master-Word, though too faint to come proper
through the Instrument, so that he searched for me, in that I, who had
the Hearing, might listen for it, I being, as I have said, gifted in
that wise.

And to him I told something of my story and my thoughts and my memories,
and of that awakening; and thus up to this present happening, and he
hearkened with sympathy and a troubled and wondering heart; for in that
age a man might talk sanely upon that which, in this age of ours would
be accounted foolishness and maybe the breathings of insanity; for
there, by the refinement of arts of mentality and the results of strange
experiments and the accomplishment of learning, men were abled to
conceive of matters now closed to our conceptions, even as we of this
day may haply give a calm ear to talk, that in the days of our fathers
would have been surely set to the count of lunacy. And this is very
clear.

And all the while that I told my story, I listened with my spirit; but
save for a sense of faint, happy laughter that wrapped about me, I heard
naught. And nothing more all that day.

Here let me put down that, because of my memories and half memories, I
would time and again dispute with our learned men; they being in doubt
as to the verity of that olden story of the Days of Light, and the
existence of the Sun; though something of all this was set out, as of
_truth_, in our oldest records; but I, remembering, told them many tales
that seemed fairy-like to them, and entranced their hearts, even whilst
I angered their brains, which refused to take seriously and as verity
that which their hearts accepted gladly, even as we receive the wonder
of poetry into our souls. But the Master Monstruwacan would listen to
aught I had to tell; aye! though I spoke through hours; and so it would
be, odd times, that having talked long, drawing my stories from my
Memory-Dreams, I would come back again into the present of that Future;
and lo! all the Monstruwacans would have left their instruments and
observations and recording, and be gathered about me; and the Master so
sunken in interest that he not to have discovered them; neither had I
noticed, being so full of the things which had been.

But when the Master came back to knowledge of that present, he would
rouse and chide, and they, all those lesser ones, would fly swiftly and
guiltily to their various works; and yet, so I have thought since, each
with a muddled and bewildered and thoughtful air upon him; and hungry
they were for more, and ever wondering and setting questions about.

And so it was also with those others--those learned ones who were not of
the Tower of Observation, and who disbelieved even whilst they hungered.
Listen would they, though I talked from the first hour, which was the
"dawn," to the fifteenth hour, which was the beginning of the "night";
for the Sleep-Time was set thus, after other usage and experiment. And,
odd whiles, I found that there were among them, men of extraordinary
learning who upheld my tellings as tales of verity; and so there was a
faction; but, later, there grew more to believe; and whether they
believed, or not, all were ready to listen; so that I might have spended
my days in talk; only that I had my work to do.

But the Master Monstruwacan believed from the beginning, and was wise
always to understand; so that I loved him for this, as for many another
dear quality.

And so, as may be conceived, among all those millions I was singled out
to be known; for the stories that I told went downward through a
thousand cities; and, presently, in the lowest tier of the Underground
Fields, an hundred miles deep in the earth below the Redoubt, I found
that the very ploughboys knew something concerning my tellings; and
gathered about me one time and another when the Master Monstruwacan and
I had gone down, regarding some matter that dealt with the Earth-Current
and our Instruments.

And of the Underground Fields (though in that age we called them no more
than "The Fields") I should set down a little; for they were the
mightiest work of this world; so that even the Last Redoubt was but a
small thing beside them. An hundred miles deep lay the lowest of the
Underground Fields, and was an hundred miles from side to side, every
way; and above it there were three hundred and six fields, each one less
in area than that beneath; and in this wise they tapered, until the
topmost field which lay direct beneath the lowermost floor of the Great
Redoubt, was but four miles every way.

And thus it will be seen that these fields, lying one beneath the other,
formed a mighty and incredible Pyramid of Country Lands in the deep
earth, an hundred miles from the base unto the topmost field.

And the whole was sheathed-in at the sides with the grey metal of which
the Redoubt was builded; and each field was pillared, and floored
beneath the soil, with this same compound of wonder; and so was it
secure, and the monsters could not dig into that mighty garden from
without.

And all of that Underground Land was lit, where needed, by the
Earth-Current, and that same life-stream fructified the soil, and gave
life and blood to the plants and to the trees, and to every bush and
natural thing.

And the making of those Fields had taken maybe a million years, and the
"dump" thereof had been cast into the "Crack," whence came the
Earth-Current, and which had bottom beyond all soundings. And this
Underground Country had its own winds and air-currents; so that, to my
memory, it was in no ways connected to the monstrous air-shafts of the
Pyramid; but in this I may be mistaken; for it has not been given to me
to know all that is to be known concerning that vast Redoubt; nor by any
one man could so much knowledge be achieved.

Yet that there were wise and justly promoted winds in that Underground
Country, I do know; for healthful and sweet they were, and in the
corn-fields there was the sweet rustle of grain, and the glad, silken
laughter of poppies, all beneath a warm and happy light. And here, did
the millions walk and take excursion, and go orderly or not, even as in
these days.

And all this have I seen, and the talk of a thousand lovers in the
gardens of that place, comes back to me; and with it all the memory of
my dear one; and of a faint calling that would seem to whisper about me
at times; but so faint and attenuated, that even I, who had the
Night-Hearing, could not catch its import; and so went, listening ever
the more intently. And oft times calling.

Now there was a Law in the Pyramid, tried and healthful, which held that
no male should have freedom to adventure into the Night Land, before the
age of twenty-two; _and no female ever_. Yet that, after such age, if a
youth desired greatly to make the adventure, he should receive three
lectures upon the dangers of which we had knowledge, and a strict
account of the mutilatings and horrid deeds done to those who had so
adventured. And if, after this had passed over him, he still desired,
and if he were accounted healthful and sane; then should he be allowed
to make the adventure; and it was accounted honour to the youth who
should add to the knowledge of the Pyramid.

But to all such as went forth into the danger of the Night Land, there
was set beneath the skin of the inner side of the left forearm, a small
capsule, and when the wound had healed, then might the youth make the
adventure.

And the wherefore of this, was that the spirit of the youth might be
saved, if he were entrapped; for then, upon the honour of his soul, must
he bite forth the capsule, and immediately his spirit would have safety
in death. And by this shall you know somewhat the grim and horrid danger
of the Dark Land.

And this I have set down because later I was to make huge adventure into
those Lands; and even at this time, some thought of the same had come to
me; for always I went listening for that quiet calling; and twice I sent
the Master-Word throbbing solemnly through the everlasting night; yet
this I did no more, without certainty; for the Word must not be used
lightly. But often would I say with my brain-elements "Mirdath!
Mirdath!"--sending the name out into the darkness; and sometimes would I
seem to hear the faint thrilling of the aether around me; as though one
answered; but weakly, as it were with a weakened spirit, or by
instrument that lacked of its earth-force.

And thus, for a great while there was no certainty; but only a strange
anxiousness and no clear answer.

Then, one day as I stood by the instruments in the Tower of Observation,
at the thirteenth hour there came the thrilling of beaten aether all
about me, as it were that all the void was disturbed. And I made the
Sign for Silence; so that the men moved not in all the Tower; but bowed
over their breathing-bells, that all disturbance might cease.

And again came the gentle thrilling, and broke out into a clear, low
calling in my brain; and the calling was my name--the old-earth name of
this day, and not the name of that age. And the name smote me, with a
frightenedness of fresh awakening memories. And, immediately, I sent the
Master-Word into the night; and all the aether was full of movement. And
a silence came; and later a beat afar off in the void of night, which
only I in all that great Redoubt could hear, until the heavier
vibrations were come. And in a moment there was all about me the
throbbing of the Master-Word, beating in the night a sure answer. Yet,
before this I knew that Mirdath had called; but now had surety.

And immediately, I said "Mirdath," making use of the instruments; and
there came a swift and beautiful answer; for out of the dark there stole
an old love-name, that she only had ever used to me.

And, presently, I minded me of the men, and signed to them that they
should continue; for the Records must not be broken; and now I had the
communication full established.

And by me stood the Master Monstruwacan, quietly as any young
Monstruwacan, waiting with slips to make any notes that were needful;
and keeping a strict eye upon those others; but not unkindly. And so,
for a space of wonder, I had speech with that girl out in the darkness
of the world, who had knowledge of my name, and of the old-earth
love-name, and named herself Mirdath.

And much I questioned her, and presently to my sorrow; for it seemed
that her name was not truly Mirdath; but Naani; neither had she known my
name; but that in the library of that place where she abode, there had
been a story of one named by my name, and called by that sweet love-name
which she had sent out somewhat ruthless into the night; and the girl's
name had been Mirdath; and when first she, Naani had called, there had
come back to her a cry of Mirdath, Mirdath; and this had minded her so
strangely of that olden story which had stayed in her memory; that she
had answered as the maid in that book might have answered.

And thus did it seem that the utter Romance of my Memory-love had
vanished, and I stood strangely troubled for sorrow of a love of olden
times. Yet, even then I marvelled that any book should have story so
much like to mine; not heeding that the history of all love is writ with
one pen.

Yet, even then in that hour of my strange, and quaintly foolish pain,
there came a thing that set me thrilling; though more afterwards, when I
came to think afresh upon it. For the girl who spoke to me through the
night made some wonder that my voice were not deeper; yet in quiet
fashion, and as one who says a thing, scarce wotting what they say. But
even to me then, there came a sudden hope; for in the olden days of this
Present Age my voice had been very deep. And I said to her that maybe
the man in the book was said to have had a deep tone of speech; but she,
seeming puzzled, said nay; and at that I questioned her the more; but
only to the trouble of her memory and understanding.

And strange must it seem that we two should talk on so trivial a matter,
when there was so much else that we had need to exchange thought upon;
for were a man in this present day to have speech with those who may
live within that red planet of Mars within the sky, scarce could the
wonder of it exceed the wonder of a human voice coming through that
night unto the Great Redoubt, out of all that lost darkness. For,
indeed, this must have been the breaking of, maybe, a million years of
silence. And already, as I came to know later, was the news passing
downward from City to City through all the vast Pyramid; so that the
Hour-Slips were full of the news; and every City eager and excited, and
waiting. And I better known in that one moment, than in all my life
before. For that previous calling, had been but vaguely put about; and
then set to the count of a nature, blown upon over-easily by
spirit-winds of the half-memory of dreams. Though it is indeed true, as
I have set down before this, that my tales concerning the early days of
the world, when the sun was visible, and full of light, had gone down
through all the cities, and had much comment and setting forth in the
Hour-Slips, and were a cause for speech and argument.

Now concerning the voice of this girl coming to us through the darkness
of the world, I will set out that which she had to tell; and this,
indeed, but verified the tellings of our most ancient Records, which had
so long been treated over lightly: There was, it would seem, somewhere
out in the lonesome dark of the Outer Lands, but at what distance none
could ever discover, a second Redoubt; that was a three-sided Pyramid,
and moderate small; being no more than a mile in height, and scarce
three quarters of a mile along the bases.

When this Redoubt was first builded, it had been upon the far shore of a
sea, where now was no sea; and it had been raised by those wandering
humans who had grown weary of wandering, and weary of the danger of
night attacks by the tribes of half-human monsters which began to
inhabit the earth even so early as the days when the half-gloom was upon
the world. And he that had made the plan upon which it was builded, was
one who had seen the Great Redoubt, having lived there in the beginning,
but escaped because of a correction set upon him for his spirit of
irresponsibility, which had made him to cause disturbance among the
orderly ones in the lowest city of the Great Redoubt.

Yet, in time, he too had come to be tamed by the weight of fear of the
ever-growing hordes of monsters, and the Forces that were abroad. And so
he, being a master-spirit, planned and builded the smaller Redoubt,
being aided thereto by four millions, who also were weary of the harass
of the monsters; but until then had been wanderers, because of the
restlessness of their blood.

And they had chosen that place, because there they had discovered a sign
of the Earth-Current in a great valley which led to the shore; for
without the Earth-Current no Refuge could have existence. And whilst
many builded and guarded, and cared for the Great Camp in which all
lived, others worked within a great shaft; and in ten years had made
this to a distance of many miles, and therewith they tapt the
Earth-Current; but not a great stream; yet a sufficiency, as was
believed.

And, presently, after many years, they had builded the Pyramid, and
taken up their refuge there, and made them instruments, and ordained
Monstruwacans; so that they had speech daily with the Great Pyramid; and
thus for many long ages.

And the Earth-Current then to begin to fail; and though they laboured
through many thousands of years, they came to no better resource. And so
it was they ceased to have communication with the Great Redoubt; for the
current had a lack of power to work the instruments; and the recording
instruments ceased to be sensible of our messages.

And thereafter came a million years, maybe, of silence; with ever the
birthing and marrying and dying of those lonesome humans. And they grew
less; and some put this to the lack of the Earth-Current, which dwindled
slowly through the centuries of that Eternity.

And once in a thousand years, maybe, one among them would be Sensitive,
and abled to hear beyond ordinary; and to these, at times, there would
seem to come the thrilling of the aether; so that such an one would go
listening; and sometimes seem to catch half messages; and so awaken a
great interest in all the Pyramid; and there would be turning up of old
Records, and many words and writings, and attempts to send the
Master-Word through the night; in which, doubtless sometimes they
succeeded; for there was set down in the Records of the Great Redoubt
certain occasions on which there had come the call of the Master-Word,
which had been arranged and made holy between the two Redoubts in the
early days of that second life of this world.

Yet, now for an hundred thousand years, there had been none Sensitive;
and in that time the people of the Pyramid had become no more than ten
thousand; and the Earth-Current was weak and powerless to put the joy of
life into them; so that they went listlessly, but deemed it not strange,
because of so many aeons of usage.

And then, to the wonder of all, the Earth-Current had put forth a new
power; so that young people ceased to be old over-soon; and there was
happiness and a certain joy in the living; and a strange birthing of
children, such as had not been through half a million years.

And then came a new thing. Naani, the daughter of the Master
Monstruwacan of that Redoubt had shown to all that she was Sensitive;
for she had perceived odd vibrations afloat in the night; and concerning
these she told her father; and presently, because their blood moved
afresh in their bodies, they had heart to discover the plans of the
ancient instruments; for the instruments had long rusted, and been
forgotten.

And so they builded them a new instrument to send forth a message; for
they had no memory at that time that the brain-elements had power to do
thus; though, mayhap, their brain-elements were weakened, through so
many ages of starvation of the Earth-Current, and could not have obeyed,
even had their masters known all that we of the Great Redoubt knew.

And when the instrument was finished, to Naani was given the right to
call first across the dark to discover whether indeed, after that
million years of silence, they were yet companied upon this earth, or
whether they were in truth lonely--the last poor thousands of the
Humans.

And a great and painful excitement came upon the people of the lesser
pyramid; for the loneliness of the world pressed upon them; and it was
to them as though we in this age called to a star across the abyss of
space.

And because of the excitement and pain of the moment, Naani called only
vaguely with the instrument into the dark; and lo! in a moment, as it
seemed, there came all about her in the night the solemn throb of the
Master-Word, beating in the night. And Naani cried out that she was
answered, and, as may be thought, many of the people wept, and some
prayed, and some were silent; but others beseeched her that she call
again and quickly to have further speech with those of their kind.

And Naani spoke the Master-Word into the night, and directly there came
a calling all about her: "Mirdath! Mirdath!" and the strange wonder of
it made her silent a moment; but when she would have made reply, the
instrument had ceased to work, and she could have no further speech at
that time.

This, as may be thought, occasioned much distress; and constant work
they had between the instrument and the Earth-Current, to discover the
reason for this failing; but could not for a great while. And in that
time, oft did Naani hear the call of "Mirdath" thrilling about her; and
twice there came the solemn beat of the Master-Word in the night. Yet
never had she the power to answer. And all that while, as I learned in
time, was she stirred with a quaint ache at heart by the voice that
called "Mirdath!" as it might be the Spirit of Love, searching for its
mate; for this is how she put it.

And thus it chanced, that the constant thrilling of this name about her,
woke her to memory of a book she had read in early years, and but half
understood; for it was ancient, and writ in an olden fashion, and it set
out the love of a man and a maid, and the maid's name was Mirdath. And
so, because she was full of this great awakening of those ages of
silence, and the calling of that name, she found the book again, and
read it many times, and grew to a sound love of the beauty of that tale.

And, presently, when the instrument was made right, she called into the
night the name of that man within the book; and so it came about that I
had hoped too much; yet even now was I strangely unsure whether to cease
from hoping.

And one other thing there is which I would make clear. Many and oft a
time had I heard a thrilling of sweet, faint laughter about me, and the
stirring of the aether by words too gentle to come clearly; and these I
make no doubt came from Naani, using her brain-elements unwittingly and
in ignorance; but very eager to answer my callings; and having no
knowledge that, far off across the blackness of the world, they thrilled
about me, constantly.

And after Naani had made clear all that I have set out concerning the
Lesser Refuge, she told further how that food was not plentiful with
them; though, until the reawakening of the Earth-Current, they had gone
unknowing of this, being of small appetite, and caring little for aught;
but now wakened, and newly hungry, they savoured a lack of taste in all
that they ate; and this we could well conceive, from our reasonings and
theory; but happily not from our knowledge.

And we said unto them, that the soil had lost its life, and the crops
therefrom were not vital; and a great while it would take for the earth
within their pyramid to receive back the life-elements. And we told them
certain ways by which they might bring a more speedy life to the soil;
and this they were eager to do, being freshly alive after so long a time
of half-life.

And now, you must know that in all the great Redoubt the story went
downwards swiftly, and was published in all the Hour-Sheets, with many
comments; and the libraries were full of those who would look up the
olden Records, which for so long had been forgotten, or taken, as we of
this day would say, with a pinch of salt.

And all the time I was pestered with questions; so that, had I not been
determined, I should scarce have been allowed to sleep; moreover, so
much was writ about me, and my power to hear, and divers stories
concerning tales of love, that I had been like to have grown mazed to
take note of it all; yet some note I did take, and much I found
pleasant; but some displeasing.

And, for the rest, I was not spoiled, as the saying goes; for I had my
work to do; moreover, I was always busied Listening, and having speech
through the darkness. Though if any saw me so, they would question; and
because of this, I kept much to the Tower of Observation, where was the
Master Monstruwacan, and a greater discipline.

And then began a fresh matter; though but an old enough trick; for I
speak now of the days that followed that re-opening of the talk between
the Pyramids. Oft would speech come to us out of the night; and there
would be tales of the sore need of the Lesser Redoubt, and callings for
help. Yet, when I sent the Master-Word abroad, there would be no
answering. And so I feared that the Monsters and Forces of Evil _knew_.

Yet, at times, the Master-Word would answer to us, beating steadily in
the night; and when we questioned afresh, we knew that they in the
Lesser Redoubt had caught the beat of the Master-Word, and so made
reply; though it had not been they who had made the previous talk, which
we had sought to test by the Word. And then they would make
contradiction of all that had been spoken so cunningly; so that we knew
the Monsters and Forces had sought to tempt some from the safety of the
Redoubt. Yet, was this no new thing, as I have made to hint; saving that
it grew now to a greater persistence, and there was a loathsome cunning
in the using of this new knowledge to the making of wicked and false
messages by those evil things of the Night Land. And it told to us, as I
have made remark, how that those Monsters and Forces had a full
awaredness of the speech between the Pyramids; yet could they have no
power to say the Master-Word; so had we some test left, and a way to
sure knowledge of what made talk in the night.

And all that I have told should bring to those of this Age something of
the yet unbegotten terror of that; and a quiet and sound thankfulness to
God, that we suffer not as humanity shall yet suffer.

But, for all this, let it not be thought that they of that Age accounted
it as suffering; but as no more than the usual of human existence. And
by this may we know that we can meet all circumstances, and use
ourselves to them and live through them wisely, if we be but prudent and
consider means of invention.

And through all the Night Land there was an extraordinary awakening
among the Monsters and Forces; so that the instruments made constant
note of greater powers at work out there in the darkness; and the
Monstruwacans were busied recording, and keeping a very strict watch.
And so was there at all that time a sense of difference and awakening,
and of wonders about, and to come.

And from The Country Whence Comes The Great Laughter, the Laughter
sounded constant ... as it were an uncomfortable and heart-shaking
voice-thunder rolling thence over the Lands, out from the unknown East.
And the Pit of the Red Smoke filled all the Deep Valley with redness, so
that the smoke rose above the edge, and hid the bases of the Towers upon
the far side.

And the Giants could be seen plentiful around the Kilns to the East; and
from the Kilns great belches of fire; though the meaning of it, as of
all else, we could not say; but only the cause.

And from the Mountain Of The Voice, which rose to the South-East of the
South-East Watcher, and of which I have made no telling hitherto, in
this faulty setting-out, I heard for the first time in that life, the
calling of the Voice. And though the Records made mention of it; yet not
often was it heard. And the calling was shrill, and very peculiar and
distressful and horrible; as though a giant-woman, hungering strangely,
shouted unknown words across the night. And this was how it seemed to
me; and many thought this to describe the sound.

And, by all this, may you perceive how that Land was awakened.

And other tricks there were to entice us into the Night Land; and once a
call came thrilling in the aether, and told to us that certain humans
had escaped from the Lesser Redoubt, and drew nigh to us; but were faint
for food, and craved succour. Yet, when we sent the Master-Word into the
night, the creatures without could make no reply; which was a very happy
thing for our souls; for we had been all mightily exercised in our
hearts by this one message; and now had proof that it was but a trap.

And constantly, and at all hours, I would have speech with Naani of the
Lesser Redoubt; for I had taught her how she might send her thoughts
through the night, with her brain-elements; but not to over-use this
power; for it exhausts the body and the powers of the mind, if it be
abused by exceeding usage.

Yet, despite that I had taught her the use of her brain-elements, she
sent her message always without strength, save when she had use of the
instrument; and this I set to the cause that she had not the health
force needful; but, apart from this, she had the Night-Hearing very
keen; though less than mine.

And so, with many times of speech, and constant tellings of our doings
and thoughts, we drew near in the spirit to one another; and had always
a feeling in our hearts that we had been given previous acquaintance.

And this, as may be thought, thrilled my heart very strangely.




IV

THE HUSHING OF THE VOICE


    ("Dearest, thine own feet tread the world at night--
        Treading, as moon-flakes step across a dark--
      Kissing the very dew to holier light ...
        Thy Voice a song past mountains, which to hark
      Frightens my soul with an utter lost delight.")

Now, one night, towards the end of the sixteenth hour, as I made ready
to sleep, there came all about me the thrilling of the aether, as
happened oft in those days; but the thrilling had a strange power in it;
and in my soul the voice of Naani sounded plain, all within and about
me.

Yet, though I knew it to be the voice of Naani, I answered not
immediately; save to send the sure question of the Master-Word into the
night. And, directly, I heard the answer, the Master-Word beating
steadily in the night; and I questioned Naani why she had speech with me
by the Instrument at that time, when all were sleeping, and the watch
set among the Monstruwacans; for they in the little Pyramid had their
sleep-time to commence at the eleventh hour; so that by this it was five
hours advanced towards the time of waking; and Naani should have slept;
nor have been abroad to the Tower of Observation, apart from her father.
For I supposed that she spoke by the Instrument, her voice sounding very
clear in my brain. Yet, to this question, she made no answer in kind;
but gave a certain thing into my spirit, which set me trembling; for she
said certain words, that began:

"Dearest, thine own feet tread the world at night--"

And it well may be that she set me to tremble; for as the words grew
about me, there wakened a memory-dream how that I had made these same
words to Mirdath the Beautiful in the long-gone Eternity of this our
Age, when she had died and left me alone in all the world. And I was
weak a little with the tumult and force of my emotion; but in a moment I
called eagerly with my brain-elements to Naani to give some explaining
of this thing that she had spoken to the utter troubling of my heart.

Yet, once more she made no direct answer; but spoke the words again to
me across all the dark of the world. And it came to me suddenly, that it
was not Naani that spoke; but Mirdath the Beautiful, from out of all the
everlasting night. And I called: "Mirdath! Mirdath," with my
brain-elements, into the night; and lo! the far, faint voice spoke again
to my spirit through all the darkness of eternity, saying again those
words. Yet, though the voice was the voice of Mirdath the Beautiful, it
was also the voice of Naani; and I knew in all my heart that this thing
was in verity; and that it had been given to me to be birthed once more
into this world in the living-time of that Only One, with whom my spirit
and essence hath mated in all ages through the everlasting. And I called
with my brain-elements and all my strength to Naani; but there came no
answer; neither sign of hearing, though through hours I called.

And thus at last I came to an utter exhaustion; but neither could be
quiet, nor sleep. Yet, presently, I slept.

And when I waked, my first memory was of the wondrous thing which had
befallen in the sleep-time; for none in all this world could have known
those words; save it had been the spirit of Mirdath, my Beautiful One,
looking from above my shoulder in that utter-lost time, as I made those
words to her, out of an aching and a broken heart. And the voice had
been the voice of Mirdath; and the voice of Mirdath had been the voice
of Naani. And what shall any say to this, save that which I had in my
heart.

And immediately I called to Naani, once, and again twice; and in a
little moment there came all about me the throbbing of the Master-Word,
beating solemnly in the night; and I sent the Master-Word to give
assurance, and immediately the voice of Naani, a little weak as was it
always when she had not the Instrument, but sent the message with her
brain-elements.

And I answered her, and questioned her eagerly concerning her sayings of
the past time of sleep; but she disclaimed, and made clear to me that
she had no knowledge of having spoken; but had slept through all that
time of which I made to tell; and, indeed, had dreamed a very strange
dream.

And for a little while I was confused, and meditated, not knowing what
to think; but came suddenly again to a knowledge that Naani's far voice
was thrilling the aether all about; and that she would tell to me her
dream; which had set strong upon her mind.

And she told the dream to me, and in the dream she had seen a tall, dark
man, built very big, and dressed in unfamiliar clothing. And the man had
been in a little room, and very sorrowful, and lonesome; and in her
dream she had gone nigh to him.

And presently the man made to write, that he might ease him by giving
expression to his sorrow; and Naani had been able to read the words that
he wrote; though to her waking spirit the language in which they were
writ was strange and unknown. Yet she could not remember what he had
writ, save but one short line, and this she had mind of in that he had
writ the word Mirdath above. And she spoke of the strangeness of this
thing, that she should dream of this name; but supposed that I had fixed
it upon her, by my first callings.

And then did I, with something of a tremble in my spirit, ask Naani to
tell me what she remembered of the writing of that big, sorrowful
stranger. And, in a little moment, her far voice said these words all
about me:

    "Dearest, thine own feet tread the world at night--"

But no more had she memory of. Yet it was a sufficiency, and I, maybe
with a mad, strange triumph in my soul, said unto her with my
brain-elements that which remained of those words. And my spirit felt
them strike upon the spirit of Naani, and awake her memory, as with the
violence of a blow. And for a little while she stumbled, dumb before so
much newness and certainly. And her spirit then to waken, and she near
wept with the fright and the sudden, new wonder of this thing.

And immediately, all about me there came her voice thrilling, and the
voice was the voice of Mirdath, and the voice of Naani; and I heard the
tears of her spirit make pure and wonderful the bewildered and growing
gladness of her far voice. And she asked me, as one who had suddenly
opened the Gates of Memory, whether she might be truly Mirdath. And I,
utter weak and shaken strangely because of this splendour of fulfilment,
could make no instant answer. And she asked again, but using mine old
love-name, and with a sureness in her far voice. And still I was so
strangely dumb, and the blood to thud peculiar in mine ears; and this to
pass; and speech to come swift.

And this way to be that meeting of our spirits, across all the
everlasting night.

And you shall have for a memory-picture, how that Naani stood there in
the world in that far eternity, and, with her spirit having speech with
mine, looked back through the part-opened gates of her memory, into the
past of this our life and Age. Yet more than this she saw, and more than
was given to me in that Age; for she had memory now and sight of other
instances, and of other comings together, which had some confusion and
but half-meanings to me. Yet of this our present Age and life, we spoke
as of some yesterday; but very hallowed.

Now, as may be conceived, the wonder of this surety which had come into
my life stirred me fiercely to its completion; for all my heart and
spirit cried out to be with that one who was Mirdath, and now spoke with
the voice of Naani.

Yet, how should this be won; for none among all the learned men of that
Mighty Pyramid knew the position of the Lesser Redoubt; neither could
the Records and Histories of the World give us that knowledge; only that
there was a general thought among the Students and the Monstruwacans
that it lay between the North-West and the North-East. But no man had
any surety; neither could any conceive of the distance from us of that
Refuge.

And counting all this, there was yet the incredible danger and peril of
the Night Land, and the hunger and desolation of the Outer Lands, which
were sometimes named the Unknown Lands.

And I spoke much with Naani concerning this matter of their position;
yet neither she nor her father, the Master Monstruwacan of that Refuge,
had any knowing either of our position; only that the Builder of the
Lesser Redoubt had come out of the Southward World in the Beginning, as
they had knowledge of by the Records.

Also, the father of Naani set that ancient Compass to bear; for, as he
made explanation to us through the Instrument, so great a power of the
Earth-Current must be ours that, perchance it was our force which did
affect the pointer from steadfastness. For, indeed, the needle did swing
in an arc, as we heard, that held between the North and the South;
within the Westward arc; but this it had done ever with them, and so was
a very helpless guide; save that, maybe, as we had thought, the force of
the Earth-Current that was with us, had in truth some power to pull the
needle towards us. And if this were so of verity, we made a reckoning
that set the Lesser Redoubt to the North; and they did likewise, and put
us to the South; yet was it all built upon the sand of guess-work; and
nothing to adventure the life and soul upon.

Now we, of curiosity; though a million times had it been done in the
past ages, set the compass before us, having it from the Great Museum.
But, as ever in that age, it did spin if we but stirred the needle, and
would stop nowheres with surety, for the flow of the Earth-Current from
the "Crack" beneath the Pyramid had a power to affect it away from the
North, and to set it wandering. And this may seem very strange to this
present Age; yet to that, it was most true to the seeming nature of
things; and harder to believe that ever it did once point steadfastly,
to prove a guide of sureness, and unfailing.

For, be it known, we knew the positions of the Land by tradition, coming
from that ancient time when, in the Half-Gloom they had builded the
Pyramid; they having known the use of that ancient compass, and with
sight of the Sun had named the Positions; though we of that far future
day had forgotten the very beginnings of those Names of Direction; and
used them but because our fathers did a million years and more. And
likewise we did the same with the names of the day and the night and the
weeks and the months and the years; though of the visible markings of
these there was nothing but only and always the everlasting night; yet
the same seeming very natural to that people.

Now, Naani, having heed to my constant questions, craved with an utter
keen hunger that I might come to her; but yet forbade it, in that it
were better to live and commune in the spirit, than to risk my soul, and
mayhaps die, in the foolishness of trying to find her in all the
darkness of the dead world. Yet, no heed had I taken of her commands,
had I but known of a surety the _direction_ in which she might be
discovered; and gained some knowledge of the space between, for this
might be named by thousands of miles, or but by hundreds; though a great
distance it was surely.

Yet, one other thing there was, that has point in this place; for when I
sent my speech out into the night, using my brain-elements, I came to
know that, whether I had a knowledge of the North, or no knowledge at
the moment, yet did I turn oft with a sure instinction to that
Direction. And of this, the Master Monstruwacan took very great note,
and had me to experiment many a time and way, and so enclosed about with
screens, or with bandages across mine eyes, that I could not, save by
that inward Knowing, have any knowledge to point me the way. Yet would I
turn Northwards very frequent, by a certain feeling; and seemed unable
of speech, if I were turned otherwise by force.

But when we asked Naani whether she had an unusualness in this matter,
she could discover none; and we could but take note curiously of that
which affected my habits; and which truly I set to the attracting of her
spirit; for I had mind that she did be somewheres out that way in the
darkness of the world; but yet was this no more than to suppose, as you
perceive.

And the Master Monstruwacan wrote a study of this matter of the
Northwardness of my turning; and it was set out in the Hour-Slips of the
Tower of Observation; and so it came to be copied by the Hour-Slips of
the great cities, and made much comment, and much calling up to me
through the home instruments; so that with this, and the speech that
went about concerning my powers to hear, I was much in talk, and
diversely pleased and oft angered by overmuch attention and importunity.

And now, whilst I pondered this matter in all my spirit and being, how
that I should some way come to Naani, there befell a very terrible
thing. And in this wise must I tell it:

It was at the seventeenth hour, when all the millions of the Mighty
Pyramid slept, that I was with the Master Monstruwacan in the Tower of
Observation taking my due turn. And sudden, I heard the thrilling of the
aether all about me, and the voice of Naani in my soul, speaking. And I
sent the Master-Word into the darkness of the world, and presently, I
heard the solemn answer beating steadfastly in the night; and
immediately I called to Naani with my brain-elements, to know what thing
troubled her in her sleep.

And her voice came into my spirit, weak and far and faint, and so that
scarce I could make to hear the words. Yet, in a while I gathered that
all the peoples of the Lesser Redoubt were in very deadly trouble; for
that the Earth-Current had failed suddenly and mightily; and they had
called her from her sleep, that she might listen whether we answered
their callings by the Instrument; but, indeed, no calling had come to
us.

And they who had been of late so joyful, were now grown old with sorrow
in but an hour or two; for they feared that the fresh coming of the
Earth-Current had been but the final flicker and outburst before the
end. And, even in this short while of our speech, did it seem to me that
the voice of Naani grew further off from me; and I felt like to have
broken my heart with the trouble of this thing.

And through all that remained of that sleep-time, did I converse with
Naani, as might two lovers who shall presently part forever. And when
the cities awoke, the news went throughout them, and all our millions
were in sorrow and trouble.

And thus was it for, maybe, a little month; and in that time had the
voice of Naani grown so weak and far-off that even I that had the
Night-Hearing, could scarce make real its meaning. And every word was to
me a treasure and a touch upon my soul; and my grief and trouble before
this certain parting drove me that I could not eat, neither have rest;
and this did the Master Monstruwacan take upon him to chide and correct;
for that, if any were to help, how should it be done if I that had the
Night-Hearing, and heard even now that the recording Instruments were
dumb, came to ill-health.

And because of this, and such wisdom as was mine, I made to eat and
order my life that I might have my full powers. Yet was this beyond all
my strength; for, presently, I knew that the people of the Lesser
Pyramid were threatened by the monsters that beset them; and later I had
knowledge from faint, far words whispered in my brain, that there had
been a fight with an outside Force that had harmed many in their minds;
so that in madness they had opened the gate and had run from the Lesser
Pyramid, out into the darkness of the Lands about them; and there had
their physical bodies fallen to the monsters of those Lands; but of
their souls who may know?

And this, we set assuredly to the failure of the Earth-Current, which
had robbed them of all force and power; so that, in those few weeks all
life and joy of living had left them; and neither hunger nor thirst had
they, much, nor any great desire to live; but yet a new and mighty fear
of death. And this doth seem very strange.

And, as may be thought, all this made the Peoples of the Great Redoubt
think newly of the Earth-Current that issued from the "Crack" beneath
the Pyramid; and of their latter end; so that much was writ in the
Hour-Slips concerning this matter; yet in the main to assure us that we
ourselves might each be free from a disturbed heart; though some went
foolishly to the other event, and spoke of a speedy danger to us,
likewise; as is ever the way. But the truth of our own case lay, maybe,
somewhere between.

And all the Hour-Slips were full also of imaginings of the terror of
those poor humans out in the darkness of the world, facing that end
which must come upon all, even upon our mighty Pyramid; though, as most
would believe, so far away in some future eternity, that we have no
cause to trouble.

And there were sad poems writ to the peoples of that Lesser Redoubt, and
foolish plans set about to rescue them; but none to put them to effect;
and no way by which so great a thing might be done; and doth but show
how loosely people will speak out of an over-security. Yet to me, there
had come a certain knowledge that I must make the adventure, though I
achieved naught save mine own end. Yet, it were better to cease quickly,
than that I should feel, as now I did feel.

That same night, in the Eighteenth Hour, there was a great disturbance
in the aether about the Mighty Pyramid; and I was awakened suddenly by
the Master Monstruwacan; that I might use my gift of the Night-Hearing
to hearken for the throbbing of the Master-Word, which they had thought
to come vaguely through the Instruments; but no one of the Monstruwacans
was sensitive enough of soul to account truly whether this was so.

And lo! as I sat up in the bed, there came the sound of the Master-Word,
beating in the night about the Pyramid. And immediately there was a
crying in the aether all about me: "We are coming! We are coming!"

And mine inwards leaped and sickened me a moment, so shaken was I with a
sudden belief; for the message seemed some ways to come to me from very
near to the Great Redoubt; as that they who sent it were nigh to hand.

And, forthwith, I called the Master-Word into the night; but no answer
did there come for a while, and then a faint thrilling of the aether
about me, and the weak pulse of the Master-Word in the night, sent by a
far voice, strangely distant. And I knew that the voice was the voice of
Naani; and I put a question through all the darkness of the dead world,
whether she were within the Lesser Redoubt, and safe thus far.

And presently, there came a faint disturbance about me, and a small
voice in my soul, speaking weakly and out of an infinite distance; and I
knew that far away through the night Naani spoke feebly, with her
brain-elements; and that she abode within the Lesser Pyramid; but that
she too had heard that strange pulse of the Master-Word in the night,
and that message: "We are coming! We are coming!" And vastly had this
thing disturbed her, waking her within her sleep; so that she knew not
what to think; save that we were devising some method to come to them.
But this I removed from doubt, saying that she must not build on vain
hoping; for I would not have her doubly tortured by the vanity of such
believing. And, thereafter, having said such things as I might, though
few they were, to comfort her, I bade her, gently, to sleep; and turned
therewith to the Master Monstruwacan, who waited in quiet patience; and
had no knowledge of that which I had heard and sent; for his hearing was
but the normal; though his brain and heart were such as made me to love
him.

And I told the Master Monstruwacan many things as I put my clothing
about me; how that there had indeed been the calling of the Master-Word;
but not by any of that Lesser Redoubt; but that, to my belief, it had
come from nigh about the Great Pyramid. Moreover, it was sent by no
instrument; as I wotted that he did guess; but, as it seemed to me, by
the brain-elements of many, calling in unison.

And all this did I set out to the Master Monstruwacan; and with
something uncertain of fear and trouble in my heart; yet with a blind
expectation; as, indeed, who would not. Though, no longer was I shaken
by that first thought of Her nearness.

And I said to the Master Monstruwacan that we should go to the Tower of
Observation, and search the Night Lands with the great spy-glass.

And we did this, and lo! presently, we saw a great number of men pass
over the Electric Circle that went about the Pyramid; yet they came not
_to_ us; but went outwards towards the blackness and the strange fires
and hideous mysteries of the Night Land. And we ceased from spying, and
looked swiftly at one another, and knew in our hearts that some had left
the Mighty Pyramid in the Sleep-Time.

Then the Master Monstruwacan sent word to the Master Watchman that his
wardership had been outraged, and that people left the great Pyramid in
the Sleep-Time; for this was against the Law; and none ever went out
into the Night Land, save the Full Watch were posted to the Great Door;
and at a due time, when all were wakeful; for the Opening Of The Door
was made known to all the Millions of the Great Redoubt; so that all
might be aware; and know that no foolishness was done without their
wotting.

Moreover, ere any had power to leave the Pyramid, they must pass The
Examination, and Be Prepared; and some of this have I set out already.
And so stern was the framing of the Law, that there were yet the metal
pegs upon the inner side of the Great Gate, where had been stretched the
skin of one who disobeyed; and was flayed and his hide set there to be a
warning in the Early Days. Yet the tradition was remembered; for, as I
might say it, we lived very close about the place; and Memory had no
room whereby she might escape.

Now the Master Watchman, when he heard that which the Master
Monstruwacan had to tell, went hastily with some of the Central Watch
from the Watch-Dome, to the Great Gate; and he found the men of the
Sleep-Time Watch, with the Warder of the Gate, all bound, and stopt in
the mouth, so that none could make outcry.

And he freed them, and learned that nigh five hundred young men, from
the Upper Cities, by the bigness of their chests, had come upon them
suddenly, and bound them, and escaped into the night through the
Eye-Gate in the top of the Great Gate.

And the Master Watchman was angry, and demanded why that none had called
by the instruments of the Watch House; but lo! some had made to call
thus, and found them unable to wake the recorders which lay in the
central Watch-Dome; for there had been tampering.

Now, after this, they made certain new rules and Laws concerning the
order of Watching, and made tests of the lesser instruments of the
inward Pyramid, nightly, upon the coming of the Sleep-Time, which was,
even in that strange age, by tradition called the Night, as I have given
hint; though hitherto, until the way of my story was known, I have used
a word for the sleep hours that was yet not of that time; but somewhat
an invention to make this history free from the confusion of "night" and
"day," when, in truth, it was always night without upon the world. Yet,
after this, shall I keep to mine use the luxury of the true names of
that time; and yet, how strange is it that the truth should be of so
little to our thinking.

And so to go forward with my telling; for, though all this care were now
taken, it had no force until afterward; and at this moment were those
poor foolish youths out in all the danger of the Night Land, and no way
by which they might be succoured, or called back; save that Fear or
Wisdom should come to them quickly, that they cease from so wild an
attempt. For it was to make rescue of those in that other, unknown
Pyramid, out in all the darkness of the World's Night that was their
intent, as we had speedy knowledge from those boon friends that had been
in the secret of their plot, which had seemed to them great and heroic;
and was so, in verity, but that neither they who went, nor they who
stayed, had a true awaredness of the danger they had dealing with, being
all naught but raw and crude youths; yet, doubtless, with the makings of
many fine and great men among them.

And because some had thus abetted that which they knew to be against the
Law, which was framed to the well-being and safety of all, there were
certain floggings, which might the better help their memories in the
future as to the properness of their actions and wisdom.

Moreover, they who returned, if any, would be flogged, as seemed proper,
after due examination. And though the news of their beatings might help
all others to hesitation, ere they did foolishly, in like fashion, yet
was the principle of the flogging not on this base, which would be both
improper and unjust; but only that the one in question be corrected to
the best advantage for his own well-being; for it is not meet that any
principle of correction should shape to the making of human signposts of
pain for the benefit of others; for in verity, this were to make one pay
the cost of many's learning; and each should owe to pay only so much as
shall suffice for the teaching of his own body and spirit. And if others
profit thereby, this is but accident, however helpful. And this is
wisdom, and denoteth now that a sound Principle shall prevent Practice
from becoming monstrous.

Yet, now I must hasten that I set down how it fared with those five
hundred youths that had made so sad an adventure of their lives and
unprepared souls; and were beyond our aid to help them, who might not
so much as make any calling to them, to bid them to return; for to do
this would have been to tell to all the Monsters of the Land that humans
were abroad from the Mighty Pyramid.

And this would have been to cause the monsters to search the youths out
to their destruction, and maybe even to awaken the Forces to work them
some dread Spiritual harm, which was the chief Fear.

Now, presently, through all the cities of the Great Redoubt, the news
had gone how that five hundred foolish Youths had adventured out into
the despair of the Night Land; and the whole Pyramid waked to life, and
the Peoples of the South came to the Northern sides, for the Great Gate
lay in the North-West side; and the Youths had made from there, not
straightly outwards, but towards the North; and so were to be seen from
the North-East embrasures, and from those within the North-West wall.

And thus, in a while were they watched by all the mighty multitudes of
the Great Pyramid, through millions of spy-glasses; for each human had a
spying-glass, as may be thought; and some were an hundred years old, and
some, maybe ten thousand, and handed down through many generations; and
some but newly made, and very strange. But all those people had some
instrument by which they might spy out upon the wonder of the Night
Land; for so had it been ever through all the eternity of darkness, and
a great diversion and wonder of life was it to behold the monsters about
their work; and to know that they plotted always to our destruction; yet
were ever foiled.

And never did all that great and terrible Land grow stale upon the soul
of any, from birth until death; and by this you shall know the constant
wonder of it, and that _sense of enemies in the night about us,_ which
ever filled the heart and spirit of all Beholders; so that never were
the embrasures utterly empty.

Yet, many beheld not the Land from the embrasures; but sat about the
View-Tables, which were set properly in certain places throughout the
cities, and so beheld the Night Land, without undue cranings, or poising
of spy-glasses, though less plain-seen. And these same tables were some
form of that which we of this age name Camera Obscura; but made very
great, and with inventions, and low to the floor, so that ten thousand
people might sit about them in the raised galleries, and have
comfortable sight. Yet this attracted not the young people, save they
were lovers; and then, in truth, were they comfortable seats for
quietness and gentle whisperings.

Yet now, as may be supposed, with all the Peoples of the Mighty Pyramid
grown eager to look towards one part of the Night Land, the embrasures
were hid in the crowds; and such as could gain no view therethrough,
thronged about the View-Tables. And so was it in all the hours of
leisure; so that women had scarce patience to attend their children; but
must hasten to watch again, that lonesome band of foolish youths making
so blind and unshaped a trial to come upon that unknown Lesser Redoubt,
somewhere out in all the night of the world.

And in this wise passed three days and nights; yet both in the
sleep-time and the time of waking did great multitudes cease not to
watch; so that many went hungry for sleep, as in truth did I. And
sometimes we saw those Youths with plainness; but other times they were
lost to our sight in the utter shadows of the Night Land. Yet, by the
telling of our instruments, and the sense of my hearing, there was no
awaredness among the Monsters, and the Forces of Evil, that any were
abroad from the Pyramid; so that a little hope came into our hearts that
yet there might be no tragedy.

And times, would they cease from their way, and sit about in circles
among the shadows and the grey moss-bushes, which grew hardly here or
there about. And we knew that they had food with them to eat; for this
could we see with plainness, as some odd, grim flare of light from the
infernal fires struck upon one or another strangely, and passed, and
left them in the darkness.

And who of you shall conceive what was in the hearts of the fathers, and
the mothers that bore the youths, and who never ceased away from the
Northward embrasures; but spied out in terror and in tears, and maybe
oft with so good glasses as did show them the very features and look
upon the face of son and son.

And the kin of the watchers brought to them food, and tended them, so
that they had no need to cease from their watching; and beds were made
in the embrasures, rough and resourceful, that they might sleep quickly
a little; yet be ever ready, if those cruel Monsters without made
discovery of those their children.

Thrice in those three days of journeying to the Northward, did the
Youths sleep, and we perceived that some kept a watch, and so knew that
there was a kind of order and leadership among them; also, they had each
his weapon upon his hip, and this gave to us a further plea to hope.

And concerning this same carrying of weapons, I can but set out here
that no healthful male or female in all the Mighty Pyramid but possessed
such a weapon, and was trained to it from childhood; so that a ripe and
extraordinary skill in the use thereof was common to most. Yet some
breaking of Rule had there been, that the Youths had each achieved to be
armed; for the weapons were stored in every tenth house of the cities,
in the care of the charging-masters.

And here I must make known that these weapons did not shoot; but had a
disk of grey metal, sharp and wonderful, that spun in the end of a rod
of grey metal, and were someways charged by the Earth-Current, so that
were any but stricken thereby, they were cut in twain so easy as aught.
And the weapons were contrived to the repelling of any Army of Monsters
that might make to win entrance to the Redoubt. And to the eye they had
somewhat the look of strange battle-axes, and might be lengthened by the
pulling out of the handles.

Now, the Youths made, as I have told, to the Northward; but had first to
keep a long way to the North-East, that they might come clear of the
Vale of Red Fire. And this wise they journeyed, and kept the Vale about
seven miles to the North-West of them, and so were presently beyond the
Watcher of the North-East, and going with a greater freedom, and having
less care to hide.

And this way, it may be, certain of the giants, wandering, perceived
them, and went swiftly to make attack and destroy them. But some order
went about among the youths, and they made a long line, with a certain
space between each, because of the terror of their weapon, and
immediately, it seemed, the Giants were upon them, a score and seven
they were, and seeming to be haired like to mighty crabs, as I saw with
the Great Spy-Glass, when the great flares of far and mighty fires threw
their fierce light across the Dark Lands.

And there was a very great and horrid fight; for the Youths broke into
circles about each of the Giants, and many of those young men were torn
in pieces; but they smote the Monsters from behind and upon every side,
and we of the Mighty Pyramid could behold at times the grey, strange
gleam of their weapons; and the jether was stirred about me by the
passing of those that died; yet, by reason of the great miles, their
screams came not to us, neither heard we the roars of the Monsters; but
into our hearts, even from that great distance and safety, there stole
the terror of those awesome Brutes; and in the Great Spy-Glass I could
behold the great joints and limbs and e'en, I thought, the foul sweat of
them; and their size and brutishness was like to that of odd and
monstrous animals of the olden world; yet part human. And it must be
borne to mind that the Fathers and the Mothers of those Youths beheld
all this dread fight from the embrasures, and their other kin likewise
watched, and a very drear sight was it to their hearts and their human,
natural feelings, and like to breed old age, ere its due.

Then, in a time, the fight ceased; for of those seven and twenty Giant
Brutes there remained none; only that there cumbered the ground seven
and twenty lumbering hillocks, dreadful and grim. For the lesser dead we
could not see proper.

And we that were within the Pyramid saw the Youths sorted together by
their leaders, all in the dim twilight of that place; and with the Great
Spy-Glass I made a rough count, and found that there lived of them,
three hundred; and by this shall you know the power of those few
monstrous things, which had slain full two hundred, though each youth
was armed with so wondrous a weapon. And I set the word through the
Pyramid, that all might have some knowledge of the number that had
died; for it was better to know, than to be in doubt. And no spy-glass
had the power of The Great Spy-Glass.

After this fight, the youths spent a time having a care to their bodies
and wounds; and some were made separate from the others, and of these I
counted upon fifty; and whilst the others made to continue their march
towards the Road Where The Silent Ones Walk, these were constrained by
one who was the Leader, to return to the Pyramid. And in a little, I saw
that they came towards us, wearily and with many a halt, as that they
suffered great wounds and harm of the fight.

But those others (maybe two hundred and fifty Youths) went onwards into
the Night Land; and though we sorrowed at this thing; yet was there come
a huge pride into our hearts that those raw ones, who yesterday were but
children, had so held themselves in the battle, and done a great deed
that day. And I wot that whilst their mothers wept, easeless, their
fathers' hearts swelled within them, and held somewhat of their Pain
away from them for a time.

And all this while, those wounded Youths came slowly, and rested, and
came on again, the better helping the worse; and a great excitement and
trouble there was in all the Mighty Pyramid, to learn which were they
that came, and they that went, and who lay out there quietly among the
slain. But none might say anything with surety; for, even with that
great spy-glass in the Tower of Observation, they were not overplain;
save when some light from the fires of the Land flared high, and lit
them. For they stood not up into the glare of the fires, as had the
Giants. And though I saw them with clearness, yet I knew them not; for
there was so mighty a multitude in that Vast Redoubt, that none might
ever know the half even of their rulers.

And about this time, there came a fresh matter of trouble to our minds;
for one of the Monstruwacans made report that the instruments were
recording an influence abroad in the night; so that we had knowledge
that one of the Evil Forces was Out. And to me there came an awaredness
that a strange unquiet stole over the Land; yet I knew it not with mine
ears; but my spirit heard, and it was as though trouble and an
expectation of horror did swarm about me.

And once, listening, I heard the Master-Word beating strangely low, and
I knew the aether to thrill about me, and a faint stirring was there in
my soul, as of a faint voice, speaking; and I knew that Naani called to
me some message across the night of the world; yet weak and coming
without clear meaning; so that I was tormented and could but send
comfort to her, with my brain-elements. And presently I knew that she
ceased to speak.

And, later, I heard that there was a new matter forward in the Redoubt;
for ten thousand men had assembled to attend the Room of Preparation
for the Short Preparation; and by this we knew that those poor Youths
who stumbled towards us through the dark, were presently to have help.

And through all that Sleep-Time, there went forward the Spiritual and
the Physical Preparation of the ten thousand; and upon the morrow they
slept, whilst an hundred thousand made ready their arms.

And in this space of time the two hundred and fifty Youths that went
towards the Road Where The Silent Ones Walk, had come very nigh thereto;
having gone very warily and with some slowness, because, as may be, of
the lesson of the Giants.

And to us in the Pyramid, the instruments made known constantly that
Influence which was abroad, and which all those of the Tower of
Observation thought to proceed from the House of Silence. Yet, nothing
could we see with the Great Spy-Glass, and so could come to no sure
knowing; but only to fear and wonder.

And, presently, the Youths were upon the Great Road, and turned to the
Northward. And beyond them, a great way, stood the House of Silence,
upon a low hill at a certain distance to the right of the Road.

By now, they that were wounded had come to within, maybe, fifteen miles
of the Great Redoubt; and the news went through all the Cities, that the
ten thousand men that were Prepared, made to arm themselves. And I went
down by the Tower Lift, and saw them come down by thousands from the
Room of Preparation; and none might go nigh to them, or cause them to
speak; for they were made Ready, and were, as it might be, holy.

And all the millions of the Mighty Pyramid stood in their cities about
certain of the Main Lifts, and watched those thousands go downwards, all
in their armour of grey metal, and each one armed with the Diskos, which
was that same very terrible weapon, which all had training to.

And I doubt not but that the Young Men of the Pyramid looked, with
longing in their hearts, that they might have been among those that went
forth to succour. Yet, the older men had graver thoughts in their
hearts; for the blood ran more soberly in them, and they had knowledge
and memory of the Peril. And by this, I would make clear that I speak
less of the peril of the body, which is common to every state of life;
but of the peril of the spirit.

And it may be thought by those of this age, that it was most strange
that they of that, having all the knowledge of eternity to aid them, had
no weapon by which to shoot, and kill at a distance.

But, indeed, this had not been so in the past; as our Histories did
show; for some wondrous weapons there had been, that might slay without
sound or flash at a full score miles and more; and some we had whole
within the Great Museum; and of others but the parts in decay; for they
had been foolish things, and reckless to use; for we of that Great
Pyramid, wanted not to kill a few of the Monsters that lay at a great
distance; but only those which came nigh, to harm us.

And concerning those same weapons that killed silently at a great
distance, we had now little knowledge, save that they did waste the
Earth-Current; and no practice had we concerning their workings; for it
was, maybe, an hundred thousand years gone that they had been used, and
found to be of no great worth in a close attack, and harmful otherwise
to the peace, in that they angered, unneedful, the Forces of that land,
slaying wantonly those monsters which did no more than beset the Mighty
Redoubt at a great distance. For, as may be seen by a little thought, we
did very gladly keep a reasonable quietness, and refrained from aught
that should wake that Land; for we were born to the custom of that
strange life, and lived and died in peace, for the most part; and were
very content to have security, and to be neutral in all things that did
not overbear us; but, as it were, always armed, and ready.

But concerning the great and Evil Forces that were abroad in the Night
Land, these we had no power to harm; nor could we hope for more than
that we had security from them, which indeed we had; but the hugeness of
their power was about us, and we dared not to wake it; save through such
extremity as had come to pass by this folly of the Youths; though, even
now, we had no thought to attack aught; but only to succour those
wounded ones.

And concerning this simplicity of weapons, which excites somewhat even
my wonder in this our present age, it may be that the powers of
chemistry were someways quaintly limited by conditions in that age; and
there to be always a need to spare the Earth-Current; and hence, by this
cause and by that, we were brought, by the extreme, nigh to the
simplicity of the early world; yet with a strange and mighty difference,
as all may know who have read.

Now, presently, the Word was sent to every City throughout the Great
Redoubt--as was the Law--that the Great Gate should be opened; and each
city sent its Master, to form the Full Watch, as was the Law. And each
went clad in grey armour, and carrying the Diskos. And the Full Watch
numbered, two thousand; for there were also the Watchmen.

Then the lights in the Great Causeway were made dim; so that the opening
of the Gate should cast no great glare from within into the Night Land,
to tell the Watcher of the North-West, and all the Monsters, that
certain humans went out from the Mighty Pyramid. But whether the vast
and hidden Forces of Evil had knowledge, we knew not; and they who went
must but chance it, remembering that they were Prepared, and had the
Capsule.

And the ten thousand that were Prepared, went out through the Great
Gateway, into the night; and the Full Watch stood back from them, and
spoke no word, but saluted silently with the Diskos; and they that went,
raised each the Diskos a little, and passed out into the dark.

Then the Great Gate was shut; and we made to wait and to watch, with
trouble and expectation within our hearts. And at the embrasures many
did comfort the women of those men.

And I went back, upwards by miles, until I came to the Tower of
Observation; and I looked out from there into the Night Land, and saw
that the ten thousand halted at the Circle, and made arrangement of
themselves, and sent some before and upon either hand, and so went
forward into the Night Land.

And after that, I went to the Great Spy-Glass, and turned it towards the
two hundred and fifty Youths that were far off, upon the Road Where The
Silent Ones Walk; yet for awhile I could not perceive them, for all the
Road seemed empty. But afterward I saw them, and they were clambering
back into the Road, having gone aside, as I thought, because of the
passing of one of those Silent Ones, that I saw now at a distance to the
Southward of them.

There passed then, some three hours; and in that time I varied my
watching between those far-off Youths, and the Ten-thousand that went
forward to succour the wounded, that were now, maybe, scarce nine miles
distant from the Mighty Pyramid, and the Ten-thousand came very close to
them. And, in truth, in a little while, they spied one the other, and I
gathered, in spirit, something of the rejoicing of those youths; yet
weak and troubled were they, because of their wounds, and their
knowledge of failure, and their disobedience of the Law.

And, presently, they were surrounded by the Ten-thousand, and carried
upon slings; and all that body swung round towards the Pyramid, and came
back at a great pace.

And, in the same time, I heard the sound that made them so swift to
hasten; for there smote up through the night the Baying of the Hounds;
and we knew that they were discovered. And I swept the Great Spy-Glass
over the Land, towards the Valley Of The Hounds, that I might discover
them quickly; and I saw them come lumbering, at a strange gallop, and
great as horses, and it might be only ten miles to the East.

And I looked once upon the Watcher of the North-East, and I saw and
marvelled that the great bell-ear quivered constantly; and I knew that
it had knowledge, and gave signal to all the Land. Then did one of the
Monstruwacans report that a new and terrible Influence was abroad in the
Land; and by the instrument, we had knowledge that it approached; and
some of the Monstruwacans called foolishly with weak voices to the
Ten-thousand to haste; forgetting, and desiring only their safety from
that which came near.

Then, looking with the Great Spy-Glass, I saw that there moved across
the Land, from the direction of the Plain of Blue Fire, a mighty Hump,
seeming of Black Mist, and came with prodigious swiftness. And I called
to the Master Monstruwacan, that he come and look through one of the
eye-pieces that were about the Great Spy-Glass; and he came quickly, and
when he had looked a while, he called to the Monstruwacan that had made
report. And the Monstruwacan answered, and replied that the Influence
drew nearer, by the reading of the instrument; yet of the thing itself
the man had no sight.

And I ceased not to look, and in a little while, the Humped thing passed
downwards into the Vale of Red Fire, which lay across the Land that way.
But I watched steadfastly, and presently I saw the black Hump climb up
from the Vale of Red Fire upon this side, and come through the night, so
that in scarce a minute it had come halfway across that part of the
Night Land.

And my heart stood quiet with fear, and the utter terror of this
Monster, which I knew to be surely one of the Great Forces of Evil of
that Land, and had power, without doubt, to destroy the spirit. And the
Master Monstruwacan leapt towards the Home-Call, and sent the great
Sound down to the Ten-thousand, that they might attend, and immediately,
he signalled to them to Beware. Yet, already I perceived that they knew
of this Utter Danger that was upon them; for I saw them slay the Youths
quickly, that their spirits might not be lost; for they were Unprepared.
But the men, being Prepared, had the Capsule, and would die swiftly in
the last moment.

I looked again towards the Hump, and saw that it came like a Hill of
Blackness in the Land, and was almost anigh. Then there happened a
wonder; for in that moment when all had else gone quickly, that they
might save their souls, out of the earth there rose a little Light, like
to the crescent of the young moon of this early day. And the crescent
rose up into an arch of bright and cold fire, glowing but little; and it
spanned above the Ten-thousand and the dead; and the Hump stood still,
and went backwards and was presently lost.

And the men came swiftly towards the Mighty Pyramid. Yet, ere they were
come to safety, the Baying of the Hounds sounded close upon them, and
they faced to the danger; yet, as I could know, without despair, because
that they yet lived after so enormous a peril.

And the Hounds were very nigh, as now I beheld with the Great Spy-Glass;
and I counted five score, running with mighty heads low, and in a pack.
And lo! as the Hounds came at them, the Ten-thousand drew apart, and had
a space between the men, that they might have full use of that terrible
Diskos; and they fought with the handles at length, and I saw the disks
spin and glisten and send out fire.

Then was there a very great battle; for the Light that arched above
them, and held away The Power from their souls, made not to protect them
from this danger of the lesser monsters. And at an hundred thousand
embrasures within the Mighty Pyramid, the women cried and sobbed, and
looked again. And in the lower cities it was told, after, that the
Peoples could hear the crash and splinter of the armour, as the Hounds
ran to and fro, slaying; aye, even the sound of the armour between their
teeth.

Yet, the Ten-thousand ceased not to smite with the Diskos; and they
hewed the Hounds in pieces; but of the men that went forth, there were a
thousand and seven hundred slain by the Hounds, ere the men won to
victory.

Then came that wearied band of heroes back to the home shelter of the
Vast Redoubt; and they bore their dead with them, and the Youths that
they slew. And they were received with great honour, and with exceeding
grief, and in a great silence; for the thing admitted not of words,
until a time had passed. And in the cities of the Pyramid there was
mourning; for there had been no sorrow like unto this through, mayhap,
an hundred thousand years.

And they bore the Youths to their Mothers and to their Fathers; and the
Father of each made thanks to the men that they had saved the soul of
his son; but the women were silent. Yet, neither to the Father nor to
the Mother, was ever made known the name of the slayers; for this might
not be; as all shall see with a little thought.

And some did remember that, in verity, all was due to the unwisdom of
those Youths, who had heeded not the Law and their life-teachings. Yet
had they paid to the uttermost, and passed outwards; and the account of
their Deeds was closed.

And all this while did great numbers spy toward the Road Where The
Silent Ones Walk, that they might watch that band of Youths afar in the
Night Land, who went forward amid those horrid dangers. Yet, when the
dead Youths had been brought in, many had ceased to look out for a time
and had turned to questioning, and some had made inspection that they
might know which had come back, and which lay out there where the Giants
had slain them, or went forward to more dreadful matters.

But who of those that were abroad, were slain, or still went onward, we
had but indifferent knowledge; though the men of the Ten-thousand knew
somewhat, having had speech with the wounded Youths, ere they slew them.
And, as may be thought, these men were sorely questioned by the Mothers
and the Fathers of those Youths that were not accounted of; yet I doubt
that few had much knowledge wherewith to console them.

Now there was presently, in the Garden of Silence, which was the
lowermost of all the Underground Fields, the Ending of those seventeen
hundred heroes, and of the Youths that they saved and slew. And the
Garden was a great country, and an hundred miles every way, and the roof
thereof was three great miles above, and shaped to a mighty dome; as it
had been that the Builders and Makers thereof did remember in their
spirits the visible sky of this our present age.

And the making of that Country was all set out in a single History of
seven thousand and seventy Volumes. And there were likewise seven
thousand and seventy years spent to the making of that Country; so that
there had unremembered generations lived and laboured and died, and seen
not the end of their labour. And Love had shaped it and hallowed it; so
that of all the wonders of the world, there has been none that shall
ever come anigh to that Country of Silence--an hundred miles every way
of Silence to the Dead.

And there were in that roof seven moons set in a mighty circle, and lit
by the Earth-Current; and the circle was sixty miles across, so that all
that Country of Quiet was visible; yet to no great glare, but a sweet
and holy light; so that I did always feel in my heart that a man might
weep there, and be unashamed.

And in the midst of that silent Country, there was a great hill, and
upon the hill a vast Dome. And the Dome was full of a Light that might
be seen in all that Country, which was the Garden of Silence. And
beneath the Dome was the "Crack," and within it the glory of the
Earth-Current, from which all had life and light and safety. And in the
Dome, at the North, there was a gateway; and a narrow road went upward
to the gateway; and the Road was named The Last Road; and the Gateway
was named by no name, but known to all as The Gateway.

And there were in that mighty Country, long roadways, and hidden methods
to help travel; and constant temples of rest along the miles; and
groves; and the charm of water, falling. And everywhere the Statues of
Memory, and the Tablets of Memory; and the whole of that Great
Underground Country full of an echo of Eternity and of Memory and Love
and Greatness; so that to walk alone in that Land was to grow back to
the wonder and mystery of Childhood; and presently to go upwards again
to the Cities of the Mighty Pyramid, purified and sweetened of soul and
mind.

And in my boyhood, I have wandered oft a week of days in that Country of
Silence, and had my food with me, and slept quietly amid the memories;
and gone on again, wrapped about with the quiet of the Everlasting. And
the man-soul within would be drawn mightily to those places where the
Great Ones of the past Eternity of the World had their Memory named; but
there was that within me which ever drew me, in the ending, to the Hills
of the Babes; those little hills where might be heard amid the
lonesomeness of an utter quiet, a strange and wondrous echo, as of a
little child calling over the hills. But how this was I know not, save
by the sweet cunning of some dead Maker in the forgotten years.

And here, mayhaps by reason of this Voice of Pathos, were to be found
the countless Tokens of Memory to all the babes of the Mighty Pyramid,
through a thousand ages. And, odd whiles, would I come upon some
Mother, sitting there lonely, or mayhaps companied by others. And by
this little telling shall you know somewhat of the quietness and the
wonder and the holiness of that great Country hallowed to all Memory and
to Eternity and to our Dead.

And it was here, into the Country of Silence, that they brought down the
Dead to their Burial. And there came down into the Country of Silence,
maybe an Hundred Million, out of the Cities of the Pyramid, to be
present, and to do Honour.

Now they that had charge of the Dead, did lay them upon the road which
ran up unto The Gateway, even that same road which was named The Last
Road. And the Road moved upwards slowly with the Dead; and the Dead went
inward through The Gateway; first the poor Youths, and afterward they
that had given up life that they might save them.

And as the Dead went upwards, there was a very great Silence over all
the miles of the Country of Silence. But in a little while there came
from afar off, a sound as of a wind wailing; and it came onwards out of
the distance, and passed over the Hills of the Babes, which were a great
way off. And so came anigh to the place where I stood. Even as the
blowing of a sorrowful wind did it come; and I knew that all the great
multitudes did sing quietly; and the singing passed onwards, and left
behind it an utter silence; even as the wind doth rustle the corn, and
pass onwards, and all fall to a greater seeming quietness than before.
And the Dead passed inward through The Gateway, into the great light and
silence of the Dome; and came out no more.

And again from beyond the far Hills of the Babes there was that sound of
the millions singing; and there rose up out of the earth beneath, the
voices of the underground organs; and the noise of the sorrow passed
over me, and went again into the distance, and left all hushed.

And lo! as there passed inward to the silence of the Dome the last of
those dead Heroes, there came again the sound from beyond the Hills of
the Babes; and as it came more nigh, I knew that it was the Song of
Honour, loud and triumphant, and sung by countless multitudes. And the
Voices of the Organs rose up into thunder from the deep earth. And there
was a great Honour done to the glory of the Dead. And afterwards, once
more a silence.

Then did the Peoples of the Cities arrange themselves so that from every
city whence had come a Hero, were the People of that City gathered
together. And when they were so gathered, they set up Tokens of Memory
to the Dead of their City. But afterwards did charge Artists to the
making of sculpture great and beautiful to that same end; and now did
but place Tablets against that time.

And afterwards the People did wander over that Country of Silence, and
made visit and honour to their Ancestors, if such were deserving.

And presently, the mighty lifts did raise them all to the Cities of the
Pyramid; and thereafter there was something more of usualness; save that
ever the embrasures were full of those that watched the Youths afar upon
the Great Road. And in this place I to remember how that our spy-glasses
had surely some power of the Earth-Current to make greater the impulse
of the light upon the eye. And they were like no spy-glass that ever you
did see; but oddly shaped and to touch both the forehead and the eyes;
and gave wonderful sight of the Land. But the Great Spy-Glass to be
beyond all this; for it had the Eyes of it upon every side of The Mighty
Pyramid, and did be truly an Huge Machine.

And to me, as I went about my duties, or peered forth through the Great
Spy-Glass at the Youths upon the Road Where The Silent Ones Walk, there
came at times a far faint thrilling of the aether; so that sometimes I
was aware that there was the beating of the Master-Word in the night;
but so strange and weak, that the Instruments had no wotting of it. And
when this came, then would I call back through all the everlasting night
to Naani, who was indeed Mirdath; and I would send the Master-Word with
my brain-elements; and afterwards such comfort as I might.

Yet hard and bitter was the truth of my helplessness and weakness, and
the utter terror and might of the Evil Forces and Monsters of the Night
Land. So that I was like to have brake my heart with pondering.

And the silence would come again; and anon the weak thrilling of the
Aether; but no more the far voice speaking in my soul.




V

INTO THE NIGHT LAND


Now, after that destruction which had come upon the Ten-thousand, and
the fresh assurance that was upon us of the terror of the Night Land, it
may be known that there could be no more thought to succour. Though, in
truth, those Youths that went now upon the Road Where The Silent Ones
Walk were far beyond our aid.

Yet might it be thought that we should have signalled to them, calling
by the Home-Call, which was that great Voice which went forth from the
Machine above the sealed base of the Mighty Pyramid. But this we might
not do; for then we gave signal to the Monsters of that Land, that some
were even now abroad from the Pyramid; yet we could no more than hope
that the Evil Forces had no wotting of them; for, in verity, none might
ever know the knowledge or the Ignorance which those Powers did possess.

Yet, it must be kept to the mind that we knew even then there was an
Influence abroad in the Land, strange and quiet; so that the Instruments
did not more than make record of it. And as I have surely set down ere
now, we had belief that it did come from that House of Silence, afar in
the Night Land, upon that low hill to the North of the Great Road. And
many among the Monstruwacans feared that it was directed upon the
Youths; but of this there could be no surety; and we could but wait and
watch.

Now, about this time those poor Youths did draw nigh to that part of the
Road Where The Silent Ones Walk, where it turned more swiftly to the
North; and they to be now at no mighty distance from that grim and
horrid House.

And presently we knew that the Influence had a greater Power in the
Land; and I had an assuredness that it came from the House; yet no
certain proof was this. But I set out my feelings to the Master
Monstruwacan; and he had trust in them and in my power; moreover, he
also had belief within himself that some secret Power came out from the
House of Silence.

And some talk there was at times that we send the Home-Call into the
night, to give warning to the Youths of our knowledge and our fear; and
to entreat them to make a safe endeavour to return swiftly. Yet was this
an error; and refused by the Master Monstruwacan; for it was not meet
that we put the souls of those Youths in peril, until such time as we
had certainty that they should be lost if we did not bestir ourselves.
For, indeed, this Home-Call was as a mighty Voice, calling over the
world, and did have so exceeding a noise, that it had immediately told
all that Land how that some were yet abroad from the Great Redoubt. And
here will I set down how that the Home-Call had no use in those ages;
but had been a Call in the olden time when yet the great flying-ships
went abroad over the world.

And there passed now a day and a night; and in all that time there
ceased not great multitudes to peer forth into the Night Land at the
Youths. For it was known concerning the Influence, and all felt that the
Youths did draw nigh very speedy to their fate; and much talk there was;
and many things said, and much foolish speech, and kind intent; but no
courage to go forth to make further attempt to rescue; which, in truth,
calls not for great astonishment, as I have surely writ or oft thought.

And in this place let me set down that the Land was, as it might be
said, waked, and unquiet, and a sense of things passing in the night,
and of horrid watchfulness; and there were, at this time and at that,
low roars that went across the Land. And if I have not told the same
before this time, it must be set to count against me and my telling;
for, indeed, I should have writ it down before this place. Yet is the
difficulty of my task great; and all must bear with me, and entreat for
me that I have courage, so that I may come at last to strength and
wisdom to tell all that I did see.

Now, in the space of this day and night, it was known that the Youths
had not slept, neither had they eaten, save once, as they who had the
watch through the Great Spy-Glass did affirm. But they to hasten alway
at a woeful speed towards the North, along that Great Dismal Road, so
that presently they must cease, or slay themselves with their endeavour.

And all this did give surety to our fears that they were under a spell
from that horrid House afar in the Land; and we had an assurance that
this thing was. For, presently, there came a Monstruwacan to the Master
Monstruwacan to report that there had come sudden a mighty Influence
into the Land; and in the same moment, as it might be, I spied through
the Great Spy-Glass, and did see those Youths break swiftly from the
Road Where The Silent Ones Walk, and begin to run very swift that they
might come quickly to the House of Silence.

Then did the Master Monstruwacan hesitate not; but did send the
Home-Call across the world, aye, even to those poor doomed ones that
hastened, unknowing, to the terror which did compel them. And
immediately upon the sound, the Master did send a message to the natural
eye, in set language, and made warning that they suffered themselves to
be drawn to their destruction by a Force that came from within the House
of Silence.

And he besought them to put forth the strength of their spirits, and do
battle for their souls; and if they could in no wise compass a victory
over _that which drew them onwards_, to slay themselves quickly, ere
they went into that House to the horror of utter destruction.

And in all the Pyramid was there a great silence; for the bellowing of
the Home-Call bred a quietness, because of that which it did portend;
and it was swiftly known by the millions that the Master Monstruwacan
did plead for the souls of the Youths; and there went forth,
unknowingly, a counter-force from the Mighty Pyramid, by reason of the
prayers and soul-wishings of the countless millions.

And the counter-force was plain to my inward hearing, and beat all the
aether of the world into a surge of supplication; so that it stunned my
spirit with the great power of it. And it seemed to me, as it were,
that there was a vast spiritual-noise in all the night; and I spied
tremblingly through the Great Spy-Glass, and lo! the Youths did cease
from their swift running, and were come together in a crowd, and had a
seeming to be confused; as might some who have waked suddenly from
sleep, to find that they walked in their sleep, and had come to a
strange place.

Then came there a great roar from all the millions that spied from the
embrasures--from nigh five hundred thousand embrasures they did look,
and I count not the great View-Tables. And the shouting rose up like to
the roaring of a mighty wind of triumph, yet was it over-early to sound
for victory. For the counter-force which came from the intensity of so
many wills blent to one intent, was brake, and the Evil Force which came
forth out of the House did draw the Youths again; so that they heeded
not their salvation; but turned once again to their running.

And the Mighty Pyramid was full of a shaken silence, and immediately of
lamentation and sorrow and horror at this thing. But in that moment
there did happen a fresh wonder; for there grew suddenly before those
poor Youths, billows of mist--as it had been of pure white fire, shining
very chill; yet giving no light upon them.

And the mist of cold fire stayed their way, so that we had knowledge
that there fought for the souls of them, one of those sweet Powers of
Goodness, which we had belief did strive to ward our spirits at all
times from those Forces of Evil and Destruction. And all the millions
saw the thing; but some with a great clearness, and many doubtful; yet
were all advanced more in spiritual sight and hearing than the normal
Peoples of this Age.

But of them all, none had the Night-Hearing, to know a soul having
speech in the aether half across the world. Yet, as I have said, some
there had been aforetime who were thus given the Hearing, even as was I.

And there came a Monstruwacan to the Master Monstruwacan to make report
that the Influence had ceased to work upon the Instruments; and by this
thing we knew that in verity the Force which proceeded out from the
House of Silence was cut off from us, and from those Youths; and we had
assurance that there fought a very mighty Power for the salvation of the
souls of the Youths.

And all the Peoples were silent, save for an underbreath of wonder and
talk; for all were utter stirred with hope and fear, perceiving that the
Youths had some chance given unto them to return.

And whilst the Youths yet wavered in their minds, as I perceived with
the Great Spy-Glass, and the knowledge of my soul, and of my natural
wit, lo! the Master Monstruwacan sent once more the great Voice of the
Home-Call abroad into the Land; and immediately besought those Youths
for the sake of their souls and the love which their Mothers had for
them, to come swiftly Homewards, whilst they had yet this great Power
to shield them, and allow them sweet sanity.

And I thought that some did look towards the Pyramid, as that they
answered to the mighty Voice of the Home-Call, and did read the message
which the Master Monstruwacan made to them. But in a moment they faced
about, seeming to have a good obedience to one who did always lead; and
of whom I had inquired, and found to be one named Aschoff, who was a
great athlete of the Nine-Hundredth-City. And this same Aschoff, out of
the boldness and bravery of his heart, did make, unwitting, to destroy
the souls of them all; for he went forward and leapt into the billows of
the bright shining fire that made a Barrier in the way of their
Destruction.

And immediately the fire ceased from its shining, and gave way and sank
and grew to a nothingness; and Aschoff of the Nine-Hundredth-City began
again to run towards the House of Silence; and all they that were with
him, did follow faithfully, and ceased not to run.

And they came presently to the low Hill whereon was that horrid House;
and they went up swiftly--and they were two hundred and fifty, and
wholesome of heart, and innocent; save for a natural waywardness of
spirit.

And they came to the great open doorway that "hath been open since the
Beginning," and through which the cold steadfast light and the
inscrutable silence of Evil "hath made for ever a silence that may be
felt in all the Land." And the great, uncased windows gave out the
silence and the light--aye, the utter silence of an unholy desolation.

And Aschoff ran in through the great doorway of silence, and they that
followed. And they nevermore came out or were seen by any human.

And it must be known that the Mothers and the Fathers of those Youths
looked out into the Night Land, and saw that thing which came to pass.

And all the people were silent; but some said presently that the Youths
would come forth again; yet the people knew in their hearts that the
young men had gone in to Destruction; for, in truth, there was that in
the night which spoke horror to the souls of all, and a sudden utter
quiet in all the Land.

But unto me (that had the Night-Hearing) there came a great Fear of that
which might be whispered into my spirit, out of the Quietness of the
night--of the agony of those young men. Yet there came no sound, to the
hearing of the soul; neither then nor in all the years that were to
come; for, in verity, had those Youths passed into a Silence of which
the heart cannot think.

And here will I tell how that the strange Quiet which did fill all the
Land, seeming to brood within the night, was horrid beyond all the
roarings which had passed over the darkness in the time that went
before; so that it had given my spirit some rest and assurance to hear
but the far-echoing, low thunder of the Great Laughter, or the whining
which was used at times to sound in the night from the South-East, where
were the Silver-fire Holes that opened before the Thing that Nods. Or
the Baying of the Hounds, or the Roaring of the Giants, or any of those
dreadful sounds that did often pass through the night. For they could
not have offended me as did that time of silence; and so shall you judge
how dreadful was that quiet, which did hold so much of horror.

And surely it will be known that none had thinkings now, even in idle
speech, that any should have power to succour the Peoples of the Lesser
Redoubt. Neither, as I have said, had any the knowledge of the place
where it did stand.

And so was it made plain that those Peoples must suffer and come
unhelped and alone to their end; which was a sad and dreadful thought to
any. Yet had those within the Great Pyramid come already to much sorrow
and calamity because that some had made attempt in this matter. And
there had been for gain, only failure, and the sorrow of Mothers, and
the loneliness of Wives, and of kin. And now this dread horror upon us,
which concerned those lost Youths.

Now, as may be conceived, this _sure knowledge_ that we might give no
succour to the People of the Lesser Redoubt, weighed heavy upon my
heart; for I had, maybe with foolishness, held vague hopes and wonders
concerning our power to make expedition secretly into the Night, to
discover that Lesser Pyramid, and rescue those poor thousands; and above
all, as may be thought, had I the thought of that sweet moment in which
I should step forward out of the night and all mystery and terror, and
put forth mine arms to Naani, saying: "I am That One." And knowing, in
my soul, that she that had been mine in that bygone Eternity, should
surely know me upon the instant; and call out swiftly, and come swiftly,
and be again unto me in that age, even as she had been in this.

And to think upon it, and to know that this thing should never be; but
that, even in that moment of thought, she that had been mine in these
olden days of sweetness, might be even then suffering horror in the
Power of some foul Monster, was like a kind of madness; so that nearly I
could seize the Diskos, and run forth unprepared into the evil and
terror of the Night Land, that I should make one attempt to come to that
Place where she abode, or else to cast off my life in the attempt.

And oft did I call to Naani; and always I sent the Master-Word beating
through the night, that she might have assurance that it was indeed I
that did speak unto her spirit, and no foul thing or Monster, spelling
evil and lies unto her.

And oft did I make to instruct her that never should she be tempted
forth from the shelter of that Redoubt in which she did live, by any
message out of the night; but always to await the Master-Word; and,
moreover, to have a sure knowledge that none that was her Friend would
ever seek to entice her into the night.

And this way and that way would I speak with Naani, sending my words
silently with my brain-elements; yet was it doleful and weariful and
dreadful always to have speech into the dark, and never to hear the
answering beat of the Master-Word, and the sweet, faint voice whispering
within my soul. Yet, once and again, would I have knowledge that the
aether did thrill about me, weakly, and to mine inward hearing it would
seem that the Master-Word did beat faintly in the night; and thereafter
would my heart have a little comfort, in that I had assurance, of a
kind, that the love-maid of my memory-dreams did still live.

And constant, I put forth my soul to hark; so that my health failed me,
with the effort of my harking; and I would chide my being, that I had
not a wiser control; and so make a fight to do sanely.

Yet, day by day, did my heart grow more weary and restless; for, indeed,
it did seem that life was but a very little matter, against so great a
loss as my heart did feel to suffer.

And oft, at this time and that, did there come a Voice speaking plainly
out of the night, and did purport to be the voice of Naani; but ever I
did say the Master-Word unto the Voice, and the Voice had no power by
which it could make the one answer. Yet I jeered not at the Voice, to
show contempt of its failing to bewit me; but let the matter bide; and
the Voice would be silent a time; and again would make a calling unto
me; but never did I make speech with it (for therein lies the danger to
the soul), but always did speak the Master-Word to its silencing; and
thereafter would shut the thing from my memory, and think only upon
sweet and holy matters, as it might be Truth and Courage, but more often
of Naani, which was both sweet and holy to my spirit and heart and
being.

And so it was as I have set down, there were Monsters without in the
Night that did torment me; having, it may be, intent to lure me unto
destruction; or indeed it doth chance that they had no hope but to
plague me with malice.

And, as may be thought, all this considering of my trouble, and the
giving of my strength unto Naani through the night of the world, that
she might have comfort and help, did work upon me; so that I grew thin,
plainly to the eye of those that loved me.

And the Master Monstruwacan, he that did love me, as I were his son,
chid me gently, and had wise speech with me; so that I but loved him the
more, yet without having gain of health; for my heart destroyed me, as
it doth if love be held back and made always to weep.

And it may be thought strange that my Mother and my Father did not talk
also with me; but I had neither Mother nor Father those many years; and
this thing I should have set down early; so that none should waste
thought pondering to no end. But the blame is to my telling.

Now, concerning my love-trouble, there did happen a certain thing which
gave me to decide; for one night I waked from a sore troubled sleep, and
it did seem that Naani did call my name, mine olden love name, and in a
voice of utter anguish and with beseeching. And I sat up in the bed, and
sent the Master-Word into the Night, with my brain-elements; and
presently all about me there was the solemn beat of the Master-Word,
answering; but weak, and gone faint, that scarce I might hear it.

And I called again with my brain-elements unto Naani, that was Mirdath;
and spoke to give her assurance, and to haste to tell unto me that which
was so wrong and pitiful with her. And who shall be amazed that I was
shaken with the eagerness of my spirit, in that it was so long since
Naani had spoken clear within my soul; and now behold, her voice.

Yet, though I did call many a time unto the everlasting night, there
came no more the voice of Naani, speaking strangely within my spirit;
but only at times a weak thrilling of the aether about me.

And, at the last I grew maddened with the sorrow of this thing, and the
sense and knowledge of harm about the maid; and I stood upright upon my
feet, and I raised my hands, and gave word and honour unto Naani through
all the blackness of the night, that I would no more abide within the
Mighty Pyramid to my safety, whilst she, that had been mine Own through
Eternity, came to horror and destruction by the Beasts and Evil Powers
of that Dark World. And I gave the word with my brain-elements, and bade
her to be of heart; for that until I died I would seek her. But out of
the Darkness there came naught but the silence.

Then I clothed me swiftly, and went up quickly to the Tower of
Observation, that I might speak instant with the Master Monstruwacan;
for my heart burned in me to intention, and to be doing speedily that
which I had set upon myself to do.

And I came to the Master Monstruwacan, and told all to him; and how that
I did mean no more to suffer in quiet and to no end; but to make
adventure into the Night Land, that I find Naani, or perchance find a
swift peace from this my long troubling.

Now, when the Master Monstruwacan heard that which I had to say, it sat
heavily upon him, and he besought me long and many times that I refrain
from this thing; for that none might achieve so great a task; but that I
should be lost in my Youth before many days were gone by. Yet to all his
speech I said naught, save that this thing was laid upon me, and even as
I had promised, so should I make to act.

And in the ending, the Master Monstruwacan perceived that I was set to
this thing, and not to be moved; and he did put it to me how that I had
grown to leanness, with so much troubling, and that I should have wisdom
to wait awhile, that I put on my full strength.

But even as I was, so would I go; and this I told to him, gently; and
showed how that the thing was meet and helpful to the safety of my soul;
for that my strength was still in me; yet was I sweeter in spirit
because that I stood lean and pure, and much poor dross and littleness
had been burned from me; so that fear was not in me. And all do I lay to
the count of my love, which doth purify and make sweet and fearless the
human heart.

And because I was even as I have said, so was I the less in trouble of
the Forces of Evil; for long and sore had been my Preparation of Spirit;
and I wot that none had ever gone forth into the Darkness, so long
withholden from that which doth weaken and taint the spirit.

And here let me set down how that the Three Days of Preparation, which
were Proper to those that willed to go forth into the Night Land, had
for their chief aim the cleansing of the spirit; so that the Powers of
Evil did have a less ableness to harm.

But also it was, as I have said, that none should go forth in ignorance
of the full dreadfulness of all that held the Night; for it was at the
Preparation that there was made known certain horrors that were not told
unto the young; and of horrid mutilations, and of abasements of the
soul, that did shake the heart with fear, if but they were whispered
into the hearing. And these things were not set down in any book that
might be lightly come by; but were warded and safe locked by the Master
of The Preparation, in the Room of Preparation.

And, indeed, when I did hear that which presently I was to hear, I had
wonder in my heart that ever any went out into the Night Land; or that
ever the Room of Preparation should have other than Students that meant
not to go forth, but only to achieve some knowledge of that which hath
been done, and mayhaps shall be once again.

Yet, in verity, is this but the way of the human heart; and hath always
been, and will be so in all the years, for ever. For to adventure is the
lust of Youth; and to leave Safety is the natural waywardness of the
spirit; and who shall reprove or regret; for it were sorrowful that this
Spirit of Man should cease. Yet must it not be thought that I do uphold
fightings to the death or to mutilation, _between man and man_; but
rather do sorrow upon this thought.

Now, when the morrow came, if thus I shall speak of that which was
outwardly even as the night, though changing alway within the Mighty
Pyramid, I went unto the Room of Preparation; and the Door was closed
upon me; and I underwent the Full Preparation; that I might have full
power and aid to come to success through all the terror of the Night
Land.

And three days and three nights did I abide within the Room of
Preparation; and upon the fourth day was mine armour brought unto me;
and the Master of the Preparation stood away from me, silent and with
sorrow upon his face; but touching me not, neither coming anigh to aid
me; nor having any speech with me; for none might crowd upon me, or
cause me to answer.

And, presently, was I clad with the grey armour; and below the armour a
close-knit suit of special shaping and texture, to have the shape of the
armour, and that I might not die by the cold of the Night Land. And I
placed upon me a scrip of food and drink, that might keep the life
within me for a great time, by reason of its preparation; and this lay
ready to me, with the armour, and was stitched about with the Mark of
Honour; so that I knew loving women thus to speed me.

And when all was done and made ready, I took up the Diskos, and bowed in
silence to the Master of the Preparation; and he went towards the door,
and opened it; and signalled that the People stand back; so that I might
go forth untouched. And the People stood back; for many had crowded to
the door of the Room of Preparation, so that I knew how that my story
must be to the heart of all, in all the Cities of the Great Redoubt; for
to come unbidden anigh that Door was against the Lesser Law, and that
any erred in this matter, betokened much.

And I went out through the Door; and there was a mighty lane of people
unto the Great Lift. And about the Great Lift, as I went downwards, did
the countless millions stand; and all in a great silence; but having
dear sympathy in their souls; yet loyal unto my safety, in that none in
all the Mighty Pyramid did make speech unto me, or call out aught. And
as I went downward through the miles, lo! all the aether of the world
seemed to be surged with the silent prayers and speedings of those quiet
multitudes.

And I came at last unto the Great Gate; and behold the dear Master
Monstruwacan did stand in full armour, and with the Diskos, to do me
honour, with the Full Watch, as I went forth. And I looked at him,
quietly, and he looked unto me, and I bent my head to show respect; and
he made silent salute with the Diskos; and afterwards I went onwards
towards the Great Gateway.

And they made dim the lights in the Great Causeway, that there should no
glare go forth into the Land, when the Gate was opened; and behold, they
opened not the lesser gate within the greater, for me; but did honour my
journey, in that they swung wide the Great Gate itself, through which a
monstrous army might pass. And there was an utter silence all about the
Gate; and in the hushed light the two thousand that made the Full Watch,
held up each the Diskos, silently, to make salute; and humbly, I held up
the Diskos reversed, and went forward into the Dark.




VI

THE WAY THAT I DID GO


Now I went forward for a space, and took heed not to look backwards; but
to be strong of heart and spirit; for that which did lie before me had
need of all my manhood and courage of soul, that I come to the succour
of that Maid afar in the darkness of the World, or meet my death proper,
as it might need to be.

And thus did I go forward steadfastly, and conscious in all my being of
the emotions of that parting from my mighty Home, and of the tenderness
and wiseness that did underlie so much curbed rule and guidance.

And my heart was warm towards the Master Monstruwacan for that great
honour, that he should come downward in armour to make one with the Full
Watch, that he might uphold me to a lofty spirit at the moment of my
going.

And all that time as I went forward, was the aether of the night about
me, in tumult with the thoughts and blind wishings of the great millions
I had but now left to my back.

And, presently, as I steadied somewhat upon my emotions, I was conscious
of the exceeding coldness of the night air, and of the different taste
of it upon my lungs and in the mouth; and it had, as it were, a wondrous
keen sharping upon my palate, and did fill the lips more in the
breathing; so that it may be supposed it had more body within it than
that air which did fill the plateau of the Thousandth City where was my
home; for the air of every City was of difference, and the greater
between one that was afar up and another nigh to the earth, as may be
thought; so that many Peoples did migrate unto that level which gave
them best healthfulness; but under rule, and with a guidance of
quantities. And not all that were lacking of health; for, some are ever
contrary.

And here let me set down that, within the deeps of the Fields, there was
air utter varied and wonderful, that might charm one here and likewise
sorrow another that were happier elsewhere; so that all might have
suiting, did they but wander, and have Reason to companion them.

And thus did I go forward, full of new thoughts and olden memories, and
fresh-breaking wonders; neither forgetting something of doubts and fears
more than a little. And again was it most cunning strange to be out
there in the Night Land--though not yet afar--where often had my fancies
and imaginings led me; yet until that time never had I touched foot, in
all that life, upon the outward earth. And this must be a wondrous
quaint seeming thought to those of this present day.

And so came I, at last, nigh to the Circle that did go about the
Redoubt; and presently I was come to it; and something astonished was I
that it had no great bigness; for I had looked for this by _reasoning_;
having always a mind to picture things as they might be truly, and hence
coming sometimes to the wonder of a great truth; but odd whiles to
errors that others had not made. And now, lo! I did find it but a small,
clear tube that had not two inches of thickness; yet sent out a very
bright and strong light, so that it seemed greater to the eye, did one
but behold from a distance.

And this is but a little thing to set to the telling; yet may it give
something of the newness of all; and, moreover, shall you have memory
with me in this place, how that oft had I seen Things and Beast-Monsters
peer over that same little tube of light, their faces coming forward out
of the night.

And this had I seen as child and man; for as children, we did use to
keep oft a watch by hours upon an holiday-time, through the great
glasses of the embrasures. And we did always hope each to be that one
that should first discover a monster looking inwards upon the Mighty
Pyramid, across the shining of the Circle. And these to come oft; yet
presently to slink away into the night; having, in verity, no liking for
that light.

And pride had we taken of ourselves to perceive those monsters which had
most of ugliness and horror to commend them; for, thereby did we stand
to have won the game of watching, until such time as a more fearsome
Brute be discovered. And so went the play; yet with ever, it doth seem
to me now, something of a half-known shudder to the heart, and a child's
rejoicing unknowingly in that safety which had power to make light the
seeming of such matters.

And this, also, is but a small matter; yet doth it bear upon the
inwardness of my feelings; for the memories of all my youth and of the
many Beasts that I had seen to peer across the Light, did come upwards
in my mind in that moment; so that I did give back a little, unthinking
of what I did; but having upon me the sudden imagining of that which
might come out of the Dark, beyond.

And I to stand a little moment, and presently had grown free in my heart
to have courage of farewell; and so did turn me at last to the viewing
of that wondrous Home of the Last Millions of this World. And the sight
was an astonishment and an uplifting, that indeed there was so mighty a
thing in all the earth.

And well might be that there were Monsters and Forces gathered together
about that Hill of Life, out of all the Darkness of the World; for the
thing was as a Mighty Mountain that went up measureless into the night;
and spread out upon the earth to the right and to the left of me, so
that it did seem to hold all the world with its might.

And in the nearer slope were there three hundred thousand great
embrasures, as well I did know; there being in all the four sides of the
Redoubt, twelve hundred thousand embrasures, as was set out in the books
of the schools, and upon the cover of Atlas-books as they still quaintly
to be called, and many another place, as might be supposed.

And half a mile upward was the lowest tier of those great window-places,
and above that, countless other tiers. And a great light came out from
them into the darkness; so that I looked up into the night many miles,
and yet did see them in shining rows; and did make separate each
embrasure from its fellow for a great way. But there grew yet more,
above in the mighty distance, so that they were lost in the upward space
of the night, and did seem to me presently but as a constant, glimmering
fire, that did shape a shining Peak into the blackness of the heavens,
dwindling into the utmost height. And thus was that Everlasting
Monument.

Then did it come to me that those little things, which I did see to
cluster against the embrasures, were in truth the countless millions of
the Mighty Redoubt; and this I could make out with some plainness in
those lower embrasures, which were the more near to me than they above;
for the Peoples were set against the light within, yet were as small
things like unto insects, in that distance, and within so Huge a Bulk.

And I knew that they looked out upon me, and did watch through their
spy-glasses. And I sent my gaze upwards again along that great Slope of
grey metal, aye! upward again to where it strode glimmering into the
Blackness, and so at last to the little star that did crown that Wonder
of the World in the eternal night. And, for a little, I did stare
towards that far light; for it came from within that Tower of
Observation, where so lately I had spended my life; and I had knowledge
within my heart that the dear Master Monstruwacan did bend the Great
Spy-Glass upon me, through which so oft had I spied. And I raised the
Diskos unto him, in salutation and farewell, though I saw him not at all
through that vast space.

And my heart was very full; yet my soul but the stronger for it. And
then, behold, I was aware of a murmur in the night, coming to me, dim
and from afar off; and I saw the little shapes of the Peoples in the
lower embrasures, in constant movement; and I knew upon the instant that
the Multitudes did take that salute unto themselves, and cried out and
waved to me their farewells, or to come back--as may be.

And, indeed, I was but a lonesome person looking up at that great
mountain of metal and Life. And I knew that I had danger to realise my
plight; and I stayed no more; but did raise the Diskos, reversed, as was
but meet from one young man unto all the Millions.

And I looked swiftly upward through those eight great miles of night,
unto that Final Light which did shine in the black heavens; so that my
friend should know that I thought of him that was beyond my sight, in
that last moment. And it may be that the invisible millions that were
far up in the night, in the Upper Cities, did take that also to be a
meaning of farewell to themselves; for there came down out of the
monstrous height, a far, faint murmur of sound, as of a vague wind up in
the night.

Then did I lower the Diskos, and turn me about. And I breasted strangely
against the Air Clog, and stept forward across the Circle, into the
lonesomeness of the Night Land. And I looked no more behind; for that
which was my Home did weaken my heart somewhat, to behold; so that I
made determination that I look not again to my back, for a great while.

Yet, about me as I went, there was constant surging in the aether of the
world; and it did tell unto me how that those, my people and kin, had
continual mind of me, both in prayer and wishings, and in a perpetual
watching. And the same gave to me a feeling as of being something
companied; yet, in a time, it came to me that this disturbance of the
aether should tell to some Evil Force how that I was there abroad in the
Land. But how to stop this thing, who should have power? For, of truth,
had I been among them to make a full explaining of the danger, they had
been yet powerless to cease; for but to have such great multitudes
a-think upon one matter, was to set a disturbance about, as should be
most clear to all.

Now, at the beginning, I did walk outwards into the Night Land, somewhat
blindly, and without sure direction; being intent only to put a good
space to my back, that I might cure somewhat the ache which did weaken
my heart at the first.

But, in awhile, I ceased somewhat from my overswiftness, and did put
thought to my going. And I came quickly to reason that I should try a
new way through the Land; for it might be that there was an
over-watchfulness in that part which had been trod by the Youths.

And I began therewith to set this thought to the practice; and went not
direct towards the North; but to the North and West; and so in the end
to mean to circle around to the back of the North-West Watcher, and
thence to the North of the Plain Of Blue Fire; and afterwards, as might
be, have a true and straightway to the North; and by this planning come
a long way clear of that House of Silence, which did put more fear upon
me than all else that was horrid in the Land.

Yet, as all will see, this made to me a greater journey; though, in
verity, it were better to go slowly and win to success, than to make a
greater haste towards Destruction; which was, indeed, surely to be mine
end, did I not go warily.

Now it may be thought upon with wonder, that I did go so assuredly to
the North; but I went thiswise, part by an inward Knowing, and part come
upon by much latter studying, within the Pyramid, of olden books; and by
reasoning upon all things that I did observe, that had seemings of
verity in them.

And because of this constant searching upon one matter, I had come, but
a while back, upon a little book of metal, very strange and ancient,
that had lain forgot in a hid place in the Great Library through ten
hundred thousand years, maybe, or less or more, for all that I had
knowing.

And much that was writ in the book was common knowledge, and set mostly
to the count of fairy-tales and suchlike, even as we of this our age
take not over-surely any belief in Myths of olden times. Yet had I
always much liking for such matters, perceiving behind that outer shell
which did win always so much unbelief, the kernel of ancient truths and
happenings.

And thus was it, concerning this little book which I had made discovery
of; for it told again, that which oft I had heard (even as we in this
age, read of the Deluge) how that once, in a time monstrous far back
from that, but utter future to this age of ours, the world did brake
upwards in a vast earth-quaking, that did rend the world for a thousand
miles.

And there came a mighty chasm, so deep that none might see the bottom
thereof; and there rushed therein an ocean, and the earth did burst
afresh with a sound that did shake all the cities of the world; and a
great mist lay upon the earth for many days, and there was a mighty
rain.

And, indeed, this was just so set in certain Histories of the Ancient
World. Also, there was made reference to it, within some olden Records.
Yet nowise to be taken with a serious mind, to the seeming of the
peoples of the Mighty Pyramid; but only as a quaint study for the
Students, and to be set out in little tales that did entertain the
nurseries; or, as it might be, wise men and the general.

Yet, there was this, about that small and peculiar book, that it did
speak of many of these things, as it were that it did quote from the
pens of those that did have actual witness; and set all out with a
strange gravity, that did cause one to consider it as meant to be indeed
the tellings of Truth, and to seem thiswise to have great difference
from all that I had read before concerning those matters.

And there was, further, a part in the ending of the book, that did seem
to be writ of a time that came afterwards, maybe an hundred thousand,
and maybe a million years; but who shall say.

And therein it did tell of an huge and mighty Valley that did come out
of the West, towards the South-East, and made turning thence Northwards,
and was a thousand miles both ways. And the sides thereof were an
hundred miles deep, and the Sun did stand in the Western end, and made a
red gloom for a thousand miles. And in the bottom there were great seas;
and beasts strange and awesome, and very plentiful.

Now this, as may be seen, was as the talk of Romance; yet did I turn my
wits to their natural end, and made thus plain of it. For, in truth, I
to have something of belief, and it to seem to me that in a bygone
Eternity, when the world was yet light, as in my heart I knew to have
been indeed a thing of verity, there was a great and wondrous
earthquake.

And the earthquake did burst the world up, along a certain great curve
where it had weakness; and there fell into the yawning furnace of the
world, one of the great oceans; and immediately made of itself steam,
and so brake upwards again, and tore the earth mightily in its swift
uprising.

And thereafter there was a mist and confusion and rain upon the world.
And, indeed, all very seemly put; and not to be taken as a light tale.

Then, in that ending of the book, there was one that did write, having
lived in a vast later age, when the Sun had come anigh to his dying, and
the upward earth was grown quiet and cold and not good to live upon. And
in that time the Mighty Chasm had been calmed by the weight of an
Eternity, so that it was now a most deep and wondrous Valley, that did
hold Seas and great Hills and Mountains; and in it were great forests of
kinds, and Lands that were good and healthful; and Places given over to
Fire, and to Steamings, and Sulphur Clouds; so that they held Poisons
that had ill for Man.

And Great Beasts were there down in that far depth, that none might see
ever, save by a strong spy-glass. And such there were in the Early
World, and had now been bred in the Ending by those inward forces of
Nature which did make the Valley a place of Good Warmth; so that there
was, as it were, once more the Primal World born to give new birth unto
such olden Monsters, and to others, new and Peculiar to that Age and
Circumstance.

And all this, indeed, did the book give also; but constrained and
difficult to take clearly to the heart, and not like to the wise plain
speech of the early tellings; so that I must even set it out here in
mine own speech.

And it did seem to me, by my reading, that Man had come at one time to a
great softness of Heart and Spirit through many ages of over-ease. But
that the World did come to coldness and unfriendliness, by reason of the
Sun's slow ceasing.

And there was presently, in naturalness, a Race upon the earth that were
hardy, and made to fight for their lives; and did perceive that the
Mighty Valley that cut the World in twain, was a place of Warmth and
Life; and so did make to adventure their bodies down that wondrous
Height; and were many Ages coming safe to the Bottom; but did find safe
places in the downward way where they built them Houses, and made to
live, and begot them children; and these grew up to that life of
constant and great climbings, and of hard workings upon The Road, which
was the One Intent of that People; so that the book did speak of them
always as The Road Makers.

And thus did they make downwards through the long years and the ages;
and many generations did live and die, and saw not the reaching of the
Road down into that Great Vale that lay so monstrous deep in the World.

But in the end they did come there with the Road; and they were very
Hardy; and they did fight with the Monsters and slay many; and they
built them many Cities, through great years in the Mighty Valley, and
did make the Road from City unto City along that Great Valley, even unto
the Bight of the Valley. And they found here a constant darkness and
Shadow; for that the Sun could not make a shining around that Great
Corner. Yet, even here they ceased not to make the Road; but took it
around, and a mighty way unto the North; passing it among strange Fires
and Pits that burned from out of the earth.

But there was presently, such a power and horror of Monsters and Evil
Things in that Valley of Shadow, that the Road Makers were made to go
Backwards into the Red Light which did fill the Westward Valley, and
came from that low Sun.

And they went back unto their Cities; and lived there mayhaps an hundred
thousand years; and grew wise and cunning in all matters; and their Wise
People did make dealings and had experiment with those Forces which are
Distasteful and Harmful unto Life; but they did this in Ignorance; for
all that they had much wisdom; thinking only to Experiment, that they
come to greater knowings. But they did open a way for those Forces; and
much harm and Pity did come thereby. And then had all People to have
Regret; yet too late.

Now, presently, when an hundred thousand years had gone, or it may be a
greater space; there came slowly the utter twilight of the world, as the
sun to die the more; so that presently it gave but an utter gloomy
light. And there grew upon many of the Peoples of the Cities of the
Valley, a strangeness and a wildness; so that strange things were done,
that had been shameful to all in the Light. And there were wanderings,
and consortings with strange outward beings, and presently, many Cities
were attacked by monsters that did come from the West; and there was a
Pandemonium.

Then was an Age of Sorrows and Fightings, and Hardenings of the Spirit
and of the Heart, for all that were of good Fibre; and this did breed a
Determined Generation; and there grew up into the World a Leader; and he
took all the sound Millions; and did make a mighty Battle upon all
Foulness and upon all that did harm and trouble them; and they drove
their Enemies down the Valley, and up the Valley, and did utterly
scatter and put them to flight.

Then did that Man call all his Peoples together; and did make it plain
how that the Darkness grew upon the World, and that the Foul and
dreadful Powers abroad, were like to be more Horrid when a greater Gloom
came.

And he put to them that they Build a Mighty Refuge; and the Peoples did
acclaim; and lo! there was built, presently, a Great House. But the
Great House was not Proper; and that Man did take all the Peoples to
Wander; and they came to the Bight; and there was built at last that
Great and Mighty Pyramid.

Now this is the sense and telling of that book; and but late had I read
it; and talked somewhat of it with my dear friend, the Master
Monstruwacan; but not overmuch; for I had taken so sudden a mind to GO,
that all else had dropped from about me. Yet, to us it did seem clear
that there was no life in all the invisible upper world; and that,
surely, that Great Road whereon the Silent Ones did walk, must be that
same Road which the hardy Peoples of that age did make.

And it did seem wise to the Master Monstruwacan, and unto me, that if
any should find the Lesser Redoubt, they must surely do so somewhere
within the mighty Valley; but whether The Road that led into the West,
where was the Place of the Ab-humans, should bring me to it, I had no
knowing; nor whether it might lie on the Northward way. And I, maybe, to
wander a thousand miles wrong; if, in truth, I were not into some
dreadful trouble before.

And, indeed, no reason of value was there to give me hope that the
Lesser Pyramid lay either to the West, or where the Road went
North-ward, beyond the House of Silence. Yet I did so feel it to be
somewhere to the North, that I had made a determination to search that
way for a great distance, the first; and if I could not come upon aught,
then I should have sober thought that it did lie Westward. But in the
Valley someways, I had feeling of assurance that it must be; for it was
plain that the telling of the book was sound in its bottom sense; as
might be seen; for how should any live in the utter bleak and deadly
chill of the silent upper world that lay an hundred miles up in the
night, hid and lost for ever.

And strange is it to think of those wondrous and mighty cliffs that
girt us about, and yet were fast held from us in the dark; so that I
had not known of them, save for the telling of that book; though, in
truth, it had been always supposed that we lived in a great deep of the
world; but, indeed, it was rather held in belief that we abode in the
bed of some ancient sea, that did surely slope gradual away from us, and
not go up abrupt and savage.

And here let me make so clear as I may that the general peoples had no
clear thought upon any such matters; though there was something of it
taught in the schools; yet rather this and that, of diverse conclusions,
as it might be thinkings of the Teachers, after much study, and some
ponderings. For one man, having a lack of imagining, would scoff, and
another, maybe, to take it very staidly, but some would build Fancy upon
the tellings of the Records, and make foolish and fantastic that which
had groundings in Truth; and thus is it ever. But to the most Peoples of
the Pyramid, there was no deep conviction nor thought of any great hid
World afar in the darkness. For they gave attention and belief only to
that which lay to their view; nor could a great lot come to imagine that
there had been ever any other Condition.

And to them, it did seem right and meet that there should be strange
things, and fires from the earth, and an ever-abiding night, and
monsters, and matters hid and tangled much in mystery.

And very content were the most of them; though some had in them the
yeast of imaginings, or the pimples of fancy upon them, and to these
there seemed many possibilities; though the first to read out to sanity;
and the second, to expect and have speech towards much that was foolish
or to no purpose.

And of these vague believings of the peoples, have I made hint before,
and need not have much trouble to it now. Save that, with the children,
as is ever the way, those olden tales had much believing; and the
simplicity of the Wise did mate with the beliefs of the Young; and
between them did lie the Truth.

And so did I make speed towards the North, having a strong surety in my
heart and mind that there were but two ways to my search; for without of
the Valley, afar up in the dead lonesomeness of the hidden world, was a
cold that was shapen ready to Death, and a lacking, as I must believe,
of the sweet, needful air that yet did lie in plenty in that deep place
of the earth. So that, surely, the mighty Valley somewheres to hold that
other Redoubt.

Yet, as I have said, I went not direct to my journey, but otherwise, for
those sound reasons which I did set down a time back.




VII

THE NIGHT LAND


Now, as I went towards the North and West, I steered me warily for a
great while, that I come safe of that Great Watcher of the North-West.
And as I made forward, I put thought to all matters which must concern
me; so far as I had imagining to see. And first I did consider the speed
that I should keep; and found presently that I did well to be moderate;
for that I had before me a great and mighty journey; and indeed, who
might speak knowingly of the end thereof?

And another matter, I did arrange; for I would make the times of my
goings forward, and the times of mine eatings and sleepings all to a
wise and regular fashion; that, thereby, I might go a great way, with
the less harm to my body; so that I should be strong when the need did
come for my strength. And I made in the end that I should eat and drink,
at every sixth hour, and at the eighteenth hour sleep me until the
twenty-fourth.

And by this means did I eat thrice in that time, and have six hours of
sleep. And this seemed very good to me, and I did strive always to
manage thus in all my great journeying in the Night Land. Yet, as may be
supposed, there were times oft and many when I must watch without
ceasing, and leave my slumber unto the future; for the Land was full of
grim and dreadful Perils.

And, as doth be human, I brake my rule straightway in the beginning; for
I ceased not to walk for one-and-twenty hours, hiding and creeping, as
the need did be in those places that were like to show me unto the
Watcher; and when I did think upon food, it did sicken me; so that I
would eat by and by, as I made it within my thoughts.

But when one-and-twenty hours had gone, I grew very weary and something
faint; and was forced that I look about for some place where I might
have rest. And, in a little while, I did see, away off, a small
fire-hole, the like of which I had passed odd times even so early. And I
made to come nigh to that part; for there would be warmth from the
chill of the Night Land, and mayhaps a place dry and convenient to my
slumber.

And when I came anigh, I saw that it was a cheerful place, as it might
be said, amid so much gloom; for the hole was but a few paces wide, and
full of a dull, glowing fire, that did bubble somewhat, and throw off a
small sulphur-smoke. And I sat me down, at no great way, and did place
the Diskos on the rock to my hand.

And I moved not, awhile; but was aweary, so that I had not the courage
to eat, neither to drink; but must turn me and look back to the Mighty
Pyramid; and, in truth, though I had come a very good space, yet was I
so anigh to it, that I was both cheered and put out of heart; for it did
seem close upon me, by reason of its greatness, so that I, who had
journeyed a hard and weariful way, was shaken with the greatness of the
task that was upon me.

Yet was this but one side of my heart; for it was good to feel the
nearness of my Mighty Home; and I knew that there did countless millions
make watch upon me, as I sat; yet did I make no sign; for it is not meet
to make a constant farewell; but to GO. Yet was it very strange to be
thus near, and to show such behaviour as were proper to one afar from
all humanity. But so it was that I ordered my ways; for it did seem
proper to me; yet was I happy to know that the dear Master Monstruwacan
must, time and oft, have spied upon me through the Great Spy-Glass; and
mayhaps did watch me in that moment.

And it grew in me that I did act weakly to hold off from mine Vittles,
and showed foolishness before my kind friend afar; and I did ope my
scrip, and take therefrom three tablets, the which I chewed and did eat;
for this was a strong food, treated that it had but small bulk. Yet were
they not filling to the belly; and I made that I would drink well, that
I might feel that something was therein.

And to this end, I shook from a strong and especial tube, a dust; and I
caught the dust within a little cup; and the air did make an action upon
that dust, as it were of chemistry; and the dust did boil and make a
fizzing in the cup, and rose up and filled it with a liquid that was of
simple water; yet very strange to see come that way; but ordinary after
a time.

And in this way, as might be seen, had I such food and drink in but a
little scrip, that might keep life within me for a great time. Yet was
it a way of discomfort, and lacking to the mouth and to the belly; but a
sufficient thing unto the need of the body, and good matter for a
thankful heart, in that dark and hungry Land.

Now, when I had eaten, I did go over in their order, those things which
I did carry; for there was, beside the Diskos and that scrip of food, a
pouch that did contain matters various. And these, I did look into; and
afterward did take out a small compass that I had been give by the
Master Monstruwacan, so that I might find of its workings without the
Great Redoubt; and, he had said unto me, that it might be that I should
pass far off into the Night Land, and lose the Mighty Pyramid amid so
great a Country and so plentiful a Darkness. Then, perchance, if that
ancient principle did still lurk within the machine, though turned no
more to the North, but unto the Pyramid, then should it guide my feet
Homeward out of the Everlasting Night, and thus have once more that
ancient use which, as I do know, is common unto this age.

And this was a very cunning thing to have with me, if but it held
service to the Earth-Current, and a rare thing, which the Master
Monstruwacan did make with his own hands and much skill and pains, from
an olden one that had place within the Great Museum, and concerning
which I have told somewhat, before this place.

And I set the thing upon the ground; but it had no certain way with it;
but did spin and waver constantly, and this I made to consider, and
remembered that I was yet above that part where, afar in the earth did
spread the greatness of the Underground Fields; and I was, haply, but a
little way off from the "Crack"; though a mighty way above.

And it pleasured me to wonder whether the dear Master Monstruwacan did
behold how that I made test with the compass; for the light was good
from the fire-hole; and the Great Spy-Glass had a great strength. Yet,
had I no certainty; for, as I did know, from much watchings, there was
no surety in the searching of the Land, by the Glass; for there was oft
plainness where you did think surely none should see, and anon a
dullness where might be thought that the sight went gaily. And this may
be plain to all; for the wavering of the lights from the strange fires
was not to be accounted to rule; but made a light here, and a darkness
there, and then did change about, oddly. Moreover, there were smokes and
mists that did come upwards from the earth, in this place and in that;
and had somewhiles a greatness; but oft were small, and did lurk low,
and had no power but to confuse the sight.

And, presently, I did put by the compass in my pouch, and made to
compose myself unto sleep. But here would I now set down how that, in
the end, after I had gone many days' journeyings outward from the Mighty
Pyramid, I did indeed find it to draw the Northward part of the needle
unto it; and this was a comfort and a pleasure to my spirit; moreover,
if ever I did get back, as I did think, it would be a matter for great
interest unto the Master Monstruwacan; yet, in verity, were there other
matters that should hold him more; for he was right human, as all should
know.

And, moreover, concerning this same compass, I did find a fresh thing;
for, after a yet greater time, as I shall set out in a due place, if I
do but remember, which doubt is ever my fear to fret me, I came a
mighty way from the Redoubt, and, lo! fearing that I might indeed lose
that, My Great Home, in the Darkness of the World, I did pull out that
strange wonder of the needle, that I might have comfort by its homeward
pointing. And I did discover a new power in the night; for the machine
did point no more directwards unto the Great Redoubt; but was a point
unto the Westwards; so that I had knowledge that some Great Power afar
in the Darkness of the World did sway upon it; and I had a childlike
wonder that this might be, in truth, that same Power of the North, of
which the books, and my Memory-Dreams did tell. And, indeed, no doubt
should there be upon this matter; yet who might not have doubt in that
time, that they should perceive after an eternity, that ancient
Northward Force swaying that small servant unto an olden obedience. And
it was, as it were, a revealing unto me, how that to know within the
brain is one matter; but to have knowledge within the heart is another;
for I had always known concerning this Northward Force; but yet had not
known with the true meaning of Knowledge.

And yet one other matter there was to cause doubt, at that moment of
this new knowing; for it came to me that maybe the power of that Lesser
Redoubt did begin to act upon the machine, even as the Earth-Current of
the Great Pyramid did hold yet a strong drawing upon the needle; and
were this so, then did I not surely begin to stand anigh unto my
Journey's end; for that less power of the Lesser Redoubt could have no
impudence to pull, save that I had come to a closeness with it.

Yet, in truth, as I do now have knowledge, it was the North that drew;
and I do seem to make a great telling about this little matter; but how
else shall I show to you mine inward mind, and the lack of knowledge and
likewise the peculiar knowings that did go to the making of that time,
and the Peoples thereof, which is but to say the same thing twice over.

And now, as I did say, I made to compose myself for sleep; and to this
end, I took a cloak-matter which did cross my shoulder and hip, and
wrapt it about me, and lay down there in the darkness of the Night, by
that strange fire-hole.

And I lay the Diskos beside me, within the cloak; for it was, indeed, my
companion and friend in bitter need; so that I had pleasure to feel the
strange thing anigh to me. And as I did lie there, in those moments that
do drowse the Soul, as it were that they do proceed as breath out of the
mouth of Sleep, I had a half-knowing that the aether did surge about me;
and I doubt not but that there had watched my every doing, many of the
Millions, and had been humanly stirred, at my commending of my spirit
unto sleep; and thus did shake the aether of the world about me, with
their unity of sympathy.

And, mayhaps, I had some little knowing of this thing, as I did pass,
drowsy, into slumber; and it is surely like that I slept the better for
it. Moreover, I was wondrous tired and worn, and thus did sleep very
strong and heavy; yet I mind me that my last dim thinkings were upon
that sweet maid I did go to find. And in slumber did I have speech with
her in dreams, and a strange happiness about me, and all seeming to be
touched by fairy-light, and freed from the sorrow of life.

And it was from a sweet and lovely sleeping, such as this, that I was
waked suddenly by a great and mighty sound; and I came instant to a
possessing of my senses; and I knew that the mighty Voice of the
Home-Call did go howling across the Night. And, swift and silent, I slid
the cloak from about me, and took the haft of that wondrous Diskos into
mine hand.

And I did look towards the Pyramid, quickly, for a message; for I had a
sure knowledge that there had a great Need arisen, and that some Terror
came towards me out of the Dark; else they had never waked all the Night
Land to a knowing that an human was abroad out of the Mighty Refuge.

And even as I did peer towards the Great Redoubt, I could not abide to
keep my gaze entire that way; but did take a large and fearful look all
about me; yet could make to see nothing; and so did stare, eager and
anxious, afar into the upper blackness of the Night, where did shine
that Final Light of the Tower of Observation; and the same while
crouched, and holding the Diskos, and making to glance across my
shoulders, and to watch for the message, and all in the same moment.

And then, afar upwards in the prodigious height, I did see the great,
and bright and quick darting flashes of a strange green fire, and did
know that they spelled to me in the Set-Speech a swift warning that a
grey monster, that was a Great Grey Man, had made scent of me in the
dark, and was even in that moment of time, crawling towards me through
the low moss-bushes that lay off beyond the fire-hole to my back. And
the message was sharp; and bade me to leap into the bushes unto my left;
and to hide there; so that I might chance to take the thing to an
advantage.

And, as may be thought, they had scarce flashed the tale unto me; but I
was gone in among the shadows of a clump of the moss-bush that did grow
anigh; and I sweat with a strange terror, and a cold and excited shaking
of the heart; yet was my spirit set strong to conquer.

And lo! as I did crouch there, hidden, I saw something come very quiet
out of the bushes that did grow beyond the fire-hole; and it was great,
and crept, and was noways coloured but by greyness in all its parts. And
the glare from the fire-hole did seem to trouble it; so that it looked,
laying its head to the ground, and spying along the earth, in a strange
and Brutish fashion; that it might oversee the glare of the fire-hole.
Yet, I doubt that it saw beyond the fire with plainness; for, in a
moment, it crept swift in among the bushes again, and came out towards
the edge of the fire-hole in another place; and this it did thrice unto
my left, and thrice unto my right; and every time did lay its head to
the earth, and spy along; and did hunch its shoulders, and thrust
forward the jaw horridly and turn the neck, as a very nasty beast might
go, wanton.

Now, as you may think, this manner of the Beast-Man did shake my courage
mightily; for I did think each time that it did go inward among the
moss-bushes, that it had made discovery of me, and would make to take me
in the back, from out of the dark of the bushes; and this was an
uncomfortable thing to consider, as others might think also, had any
been there in the bush with me. And then, in truth, did that same swift
sense of mine Hearing, prove helpful to my saving; for, behold, the
thing did go back into the moss-bushes, after that last coming out; and
did seem to make as it had made a failing to discover me, and had no
further intent, save to return unto the Night; and I had this thought
truly in mine heart, and for maybe a minute; and then, lo! within my
soul a voice did speak plain, and did warn me that the thing did make a
great compass among the moss-bushes about the fire-hole, having made
discovery of me; and it did go warily to take me in the back, from the
other side.

Now, when I heard this voice speak within my spirit, I had knowledge
that the dear Master Monstruwacan made watch from the Tower of
Observation, and did send the speech with his brain-elements, having in
mind that I had the Night-Hearing. And I trusted the speech; for in the
same moment of time there did beat all about me in the Night the solemn
throb of the Master-Word, as that it had been added with speed, to give
instant assurance. And I leapt quick from that clump of the moss-bush,
unto another, and crouched, and made a watch all about me; and kept the
ears of my spirit open, knowing that the Master Monstruwacan did also
watch all, for me.

And, suddenly, I saw a little moving of a bush that grew to the back of
those bushes in which I had been hid; and there came out of the bush
that moved, a great grey hand, and moved the moss of the clump where I
had been, as it were that something peered out of the moving bush. And
there followed the great grey head of the Grey Man, and the head went
into the clump of the moss-bush where I had been.

And I knew that I must strike now; and I leapt, and smote with the
Diskos; and the thing fell upon its side, and the great grey legs came
out of the hither bushes, and twitched and drew upwards; but the head
remained in the bush where I had been hid. And I stood away from the
thing whilst it died; and in mine hand the Diskos did spin and send
forth fire; as it were that it did live, and did know that it had slain
a great and horrid monster.

And presently the Grey Man was dead; and I went away from those bushes,
unto the far side of the fire-hole. And I stood with the Diskos held
high and spinning and sending out fire, that they within the Mighty
Pyramid might know that I had slain the Beast-Man; for it might be that
it lay too much in the shadow for them to look upon.

But the Master Monstruwacan spoke not again to me; for, indeed, it was
not meet to do so, except it might save me from a sure danger; for, as
you may know from my past tellings, there were Powers of the Night Land
that did hearken unto such matters; and it was like enough that there
had been overmuch done, even thus, for my further safety. Yet the thing
could not be helped.

And now that I was a little calmed, and eased from my fear, I could know
that all that the aether of the night was disturbed by the gladness of
the millions within the Great Redoubt; so that it was plain how great a
multitude had given note unto the fight; and their hearts to beat in
sweet sympathy and natural fear; so that I did feel companied and
befriended; though, as it may be thought, something shaken yet about the
heart.

Now, in a little time, I did gather unto me my wits and had myself to
order; and I looked to see how the hours did go, and I found that I had
surely slumbered through ten hours. And I reproached myself; for,
indeed, I had slept oversound by reason of my having lacked a regular
way and time, as I had with a proper wisdom made to be my rule. And I
resolved that I would obey the wit of my Reason in all the future time,
and make to eat and rest in due season, as you will wot that I did
before intend.

Then, with a self-reproachful heart, I went around the small fire-hole,
and caught up my cloak and other matters. And I turned me towards the
Mighty Pyramid, and did look once upwards along all the great slope,
where it did go measureless into the far blackness of the Everlasting
Night; and I made no salutation; for I had so resolved, as you will
know; moreover, I desired not to call forth any unneedful disturbance of
the aether of the world, which indeed must be, did I make to stir the
emotions of the Millions.

And I turned me then away, and went off into the night, going swift and
cautious, and bearing the Diskos cunningly and almost, as it were, with
a love for that strange and wondrous weapon that had so befriended me,
and slain the foul Grey Man with one stroke. And I had feeling that it
did know me, and had a comradeship for me; and I doubt none will
understand this; save, it might be, they of the olden days that did
carry one strong sword always. Yet was the Diskos more than the sword;
for it did in truth seem to live with the fire and the flame of the
Earth-Current that did beat within it.

And it was well acknowledged within the Great Redoubt, that none might
touch the Diskos of another; for that the thing went crustily, as it
might be said, in the hands of a stranger; and if any made foolishness
of this knowledge, and did persist much to such an handling, or making
to use, the same would presently act clumsy with the weapon, and come to
an hurt; and this was a sure thing, and had been known maybe an hundred
thousand years; or perchance a greater time.

And by this it doth seem wise to believe that there did grow always an
affinity between the nature of the man--which doth, as ever, include the
woman--and the Diskos that he did use in his Practice; and because of
this known thing, and that the place would elsewise be lumbered with
olden weapons of those that did die, it was a Law and Usage that there
was placed with the Dead, the Diskos of the Dead, there upon The Last
Road in the Country Of Silence, and was thus made to give back unto the
Earth-Current, the power that did lie in it. And this doth seem to a
careless thinker, as it were that I told once again those olden customs
of the Ancient Folk; but this is otherwise, and had a sound reason to
it; yet, if you do so believe, I doubt not but that a right human
sentiment was something at the bottom, which is proper; for it is meet
that Love should mate with Wisdom to mother Comfort in our sorrows; and
it is a warm thing to do aught for our dead; and none may say nay to
this.

Now, as I did go onwards into the Night Land, looking ever to this
shadow and to that, it may be conceived how my heart would stir with
swift fear, at this and that; and that my body would oft quiver to leap
aside; and as swift discover that naught assailed.

And so did I go forward, and always with imaginings and wonders
concerning what manner of uncouth Being or Brute might come out of the
darknesses all about. Yet, in all that time, there was a certain
proudness of the heart, that I did come safe out of the power of the
Grey Man, and did surely slay him. But, truly, it were well that the
praise be considered, and not overmuch given unto me; for I had died as
I slept, but that they of the Great Redoubt, had made a watch over me,
and waked me unto my saving.

Now, presently, as I walked, I grew something faint, and had knowledge
that I did foolishly; for, indeed, I should have eat after my fight; yet
may I be forgiven for this forgetting, in that I had been much shaked
and put about.

And I sat me down in a little clear place among the bushes, and did eat
three of the tablets, and did once more shake forth the dust that did
turn in the air to a natural water by a proper and natural chemistry of
these matters. And after I had eat, I sat a little while, and did think,
and did look upwards at the great slope of the Pyramid in the night; and
all the time did I listen with mine ears and with my spirit; and kept
the Diskos across my knees, and looked this way and that, very frequent;
but nothing came anigh.

And so I rose presently, and went onwards, and walked for six hours
towards the North and the West. And I made much to the West, for a
little, that I might come clear of the North-West Watcher. Yet, after a
space, I made to do foolishly; for I changed my mind about, and kept
something more towards the North, so that I should have a surer sight of
that Monster.

And this was, in truth, a rash and naughty thing to consider; for if I
were but seen, then should that grim Brute make a signal unto the Evil
Powers, and I be met swiftly with destruction. But surely the heart is a
strange and wayward thing, and given to quick fears, and immediately
unto great and uncountable rashnesses. And so I did go forward unwisely
to the Northward of a safe and proper going; and it may be that an
influence was upon me, and drew me thatwards; but who shall say.

Now, a great time I walked, and made a halt upon every sixth hour, and
did eat and drink, and look a little unto the monstrous towering of the
Great Redoubt; and afterwards make strong mine heart, and go forward
again. And always I did go warily, and chiefly among the low moss-bush;
but sometimes out upon stony ground, and oft across places where sulphur
did puff somewhat from the ground in a low smoke, very strong in the
nostrils and not liked inwardly.

And as I made onwards, I looked always to my right and to my left, and
anon to the rear; yet made a constant observation of the Mighty Watcher,
that I did begin to draw nigh unto. And oft did I stoop to crawl, and my
hands did bleed somewhat; but after I was troubled so, I put on the
great gloves that made complete the grey armour, and so was shod proper
to such journeying.

And, presently, when eighteen hours did have passed since that my sudden
awakening to the peril of the Grey Man, I did search about for a place
to slumber; for I would keep wisely unto my ruling, and go not over long
lacking of sleep; and by this planning I should be the less like to
sleep oversound, and so should set my spirit to listen whilst I did
sleep; and by so much as my spirit should serve me with faith, should I
have safety. And this thing is plain, and wants not more to the saying
thereof.

And I came presently unto a sudden place where the land did go downwards
brokenly, as that it had been burst a great while gone by the inward
fires; and I looked downwards over the edge of that place, and went
round about it, and did see presently a ledge upon the far side, that
was difficult to come upon; yet a place of some little safety to any
that might go down to it; for it was awkward to see, and did any monster
seek to come at me, I should have chance of warning; and might go
downwards a greater way in time to my salvation.

And by this determination, I abode; and came down to that place with
labour; but was cheerful of heart that I had found so sure a shelter.
And I eat my three tablets, and drank the water that I did get from the
powder. And so made to compose my body to sleep. Yet, at this time, a
thought did come to me, and I made calculation afresh; and laughed
somewhat at that my poor counting; for, indeed, I had thought to eat but
thrice in the twenty and four hours; yet by my arranging, I was made,
indeed, to eat four times, as you shall see immediately by a little
thought. And this thing came more strong upon my spirit than any might
think; for I did eat overmuch for the lasting of the food; though, in
verity, it was but little to my belly; as you must all think, and have
sympathy for my discomfort.

And I considered a little, and had determined that I should afterwards
in my journeying, eat but two of the tablets to my meal; and this was a
wise thought, and like much wisdom, a discomposing thing. But so it was,
and I set it down that you may know the arranging of my ways at that
time.

Now, in all this while of meditation, I had been setting my cloak about
me, and was fast set to my sleeping; for I had walked a weary way. And I
lay me down upon my left side, with my back to the rock, which did
overhang me something above; so that I was contented to feel hid from
things that might pass by in the Night. And I had the cloak about me,
and the Diskos close against my breast, within the cloak, and my head
upon my pouch and upon my scrip.

And as I lay thus a moment easeful, I could see that so mighty was the
uprising of the Great Pyramid that it was not hid from me even thus, but
did stand upward into the night, and did shine, and was plain to be seen
above the further edge of that deep place where I did lie.

And I fell upon sleep, looking upward at that Final Light, where, as
might be, the Master Monstruwacan did bend the Great Spy-Glass upon my
lonesomeness, as I lay there upon the ledge.

And this was a thought of sweet comfort upon which to slumber; the which
I did; but my spirit lay wakeful within my breast, and did listen
through the night; and harked for all evil matters and things that did
make to come anigh. But also my spirit did whisper unto Naani as I went
into sleep; and so passed I into dreams.

Now, it may be thought that I did act with a strange valiance, in that I
composed my body so properly to slumber, and with but a little trouble
of the heart concerning the coming of monsters. And in truth this hath
seemed somewhat so to me, thinking since that time; but I do but set the
thing that is truth; and make not to labour to an illusion of truth; and
so must tell much that doth seem improper to the Reality. Yet must all
bear with me, and have understanding of the hardness of setting forth
with true seeming the honesty of Truth, which, in verity, is better
served oft times by timely and cunning lies. And so shall you understand
this matter so well as I.

And presently my spirit waked me there in the half dark of the Night
Land; and I looked swift about me, and upwards, and saw nothing to
fear. Then did I peer at my dial; and made to discover that I had slept
full over six quiet hours; and by this I knew the reason of mine
awaking; for it was so great impressed upon me by mine inward sense and
being. And this you shall understand, someways, who have thought, ere
sleep, to wake to a certain time of the morning; and by understanding
shall you believe and give me all your kind harking and human sympathy.

And I made to have a smartness of going, which is ever hard to the newly
waked; and I eat two tablets, the while my belly did cry out for an
wholesome and proper filling; but I drank some of the water, and so did
ease somewhat of my hunger.

Then did I wind my cloak to its shape, and put upon me my gear, which
was the scrip and the pouch, and the Diskos to my hip; and I clomb out
from that place of rest. Yet, before I did come rightly up into the
open, I peered about, and made some surety that no evil Brute was anigh.
And then I gat me out, and stood upon my feet, and looked for a little
upwards at the mighty slope of the Great Redoubt, which did seem yet
very nigh unto me, by reason of it being so monstrous in bigness.

And I wondered whether in that moment the Master Monstruwacan did look
down upon me, with the Great Spy-Glass. And afterwards I turned away
swiftly, and went on into the Night Land; for it did always make me
shaken with lonesomeness to look upon my Great Home. And so I did go
forward with a strong and uncaring stride; but grew presently to
quietness, and to have back the proper caution of my going. Yet had I
not gone all foolishly, for I had taken the Diskos from my hip, ere
this; so that I possessed it handily.

Now there is one matter which shall seem but a small and natural
occurring unto you; yet was strong upon me in that time; and this thing
was that I did begin now to see the Night Land from the new outlooking
of my distance from the Mighty Pyramid. And it was as that a man of this
day did go from the earth to travel among the stars, and lo! should he
not find them to shift upon his vision; so that the Great Bear and this
and that shaping of the star clusterings, should make a new order, as he
did wander onwards; and so should he find that there was naught that was
truly fixed, as he did before then think; but all to alter according
unto the place whence the looking! And this thing shall be plain unto
you, though no thought be put to the matter; for it is of an evident
verity that doth need not argument to expound. And so shall you have
memory of me, there a-wander among those strange shapings and wonders of
that grim Land, the which I had never but supposed to seem but as my
memory did retain them, from the lookings of all my life within the
Great Redoubt. And so it was; and ever there did this thing and that
open out to a new view, and the Night Land take to itself a constant new
aspect to mine eyes which had never until that time had but the one
fixed vision of the same.

And you shall understand with me how that when, about the fourteenth
hour of that day's travel, I did draw very nigh unto the monstrous
Watcher of the North-West, it did seem so utter strange from this fresh
aspect that I had been like to think that I did see a new Monster. For,
in truth, when I did come at last to creep to within a mile of it, among
the low moss-bushes, I was confounded that the mighty chin did come
forward towards the Great Redoubt, even as the upward part of a vast
cliff, which the sea doth make hollow about the bottom; for it did hang
out into the air above the glare of the fire from the Red Pit, as it had
been a thing of Rock, all scored and be-weathered, and dull red and
seeming burned and blasted by reason of the bloody shine that beat
upward from the deep of the Red Pit.

And by the way in which I do tell upon it, you shall know that I did
surely view it something from the side at this immediate time; for, in
truth, it was then that I did draw the nearer; and, moreover, I was the
more astonished at this viewing, than I had been to the front; for it
was so utter strange, and shapen so different from the Brute that did
hang in my memory.

And a great time I did lie there upon my belly; and shaken by a fear of
the Beast; yet emboldened, as you may conceive, by having come to the
side; and being hopeful in my heart that I was very secure within so
great a shadow and the thick sheltering of the moss-bushes.

And surely it was that I did creep more nigh, the while that I did look;
for presently I had a very plain seeing of the Great Monster; and did
know where I had gotten to, and thereby did acknowledge unto myself that
this was an utter foolishness; and like, for all that any might say, to
lead unto destruction. Yet, as all must know, there was the first fear,
and the ceasing of this fear, as I did wot that I was so little a thing
to heed out there in the shadows. And presently a gaining of courage,
and the prick of my Being that did crave to see clear this exceeding
Wonder. And so was I come close, more or less, having gone far upon my
hands and knees; yet sometimes to pause; but afterwards on again.

Now by this nearness, I was the more truly able to perceive how that the
Bulk of the Watcher did rise up into the Night, like a Hill; and the
colour was mostly black, save and indeed where it did face to the red
shine of the Pit; and concerning this I have done telling.

And so did I lie there, and stare a great while, parting a small hole in
the moss-bushes that I might spy through the same. And the thing was
squat there, and might have root within the earth, so it did seem to
mine imaginings, as I did stare with a dumb wonder. And there were
monstrous warts upon the thing, and indents and a mighty ruggedness and
lumpings; as it were that it did be pimpled with great boulders that
were inbred within that monstrous hide. And where the shine from the
Pit of Red Fire did strike upon these, they did stand out into the
darkness away from the skin, as you of this Age shall see mountains of
the moon catch a bright fire from the Sun, and show plain upon the night
of the moon.

Now, as I have set down, I did lie there and look a great while; and it
came presently to me that there was unease within the Mighty Pyramid,
among the Millions; for I did feel the aether of the world to be
disturbed by their distress; and so had a knowing that they had a
cunning wareness concerning the place where I did hide among the
moss-bushes.

And the thrilling in the night did bring a wisdom into my head; for, in
verity, as I have said, this was a foolish matter that I was upon. And I
gat a thought that the Watcher might have an awaredness of the trouble
of the Multitudes; and, indeed, for all that I did know, it had a full
knowledge of all my wandering; though concerning this, I did think
otherwise truly in my heart; as is a most human and proper way to make
comfortable the spirit, where Doubt can have no ease from Reason.

And I made that I would go backwards to a good distance from the
Watcher, and go forward again upon my journeying, if but that I come
safe from so unwise an adventuring. And as I did begin to return, it was
to me as that all my senses were newly awake; for I had a sudden knowing
that I was within the atmosphere, should I not call it, of the Monster.

And I gat an abrupt and horrid shaking of the spirit; for I did feel in
verity that my soul had come too anigh; and that the Beast had a sure
knowledge concerning me; yet did make to my destruction with no haste;
but after that way and fashion that did seem proper unto it.

And this feeling you shall understand the better, maybe, when I do tell
that it was to me as that the air all about me was full of a quiet and
steadfast life and keen intelligence that I did believe to come forth
from the Watcher on every side; so that I did feel as one already within
the gaze of some Great and Evil Power.

Yet, though I had a great terror upon me, I made no foolish haste; but
commanded my soul to courage, and put a guard upon my way of going, and
so made a very quiet journey for maybe two full miles; and afterwards
did allow myself something more of haste; for I was now grown easier in
my spirit; and felt apart from the spirit of the Great Watcher.

And after a longer while, I did leave that hill of watchfulness to my
rear; and was gone onward into the night; yet, as may be known, with a
vague unease and trouble to my heart, and a swift and frequent turning
to learn surely that no Evil Thing came after me. For, as you may know,
I could nowise have forgetting, concerning that great quiet Life which
did seem to be living in all the air around that Mighty Bulk. For it had
been all about me in the night, as I have told, and I to feel that I had
been surely discovered! And thus shall you know how shaken was my
spirit, in verity.

Now, presently, at the eighteenth hour of that day's travel, I ceased
from my journeying, that I might eat and drink; and I did sit a little
while, and looked back upon the strange and monstrous thing which I had
come beyond. And the great humped back and vast shoulders of the
Watching-Thing rose up into the night, black and cumbrous against the
red shine of the Pit. And thus, as you shall think, had that Brute
looked always unto the Mighty Pyramid, through Eternity, and did cease
not from watching, and was steadfast and silent and alone; and none did
understand.

And after I had eat, and drunk some of the water, I went onward for a
full matter of six hours more; being minded to have no sleep until I had
put a great way between me and the Watcher. And in this part of my
journey did I come to The Place Where The Silent Ones Kill, as it was
named in the Maps. And I observed a very wondrous caution, and went away
from it a little, unto the North, where I did see at a distance the
shinings of fire-holes; the which did promise me warmth through my
slumber.

And here you must know that the Place Where The Silent Ones Kill was an
utter bare place, where all did seem of rock, and no bush did seem to
grow thereon; so that a man might not come to any hiding; though, in
truth, there might be some hole here or there; yet was none shown in any
map within the Pyramid; neither did there seem to be any such to me, as
I did creep there among the moss-bushes to the Northward of the Place,
and look constant and fearful towards it; so that I should see quickly
whether any Silent One did move across all the grey quiet of that rocky
plain.

And concerning this same Place Where The Silent Ones Kill, it were well
to make an explanation how that there was always a little and
far-spreaded light over all that lonesomeness; and the light was
something grey-seeming; as it were that a lichen might grow upon the
rocks, and send out a little uncomfortable glowing, even as certain
matters do in these times, if you do but know the place and the time to
seek them. Yet was the light exceeding weak, and very cold and dismal,
and did seem truly to show naught with a sureness; so that it did appear
to the eye, if one did look fixedly, that there were shadows that did
move here or there, as it were of silent beings; and none might know, in
truth, whether this shaping of the greyness was to the clouding of the
Reason, or that the eye did see of Reality. Yet, if one did look with
the Great Spy-Glass, then might there be some surety and plainness; and
likewise was it so, if one did have come sufficient anigh to that
uncomfortable Place, even as I then did be. And so you shall conceive
how that I did slide very quiet from bush unto bush; for I had alway in
all my life had a very dread fear of this place; and oft did I peer out
into the dim grey light of the lonesome plain unto my left; and would
think sometimes to perceive the shapes of the Silent Ones stood vague
and watchful; yet, on the instant, to see nothing.

And thus I did go onward, and came presently to a part where the grey
plain did stretch out a bareness into the Night Land to my front; so
that my way ended, unless I did make a long passing round about.

And I sat there among the moss-bushes, and did consider, and lookt out
cunningly through a spy-hole of the bush in which I did sit. And I
perceived that the part of the plain which did jut bareness into the
Land before me had no greatness of size; but might be passed swiftly in
but a little running. And this thing should save me a wearisome going
round; so that I made to consider it with a serious mind; and all the
time did I search the bare greyness before me, and saw presently that it
was surely empty.

And I made to adventure myself across, running very swift until I had
come to the far side. And lo! as I did go to rise up out of the bush,
mine eyes were opened, as it were, and I saw that there was something
amid the constant greyness; and I fell quickly into the bush; and did
sweat very chill; but yet did haste to look.

And I saw now that there were, in truth, matters that did show vague
upon that part of the plain that was before me. And I did peer very
constant and anxious, and, behold, I saw that there was facing me, a
great line of quiet and lofty figures, shrouded unto their feet; and
they moved not, neither made they any sound; but stood there amid the
greyness, and did seem to make an unending watch upon me; so that my
heart went unto weakness, and I did feel that there was no power of the
moss-bushes to hide me; for, in verity, they that stood so silent were
certain of the Silent Ones; and I was very nigh to the Place of
Destruction.

Now, I moved not for a time; but was made stiff by the greatness of my
fear. Yet I was presently aware that the Silent Ones came not towards
me; but stood quiet; as that they did mind not to slay me, if but I did
keep from that Place.

And there grew therefrom a little courage into mine heart, and I obeyed
my spirit, and took an hold of my strength and went slowly backward in
the bushes. And presently I was come a long way off. Yet troubled and
disturbed, and very strict to my going.

And I made a great circling about that place where the plain of the
Silent Ones did come outward; and so did gain to the North-West; and was
thence something the happier in my heart; and went easily, and oft upon
my feet; yet making a strong watching to every side.

And so I came at the last to a time when I had walked through
four-and-twenty weariful hours; and was eager that I should come to a
safe place for my sleep; yet did lack a happy belief of safety, in that
I had come twice anigh to so grim trouble; and unsure I was that I did
not be secretly pursued in the night. And this you shall believe to be a
very desperate feeling; and a plight to make the heart sick, and to long
with a great longing for the safety of that mine Home. Yet had I put
myself to the task; and truly I did never cease to the sorrowful
remembering of that utter despair that had sounded to me plain in the
last calling of mine own love, out of all the mystery of the night. And
but to think upon this was to grow strong in the spirit; yet to have a
fresh anxiousness that I did the more surely keep my life within me, and
so come to that maid's salvation.

Now, as you shall mind, I had spied the shine of certain fire-holes
somewhat to the Northward, and had thought to make thereabouts a place
for my sleep; for, in truth, there was a bitterness of cold in all the
air of night that did surround me; and I was warmed nigh to a slow
happiness, by thinking upon a fire to lie beside; and small wonder, as
you shall say.

And I made presently a strong walking unto that place where did glow in
the night the shine of the fire-holes, as I did well judge them to be;
and so was like to have come over-swiftly upon my death, as you shall
presently see; for, as I came anigh to the first, I perceived that the
light came upward out of a great hollow among the moss-bushes, and that
the fire-hole burned somewhere in the deep of the hollow; so that I did
but look upon the shine thereof.

Yet very eager was I to come to that warmth; and I made more of haste
than care, as I did hint; and so came very swift to the top of the
hollow; yet was still hidden by the kindness of the moss-bushes.

And as I made to thrust forward out of the bushes, that I might look and
go downward into the hollow, there rose up to me the sound of a very
large voice, and deep and husky. And the voice was a dreadful voice that
did speak as that it said ordinary things, and in a fashion so monstrous
as that it were that a house did speak, and, in verity, this is a
strange thing to say; yet shall it have the truth of my feelings and
terror in that moment.

And I drew back swiftly from discovering myself; and was then all feared
to move, or to make to go more backward, lest that I should give
knowledge that I was come anigh. And likewise did I shiver lest that I
was even then perceived. And so shall you have something of the utter
fear that did shake me. And I abode there, very quiet, and moved not for
a very great space; but did sweat and shake; for there was a monstrous
horridness in the voice that did speak.

And as I crouched there within the moss-bushes, there came again the
large voice, and it was answered by a second voice; and thereupon there
arose, as it did seem, the speech of Men that must have the bigness of
elephants, and that did have no kindness in all their thoughts; but were
utter monstrous. And the speech was slow, and it rose up out of the
hollow, brutish and hoarse and mighty. And I would that I could make you
to hear it, and that you could but borrow mine ears for a little moment,
and forthwith be shaken with that utter horror and an afraidness, even
as was I.

Now, presently, there was a very long quiet, and I ceased at last a
little from mine over-fear; and later I did calm somewhat; so that I
made to shift my position, which was grown very uneasy.

And there was still no sound from the hollow. Wherefore, having a little
boldness and much curiousness, and these despite my great fearfulness, I
put forth mine hand, very cautious, and did move the mossbush a little
from my face. And I went forward upon the earth, and did lie upon my
belly; and was by this so close upon the edge of that place, that I was
abled to look downwards.

And you shall know that I peered down into that great hollow, and did
see a very strange and horrid sight; for, in truth, there was a large
fire-hole in the centre of that place, and all about the sides there
were great holes into the slopes of the hollow, and there were great men
laid in the holes, so that I might see a great head that did show out to
my sight here, from one of those holes, and would seem to be that of a
monstrous man heavy with sleep. And there I would see but the buttocks
of another, as that he did curl himself inward to his brutish
slumbering. And so was it all about; and to my memory there were maybe a
score of these holes; yet had I not time to the counting, as you shall
see. For, after that I had made but a glance, as it were, at these
sleeping and utter monstrous men, I perceived that there sat beyond the
fire-hole, three great men, and they were each greater than elephants,
and covered a large part with a stiff and horrid hair, that did be of a
reddish seeming. And there were upon them great segs and warts, as that
their skin had been hides that had never known covering. And there was
between them the body of a mighty hound, so big as an horse, that they
did skin; and I judged that this beast was one of those fearsome brutes
which we did call the Night Hounds.

Yet, as I should set down, they did nothing in that time in which I
lookt at them; but did sit each with a sharp and monstrous bloody stone
in his fist, and did look to the ground, as that they heeded not the
earth or the food that they did prepare; but did listen to some outward
sound. And you shall know that this brought to me a very swift and
sudden terror; for I perceived now the why of their long silence; for,
in verity, they had an unease upon them, being subtly aware that one was
anigh, even as are the brute beasts in this manner and kind, as all do
know.

And I made to draw back, and win unto safety, if indeed this thing were
to be done. And as I moved me, it may be that I shook a little earth
into the hollow; for there was, indeed, a little sifting of dry dust
below me, as I did wot, being very keen to hear, by reason of my fright.
And immediately did those three monstrous men look upward, and did seem
to me to stare into mine eyes, as I did lie there hid amid the
moss-bushes. And I was so put in fear that I did clumsily, and sent
another siftering of dust downward, as I did strive to go backward swift
and quiet from the edge. And all the time I did look through the bushes
very fixedly into the eyes of the giants; and lo, their eyes did shine
red and green, like to the eyes of animals. And there rose up a roar
from them that did nigh slay my soul with the horridness of the noise.
And at that roaring, all the giants that did lie in the holes did awake,
and began to come outward into the hollow.

Now, I was surely lost, and given over to destruction; for they had
possessed me immediately, but that in that moment, as I went backward,
the earth gave behind me, and I fell into a hole among the moss-bushes
to my back, and I made first to come out very hurried, and all choked
with a dust of sand and ash; but in a moment I was sane to know that I
had come to a sudden hiding-place; and I lay very still and strove
neither to cough nor to breathe. And well for me, I came to so close a
hiding; for there were all about me the sounds of monstrous footsteps,
running, that seemed to shake the ground; though maybe this to be an
imagining bred of my fear.

And shoutings of great voices there were; and the thudding of huge feet
all about; and the noises of the bushes rustling; but presently the
search drew away to the Southward. And I perceived that there had surely
fought for me some power of good fortune. And I came up out of the hole,
very cautious, and shaken and a moment weak with the beating of my
heart; yet with a lovely thankfulness for my salvation. And I gat me
about, and went swift through the moss-bushes to the North and West for
three hours, and ceased not to run upon my hands and knees. And by that
time was I come a great way, and did have a surety in my heart of
present safety.

And I ceased to run, and lay quiet; for, in truth, I did near swoon away
with the hardness of my travel. And indeed as you shall know, I had
slept not for seven-and-twenty hours, and had scarce ceased to labour in
all that time. Moreover, I had eat not, neither drunk, for nine hours;
and so shall you conceive that I was truly a-weary.

And, presently I did slumber there as I lay, and all abroad to any
monstrous thing that should come along. Yet did I wake unharmed, and
found by my dial there had gone by a full ten hours, the while that I
did lie there and sleep unwotting. And I was sore perished with the cold
of the Night; for I had not the warmth of my cloak about me, and my
belly was very empty.

And I stood me up, and did peer about for any dread matter, but all
seemed proper, and I began to stamp my feet against the earth, as that
I would drive it from me, and this I do say as a whimsy, and I swung
mine arms, as often you shall do in the cold days; and so I was
presently something warmed. And I dismantled my cloak, and wrapped it
about me, and did feel that the Diskos was safe to my hip.

Then did I sit me down, and did glow a little with relish, in that I
should now eat four of the tablets; for, indeed, these were my proper
due, by reason of my shiftless fasting ere I came so wotless to my
slumbering. And the memory of that eating doth live with me now, so that
I could near to smile; for the eagerness of mine inwards was proper and
human; yet were even four tablets but a little matter to so great an
emptyness; and I drank a double portion of the water, that I might make
less the void. And this thing was seemly; for, indeed, there were two
portions due unto me.

And when I had eat and drunk, I did fold the cloak once more to shape
across my shoulder, as I did carry it; and afterwards I took the Diskos
into my hand, and went forward again to the North and West.

Yet, as you shall know, I did pause a little in the beginning, and peer
to every side for any close danger; and then did look more abroad of
that place; but could nowhere see any matter to have me to immediate
fear. And afterwards, I looked a little while at the monstrous humped
back of the Watcher of the North-West; and it did grow to me how
steadfast that thing did look toward the Mighty Pyramid; and this set me
to new hatred and horror of the Monster, as you shall conceive and
believe.

And presently, I looked beyond the Watcher, unto the vast Mountain of
the Great Redoubt; and I was still seeming close upon it; yet, in truth,
gone a long and weariful distance. But this you shall understand was by
the greatness and utter height and bulk of that shining Mountain of
Life.

And strange and wonderful it was to me to think that even in that one
moment, it might be that the dear Master Monstruwacan did look upon my
face, through the Great Spy-Glass. And I should not seem utter far to
him, by reason of the power of the big Glass. But to me, as I did look
upward through the Night, unto that far and utmost light in the upper
blackness of the everlasting gloom, it did seem doubly to me that I was
afar off and lost forever from mine Home. And this thinking did breed in
me such a great and lonesome feeling, and a weakness of the heart and
spirit, that forthwith I took my courage close unto me, and did turn
away quickly; and went onward to the North and West, as I have told.

Now I walked for twelve hours, and in that time, did eat and drink
twice; and made onward again very steadfast, and happy that all did go
so quiet with me; so that it was as if I had at last come to a part of
the Land that was given over to quietness, and lacking of monsters.
Yet, in truth was I come to a worse place than any, maybe; for as I went
forward, striding very strong, and making a good speed, I did hear
presently a little noise upward in the night, and someways unto my left,
that had seeming as that it were a strange low sound that did come down
to me out of an hidden doorway above; for, indeed, though the sound did
come from very nigh, as it did seem no more than a score feet above my
head, yet was it a noise that did come out of a great and mighty
distance, and out of a Foreign Place. And I did know the Sound; though
never, as you may suppose, could I have heard it in all my life. Yet had
I read in one of the Records, and again in a second and a third, how
that certain of all they that had adventured from the Pyramid into the
Night Land to seek for knowledge, had chanced to hear a queer and
improper noise above them in the Night; and the noise had been strange,
and did come from but a little way upward in the darkness; yet was also
from a great and monstrous distance; and did seem to moan and hum
quietly, and to have a different sounding from all noises of earth. And
in the Records it was set forth that these were those same Doorways In
The Night, which were told of in an ancient and half-doubted Tale of the
World, that was much in favour of the children of the Pyramid, and not
disdained by certain of our wiser men, and had been thus through all the
latter ages.

And I did seem to know the sound upon the moment; for my heart grew
swift to understand. And it was a very dread uncomfortable sound; and
you shall know how it did seem, if you will conceive of a strange noise
that doth happen far away in the Country, and the same noise to seem to
come to you through an opened door near by. And this is but a poor way
to put it; yet how shall I make the thing more known to you? So that I
must even trust unto your wit and true sympathy that you shall conceive
of the fullness of my meaning.

Now, in all the Histories of those that had adventured into the Night
Land, there were but three sure Records that did concern this Sound; and
each did tell of a Great Horror; and of them that did hear the Sound
there had died the most part, out in the Night Land. And the Records did
make always that they had come upon Destruction, and not simply unto
Death; but were destroyed by a strange and Invisible Evil Power from the
Night.

And of those that came alive unto the Pyramid, they had all one strange
tale to tell, how that there were secret and horrid Doorways In The
Night. Yet how this thing could be plain to them, who may know truly;
save it be that the eyes of their spirits did behold that which was hid
to the eyes of the flesh.

And there was afterwards writ a proper and careful treatise, and did set
out that there did be ruptures of the Aether, the which did constitute
doorways, as those more fanciful ones did name them; and through these
shatterings, which might be likened unto openings--there being no better
word to their naming--there did come into this Particular Condition Of
Life, those Monstrous Forces Of Evil, that did dominate the Night, and
which many did hold surely to have been given this improper entrance
through the foolish and unwise wisdom of those olden men of learning,
that did meddle overfar with matters that did reach in the end beyond
their understanding. And this thing have I told before, and it doth seem
proper unto my belief; for it is always thus, and I have that same taint
within me, as must all that have the zest of life.

Now, by this that I have set down swiftly, to make a little clear the
sure horridness of this Sound, you shall know, even with me, the great
horror that did come immediately upon my Spirit; and I did know that my
Search was surely like to have an end in that moment; and I bared mine
arm, for my teeth, where the Capsule did lie below the skin; and so was
ready to an instant Death, if that Destruction did come upon me. And in
the same moment, I did fall silent, inward among the moss-bushes, and
did begin to creep very quiet toward the right; for, as you will mind, I
had heard the Sound over beyond my left. And all that time, as I did
creep, there was a great sickness upon me, and it did seem that my mouth
had weakened unto water; so that I could scarce hold my teeth tightly
from unseemly clitterings.

And I crept always very silent, and did often stare quick and painful
over my shoulder, upwards, and this way and that; but did never see
anything; neither could I hear now the Sound.

And I went thiswise for a great hour, and was like to faint through the
effort of my care and the soreness of my going. But upon the end of that
long while, I grew something easier in the Spirit, and did perceive that
I was saved from the Destruction that I had come so dreadful anigh. And
this thing, it may be, was because that I did chance to hear it, whilst
yet it was beyond, and before I did come right unto it, to pass below.
Yet may I be wrong in this thought, and do but make a guessing. But, as
I shall here explain; after that time, I kept mine ears newly keen unto
hearing; and did chide my Spirit, for that it had not taken account of
that Sound a great while earlier. Yet, as I did presently conceive, the
spirit had no power to hear that thing; which was very strange; but
truly so.

Now, because that I went with a very wary hearing, I heard the Sound
once a far way off before me, and I hid upon the moment, and went
backward, and after a while, did judge myself to have come unto safety;
and so it was, in verity, for I heard no more that time. And so did I
come presently unto the eighteenth hour, and did eat and drink, and made
me a place of slumber in a little hollow of a rock that stood upward out
of the moss-bushes. And I slept for six hours, and afterwards waked,
and was come to no harm.

And after I had eat and drunk again, I did look outward over the Night
Land, and with particularness to that part that I did travel in, as it
might be called, the yesterday. And I did observe it to be a very bleak
and desolate Country, and not given over to fire, or other warmth, nor
to sulphur-vapours; but to be very quiet, and with but a little light in
all its breadth. And I could conceive that it was no place for anything
of life to desire; but rather to avoid; and that Country did seem to be
yet all about me; for I was by no means come clear from it at that time;
though, Northward, there was a glimmer, as of fire-holes; and beyond
those, the strange shining of the Plain of Blue Fire. And, after that I
had thought awhile, I did believe that I should meet no Monster of
Natural Life in all that Country of Desolation, until I did draw nigh,
once more unto fire. And I conceived that this Sound from out of the
invisible Doorways might yet trouble me; but whether the quietness of
that part was because all of natural life did fear the Sound, or because
that there was neither fire nor warmth, I do not say, having no knowing
in this matter; but may yet believe that it was to be laid to both
causes; and this doth seem of common reason, as you shall agree.

And when I had looked a while unto the Mighty Pyramid, which was now
truly a great way off; for I had walked so many weary hours; I turned me
once more to my journeying. And here let me observe that I had gone very
far; yet not so distant, as might be thought; for, oft, I did go less
than one mile in an hour or maybe two hours, having to be of great
caution, and oft to hide, and to go upon my belly, or to crawl, all as
might be. And, further, as you may have perceived, I made not a straight
forwardness; but did strike this way and that way, being very intent to
escape the Monsters and Evil Forces that were all about.

Now, because that I believed that I travelled in a Place where was
surely to be discovered those strange Doorways within the Night, I made
an especial care of my going; and did stop oft that I might listen, and
watch, and keep a very strict ward in all the Night about me. Yet, as
you shall see, this served not to prevent me from going forward into the
fearfulness of that which did haunt all the void; for, sudden, as I went
carefully, I heard a faint humming noise come downward from the night a
little unto my rear; and the humming noise did grow more plain, as that
a door were opened slowly above, and did let out that Sound ever more
loud. And surely, after I did hear that, I could not doubt that a door
were opened upward there; for the noise did grow in such wise as you
shall hear a distant sound come through, when a door truly is oped; for,
if the noise had been made just in that place, it had seemed to come
from there; but this Sound, though it did come _through_ there, was as
that it did come outward from some far lost and foreign Eternity. And
this I do struggle always to make plain; and you shall not blame me that
I think overmuch upon it; for, in truth there was an horror so wondrous
and drear about it, that I can forget not; but do strive always that
others should know with me that peculiar woe and terror that did haunt
the night.

Now, as you will see, I had in truth gone past the place where the
Doorway in the Night did open; yet had come to no harm; but rather it
did seem that it opened by chance, unwotting that I was anigh; or it may
be that my quiet passing did disturb an Evil Power, so that it did even
come to listen, or to make search. And all this doth pass through my
brain, as I do write, and it doth seem to me that my thoughts are but
the thoughts of a little child, before so great a mystery; and that I
touch not even the edge and fringe of the truth with my thinkings, and
so do cease upon them; and will but go forward so plain as I may with my
telling. Now, as you may truly believe, when I heard that Sound, and did
understand that I had, in verity, come past beneath that Place, I did
surely sicken to an utter weakness of body and heart, though it was but
for a moment; and then was I swift hid within the close shelter of the
low and thick moss-bushes.

And I shook in all my being, and crept, shaking, upon my hands and
knees, and did near totter to my face thrice, so weak gone was I in that
moment of terror; and I did have a wickedness of forgetting in that
time; for I bared not mine arm, to have the Capsule to a readiness for
my death, if that did need to be; and this was an abominable
foolishness, and I do shake now when I think upon it; for Death is but a
little matter by the side of Destruction; though, in truth, dreadful
enough for all. Yet, as it did chance, no harm came to me, and I gat
away, as that some wondrous power did cast a viewless cloak about me,
that I might be utter hid; and oft have I wondered whether this was
truly so; but have no knowing.

And, presently, I ceased from fleeing, and had some calmness, and did
eat and drink; and so came to the comfort of a firm spirit, the which
had been sore troubled, above all understanded causes, by that horrid
sounding upward in the Night. And after that I had eat and drunk, I did
rest a little; but afterward, went onward to the Northward, going
towards that place where the fire-holes did glimmer, the same being by
this time no great way off.

Then, as I did come anigh, I thought to hear once again the Sound in the
night, and I stopt very swift, and hid into the moss-bushes, and did
listen; but did hear naught; and so was hopeful that fancy did play upon
me. Yet, because of this matter, I went upon my hands and knees for a
good way; and so came at last nigh unto the shine of one of those
fire-holes, the which I did see for so long.

Now, as you shall suppose, I went very cautious through the bushes, unto
that red-shining fire; being careful, both that I did attract not any
Evil Force that might listen in the Night, and because that there might
be some Monster nigh to the fire-hole. But, presently, when I was come
so that I could peer through the bushes, I did see a little fire-hole
set in a small hollow, and there did no thing seem to lurk anigh; and
the sight of that warmth did cheer me; for it was long since I did have
the comfort of such a matter.

And when I had lain hid awhile, that I might watch all about, I saw the
place to be safe and quiet; and I went out from the moss-bushes, and sat
down a space from the fire, which did fill the pit in which it did lift
and bubble. And the noise that it sent out was strange and slow, and it
did seem to gruntle gently unto itself in that lonesome hollow, as that
it had made a long and quiet grumbling there, through Eternity. And oft
was it still, and made no sound; and again would give an odd bubbling in
the quietness, and send off, as it did seem, a little smoke of sulphur,
and afterward fall once more upon a quiet.

And so I did sit there very hushed and restful, and the loneliness did
lie all about me, and the red shine of the fire-hole did glow soft in
the hollow; and I was glad to be quiet, for my heart was weary.

And there was to my back a little rock that did jut upward so high as a
man; and the rock was warm and pleasant to lean upon, and moreover did
seem to guard me from behind. And there I ate and drunk, and kept very
still; and so was presently rested. And this I did need, as you have
perceived; for I was gone sudden weary of the heart, as I did say; and
this might be because that I did never cease to have Destruction over me
to companion my way, though as you will mind, I had been no more than
twelve hours afoot, since my last sleeping. Yet I doubt not you do
understand.

And presently my heart grew strong again within me, and I had a warmth
in my Spirit; and I got up from the earth, and stretched out mine arms;
and I saw that my gear was safe upon me, and afterward did grip the
Diskos, as it were newly.

Then I went away from the fire-hole, and climbed the far slope of the
hollow, and went Northward. And there were before me many of the
fire-holes; for I did perceive them to shine in the Night for a great
way; as it did seem that they were a path of red shinings that led me
onward to the North-West of the light of the Plain of Blue Fire.

Now, I had a believing that I had come out of the Country where did lurk
those horrid Doorways in the Night; and I went not with so utter a
weight upon my heart; and did feel that naught should come now upon the
back of my neck, which had been an odd and troublesome fancy whilst that
I did creep through that Country of Gloom. Yet, as you shall know, I
went with no foolish confidence; but with a great caution, and mine
hearing keen to hark, and a care to my steps, and did ever watch around
me as I journeyed.

And because that I went forward in this proper and sedate manner, I had
great cause for a thankful heart, as you may perceive; for I had come
after a long way to another of those hollows where did burn one of the
fire-holes; and I made a pause upon the edge of the hollow in which it
did lie, and looked downward, keeping guarded within the moss-bushes,
where they grew anigh to the top thereof. But there was no living thing
there to be seen, and I went downward, so that I should warm my body at
the fire. And lo! as I stood upon this side of the fire-hole, and turned
myself about, I looked presently more keenly to the other side; for the
yellowness of the earth did seem a little strange in one place. But I
could see with no plainness, because that there arose a glare from the
fire against mine eyes; and I went round, that I should look the better;
yet with no fear or thought of Evil in my heart. And, truly! when I was
come upon that far side of the fire-hole, lo! there was spread out in
the yellow sand of that place, a Curious Thing; and I went more nigh,
and stooped to look upon it; and behold it moved, and the sand all about
did move for a great space; so that I gave back very swift, and swung
upward with the Diskos.

And, strangely, I heard the sand to stir at my back, and I looked round
very quick, and the sand rose upward in parts, and sifted back, and
there came to my sight odd things that did move and curl about.

And immediately, before I knew which way to go, I knew that the sand did
shift under my feet, and did work and heave, so that I was tottered, and
was shaken also in the heart; for I knew not what to think in that
instant. Then did I perceive that I was all surrounded, and I ran swift
upon the heaving sand, unto the edge of the fire-hole, and I turned
there, and looked quickly; for I did not know what this new Terror
should be.

And I saw that a Yellow Thing did hump upward from out of the sand, as
it had been a low hillock that did live, and the sand shed downward from
it, and it did gather to itself strange and horrid arms from the sand
all about it. And it stretched two of the arms unto me; but I smote with
the Diskos, and I smote thrice; and afterward they did wriggle upon the
sand. But this was not the end, as I did hope; for the Yellow Thing
arose, and ran at me, as it might be that you should see a spider run.
And I did leap backward, this way and that; but the monster had a great
swiftness; so that I did seem surely lost.

Then made I a strong and instant resolve; for I perceived that I had no
hope to slay this thing; save that I should come at it in the body. And
I put everything to the chance, and made not to escape any more; but ran
straight in among the legs; and there were great hairs like to spines
upon the legs, and these had pricked me to the death, but that the
armour saved me.

Now, I had done this thing with a wondrous quickness; so that I was
under the mighty arching of the legs before the Yellow Thing did wot of
my intent. And the body was bristled with the great hairs, and poison
did seem to come from them, and to ooze from them strangely in great and
shining drops. And the Monster heaved itself up to one side, that it
might bring certain of the legs inward to grasp me; yet in that moment
did I smite utter fierce with the Diskos--thrusting. And the Diskos did
spin, and hum, and roar, and sent out a wondrous blaze of flame, as that
it had been a devouring Death; and it sundered the body of the Yellow
Thing, and did seem as that it screamed to rage amid the entrails
thereof; so wondrous was the fury and energy of that trusted Weapon.

And I was covered with the muck of the thing; and the claws upon the
legs seized me, so that the grey armour did bend and crack to the might
thereof, and I grew sick unto death with the pain within; but smote with
the shining Diskos, using my left hand weakly; for my right was gript
dreadful fast to my body. And lo! I was sudden free, and a great blow
did knock me far across the hollow, so that I was like to have fallen
into the fire-hole; but fell instead upon the edge, and came backward
unto safety.

And I turned me about, and the Yellow Thing did throw the sand all ways,
as it did die; but had lost power to come upon me. And for my part, I
lay weak upon the earth, and was no more able to fight; nor could I do
more than breathe for a great while; but yet came presently to health,
and made to examine my hurts.

Then I saw there was no great wound anywhere upon me; but only an utter
bruising; and I found upon my right leg that there was a sharp and hairy
claw clipt about it; but the armour had saved me from harm of the horrid
thing; so that I did but kick it free with my left foot, and thence into
the fire-hole.

Now, by this time, that Monstrous Creature was dead; but I held off from
it, and went upon the other side of the fire; for I was yet surely in
horror of it. And I sat for a time, and did think upon all matters that
did concern me; and I saw that I should have not comfort of heart, until
I was washed clean from the taint of the Monster.

And I gat me up wearily to go forth into the Night again, that I should
make a search for a hot spring, of which I had come past many. And I had
oft found them to be nigh unto the fire-holes; so that I was trustful
that I should see one ere long. And lo! there was a little hollow just
beyond, and scarce a hundred paces off; and in the hollow, there did
shine three small fire-holes, and there was a steaming puddle, as did
seem, beyond the third of the holes.

Now, before I adventured downward into this place, I went all about the
topmost edge, and made a search of the moss-bushes about; but found
naught that should scare me. And afterward, I went all across the
hollow; but did find no monstrous thing hid anywheres. Yet, there was
that in the place that discouraged me, and did keep me from stripping
mine armour, so that I should bathe in the hot puddle; for I stept upon
a small serpent, and the same did lap about my leg; but could do me no
hurt, for the armour, which was a very blessed protection. And I freed
myself from it with the handle of the Diskos.

And because that I could not go naked to my cleansing, I tried first the
hotness of the water, which was not over great, and afterward did take
off the scrip and the pouch, and the cloak, and laid them with the
Diskos upon the edge of the warm puddle.

Then I stept into the water, and was immediately gone downward a great
way; for, truly it was no puddle as I had supposed; but a deep well, as
you might call it, of hot and sulphury water. And this doth show how a
man may act foolishly, even when he doth believe that he hath a great
caution; and surely it is borne in upon me afresh that none should trust
over freely unto unproven matters, the which shall you heartily agree
with; but yet do as foolishly, according to your lights and characters.
And so shall you laugh not over hardly upon me.

Now I had gone over the head, and, surely I do not know what deepness
was there. Yet, as you shall think, I stayed not to consider upon this
matter; but made to climb out, and much shaken with my splutterings and
the smartings of mine eyes; for, truly, the water was strong with
sulphur matters. Yet, very cleansing was it, as I did presently see; for
there was no more any taint or horridness upon mine armour, or the flesh
of my face or hands. And I took the Diskos, and washed it clean, also;
and then the cloak, and afterward the scrip and the pouch, and the bands
of the same.

And after I had done this, I was minded to dry myself by the little
fire-holes; but when I was come there, lo! maybe a score small serpents
were about those places; and I was strongly pleased that I should keep
away. Yet that I must warm and dry me in that desolate and bitter Night
Land, you shall agree. And to this end, I put the scrip and the pouch
upon me, and afterwards took the Diskos readily into my hand, and ran
quietly unto the hollow where I did fight with the Yellow Thing. And the
cloak I bore in my left hand.

Now, when I was gat there, I was truly glad to think that there were no
serpents in that place; and because that I had slain the Monster of the
Place, how should it be that any harm might come unto me; for truly, was
it not like that a Creature of such Might should keep all that Hollow
unto itself, and slay any that did come therein, and thereby preserve
that place from all other horror; though, surely, until it did die and
cease to Be, there had been no call for any greater abomination.

Now, all this did go through my brain, as I did sit to dry mine armour
and my body and my gear, upon that side of the fire-hole which was away
from the slain Monster. And I made presently to think that this would
be a sure and proper refuge wherein to sleep; for, truly, it must have
gotten a place where none other Creature should be like to come to work
me harm. And it must be that you do all see with me in this matter, and
commend me that I thought with properness.

And so did I resolve that I put my disgust within my pocket, as we do
say, and stay safe and quiet within that Hollow. And this thing I did
surely, and did eat and drink; and presently I went over to the dead
Monster, and made very sure that it was truly slain; which indeed it
was. And after that I had seen to this matter, I returned unto the
fire-hole, and made a comfortable place in the sand, for my rest; for I
was well dry by this.

And I wrapped the cloak about me, and took the Diskos to my breast, for
a sure Companion, as it had truly proved in my need. And I could think
almost that it did nestle unto me, as that it knew and loved me; but
this thing can be no more than a fancy; and I do but set it down as
such, and that it doth show my feeling and mind at that time.

Then, ere I did compose myself to slumber, I looked about me, upward to
the edges of the Hollow, and I perceived that I was lost to the sight of
the Mighty Pyramid; for I was come so far off that it looked not down
from so wondrous a height, as you shall perceive; and moreover, the
Hollow was something deep.

And afterward, as I lay my head back upon the scrip and the pouch, which
were to me my pillow, I went to think a little upon Naani, as alway I
did in my constant journeying; yet, presently, I strove sometimes that I
put her from my mind, that I should sleep; for a bitter sorrow and
anxiousness was oft upon me when that I did think upon her; and this you
may know; for truly I knew not what terror was come to her, afar in the
silence of the Night. And did I think overmuch, I should feel that I
could have no calmness needful to sleep; but to need to walk for ever
until I died, which could not be long; and so should I make a
foolishness of mine anxious journeying to do her true service and to
save her from Destruction, if such did truly threaten.

And I was soon gone over to sleep, and waked not for seven hours, being
much wearied by the fight and the soreness of my body, the which did put
me into a great pain as I did rise upward from my slumber. But this was
presently something less, and I eat two of the tablets and drank some of
the water, and afterward did put my gear upon me, and went forward into
the Night, having the Diskos in my hand. And my heart was glad that I
had come safe through the time of my sleep.

Now I walked six hours, and did stop a little to eat and drink, and went
on again. And it was in this second Third of the day that I saw afar to
my right, two strange and wondrous men, and they did shine, as they had
been made of a pale mist. And they came anigh, going very swift, and did
seem as that they were maybe forty feet high, yet having no thickness;
and I hid downward into the moss-bushes. And they past me, so quiet as a
cloud of this day might go, and did appear to be, if I did guess, but an
hundred fathoms off; yet was this no sure thing; for their position had
no more surety than shall a rainbow have in this age. And so they were
gone onward into the Night, and did seem to come out of the North. And
they did appear not to wot of me; and whether they were harmful, I know
not, for they harmed not me.

And I lay there in the moss-bushes, until they were well gone away; and
I had belief that they must be those same mist-men that were told of in
certain of the olden Records; but were never seen anigh to the Pyramid;
though I had thought, odd times, to see men, as of mist, through the
Great Spy-Glass, when I was within the Tower of Observation. But they
were always a mighty way off; and some would say it was but a bright
vapour that did move; yet would others be in doubt, and so is it ever in
such matters.

And here let me take chance to say how that it is a hard thing to speak
of such happenings to men of this age, and to make the truth proper unto
them; and because of this, oft am I tempted to say no word upon many
things that I did see; yet must I tell my tale, or suffer from the
weight of it within me. And so shall you hark to me and give me your
sympathy and human understanding. And concerning these mist-men, I have
wondered oft whether they were the visible shape of some of those many
Forces that were abroad in the Night Land; for they did truly seem to me
as that a thing of Strange Life were half shown to my human eyes; yet I
do not know, and am but telling of my natural thoughts and ponderings.

Now, as I did say, those mist-men were never seen nigh unto the Pyramid,
and were, as I did hint, always so far off that they were half given
over to the fables of the olden days, in the beliefs of the Peoples of
the Mighty Redoubt; and set about with an halo of unrealness, for none
within the Great Pyramid had ever beheld them with surety.

And because that now I saw them anigh to me, it was borne in afresh upon
my spirit how greatly I had wandered away, and how that I stood afar in
the lonesomeness of that Land of Night; as it had been that a man of
this Age did wander amid the stars, and perceive a great comet to go by
him very close; for then he should know in his heart how that he was far
off in the Void. And this I do say to you, that you may know somewhat of
the emotions of my heart in that moment.

Yet, presently I shook free of my melancholy and lonesomeness and rose
up out of the moss-bushes, and went onward. And, as ever, I thought much
upon the Maid that I did search for; yet strove to think quietly
concerning her state; else should I have turned to running, and wrecked
my body before that I had gone any great way.

And that day, I passed seven large fire-holes, and two that were small;
and always I came softly unto them; for there were oft living things
about the warmth. And at the sixth fire-hole, I did see that which I did
think to be a great man, that did sit to the fire, with monstrous knees
drawn upward unto his chin. And the nose was great and bent downward;
and the eyes very large, and did shine with the light from the
fire-hole, and moved, watching, always this way and that, so that the
white parts did show, now this side and now that. But it was not
properly a man.

And I went away very quiet from that place, and looked oft backward,
until that I was sure of safety; for it was a very horrid Monster, and
had that place to be for a Lair, as I did judge from the smell thereof.

And when the eighteenth hour was come, I looked about for a safe place
to my sleep; and I kept away now from the fire-holes; for I did always
find the more life there. Yet, when I came to my rest, I was lacking of
warmth, by reason of this care; and could scarce sleep at all, because
that I was so cold. Yet managed something of slumber after a while; but
woke very stiff, and was glad to beat my hands and bestir myself that I
should come to some warmth of life.

And after that I had eat and drunk, I put my gear upon me, and took the
Diskos in my hand, and went forward again upon my journey. And here I
should tell that I was come soon unto the North-West border of the Plain
of Blue Fire. And presently, I was but a little way off from it, and did
go direct to the North; so that the Plain was always upon my right.

Now this Plain was a strange and fearsome place, as you shall see; for
it was as that a blue void did rise upward from the earth in all the
country of that Plain. For, surely, the Plain did not lumber with flame;
but was hid with a strange and inburning light, as of a shining
atmosphere of a cold blue colour. And it did throw no sure light upon
the Night Land, as had seemed proper; but was a very dreadful, cold
shining, as of a luminous and blue void. And the moss-bushes grew nigh
to the edge of the plain, and did show to me black and strange against
that horrid gloom of light.

And you shall know that I could not see into the plain; for it was as
that the cold blue light was a void that swallowed all within it; and
gave no power to the eye that aught should be perceived. And it stood
between me and the Mighty Pyramid, and I could nowise see across. And I
know not whether I do make all this matter clear unto you; for surely it
is no easy task.

And presently I had gone very quiet upon my hands and knees through the
moss-bushes; and I came near upon the edge of the Plain, and hid there
in a clump of the moss-bush, and peered forth and harked. And I heard
constant voices that did call to one another across the Plain; as it
were that strange peoples of Spirits did wander within that blue
Shining, and did make a calling one to the other, and were all hid and
held apart. And surely I could see naught, and did judge, as I have
writ, that they likewise went blindly. And truly is this a strange
matter to set out; and easy to think on with doubt. Yet as I did see, so
have I told; for, in verity, there were surely hidden Peoples of Spirits
scattered and lost afar upon that improper Plain.

And you shall judge that I kept safe hid; for whether this might have
any natural explaining, or whether it was a matter that did go utter
beyond knowledge of man, I did not know; for surely in that strange
Land, it did like to be an Horrid Danger in any case; and whether of
some Monstrous Creatures, or of the Evil Forces of the Land, I did
wisely to be away.

And for two days I did make a safe coasting of the Plain of Blue Fire;
and did keep well off, maybe two great miles, among the moss-bushes. And
I made a very good speed through the darkness. And at the eighteenth
hour of each journey, I made a place for my slumber; and the first I did
manage under a thick bush; but the second was high upon the ledge of a
rock that grew upward in the night amid the bushes. And, save that I was
bitter cold there did no harm come to me. And in all that time of
journeying, I had no sight of the Mighty Pyramid; for the blind shining
of the Plain of Blue Fire was ever between.

Now there had been certain little matters in my journey beside the Plain
of Blue Fire, which I have not set down; for they were of no account,
and do but repeat much that I have told before. And, indeed, there was
naught in that part of my journey, save that I did pass nineteen great
fire-holes, and four small; and did observe no life beside any, save
about one of the great holes that there was no hollow around, and here I
did happen to see some strange and ugly creatures so big as my head,
that did have a look of the scorpion of this Age; but proportioned more
squat and thick. Yet, though they were naught to remark upon in that
Land, they had been but woeful bedmates to any man; as you may think.

And you shall know how it gave a rest to my spirit, that I did go so
long with no trouble of the Monsters of the Night, or the Evil Forces
thereof. And I grew bolder to my journeying, and made ever a greater
speed of going; and it was like that I took presently a less heed for my
safety, which was a wrong and foolish state. Yet there came no harm unto
me, in all that part of my travel.

Then, it was in the sixteenth hour of the third day of my journey beside
the Plain, that I did come out beyond the end of it, and had fresh sight
of the Mighty Pyramid, afar in the night upon my Right. And I stopt
there in a bare place among the moss-bushes, and did in a weak moment
hold up the Diskos, so that I make a salute unto the Pyramid, Mine Home;
for truly was I so utter glad to behold it once more.

And in a little while was I aware that there was a disturbance of the
aether of the world all about me; so that it did seem that there had
been one at the Great Spy-Glass to watch for my coming into their sight
from behind the shining of the Plain of Blue Fire.

And it was like that news had gone downward through the Cities of the
Great Redoubt; so that they did print the word of it in the Hour-Slips;
and by this there would be many great Millions thinking upon me, and a
rushing unto the Embrasures, that they might spy out at me. Yet I doubt
that any glass might perceive me surely at so great a space, save the
power of the Great Spy-Glass in the Tower of Observation. But the
Emotion of the Millions to reach to me.

And you shall know that it did seem homely and sweet unto me to hear all
about me the shaking of the aether of the world, and to be ware that so
many did think humanly upon me, and had prayers unto my safety.

And it was a strange thing to stand so utter far off in the Night, and
to look back to that Everlasting Hill of Light, that was grown something
small by the distance, and to have surety that I was lookt upon through
the Great Spy-Glass, maybe by the kindly eye of my dear friend the
Master Monstruwacan, and so keenly that he could, it might be, make
almost to guess the look within mine eyes, as I did gaze backward unto
that Mine Home.

Yet, though this dear and homely sympathy was a sweet and companionable
thing to my heart, it came swift to my thought that I was in a sore
danger, if that they ceased not quickly to think so onely upon me; for
surely was I not come over-near unto that _dreadful_ House of Silence;
and well might so much Emotion of the Millions tell unto the Horrid
Power that dwelt within, how that I was even anigh. And so shall you see
the mixt feelings that came upon me everyway.

Yet, as it did chance, the aether was quieted in a little; for it did
need unity of the Millions (being that they were untrained to their
spiritual powers) to stir the aether. And so was I more easy of mind,
and went forward again upon my way.

Now, as it did chance, at the eighteenth hour, I was come to a place
where I heard a noise of water; and I went to my left, that I might come
upon it; and there boiled a hot fountain that went up out of the rock of
that place. And the water rose upward in a column, and was, maybe, so
thick as my body; and it fell unto the North, for the water came not up
straightly, but did shoot out from the earth unto that way. And I saw
the thing plain; for there were many fire-holes all about, as you shall
have wotted from my telling; and so was there a certain and constant
light in that part of the Land.

And I followed the water that ran from the fountain, and tried it with
mine hand; but found it to burn; and so did go further beside it; for
presently it should be no hotter than I did need. And it went onward,
winding among the moss-bushes, and sent up a constant steam, that hung
about it; and the steam made a red cloud about the way that it did go;
for the lights from the fire-holes made a shining upon it; and so was it
a wondrous pretty sight.

Now, presently, I tried the stream again, and found it to be nicely
warm; and I sat upon a little rock, and took off my foot-gear, that I
might bathe my feet, which were gone something tender; moreover, I did
ache to have the sweetness of water about me. And I made that I should
bathe my feet, and afterwards find a place among the moss-bushes, and so
eat and drink, and have my slumber.

Then, as I did sit there beside that warm stream, with my feet dabbled
therein, I heard sudden, afar off, the voice of a mighty Night-Hound,
baying in the night. And the sound came from the North-West of the Plain
of Blue Fire. And there was afterward a quiet; and you shall see me
sitting there upon the rock by the side of that smoking river, and the
steam all about me, and my feet within the lovely warmth of the water;
and I very still and frozen with a sudden fear; for, it did seem to me,
in an instant, that the Night-Hound might surely be upon the track of my
goings.

And after that there had passed a little time, the while that I did
listen very keen, lo! there burst out in the night, as it did seem
scarce a mile off, the monstrous deep baying of the giant Hound. And I
knew surely that the Brute did track me, and a sick and utter horror did
fall upon me; so that I could scarce get my foot-gear upon me, once
more. Yet, in truth, I was not long to the matter, and was to my feet,
and did hold the Diskos ready; and very desperate I was to the heart;
for it is ever a fearsome thing to be put in chase, and the worse an
hundred times when there is a sure knowledge that a deathly Monster doth
be the pursuer.

Now, I did stand there but a moment it did seem, to make an anxious
considering how that I might best assure me some chance to live through
this swift coming Danger. And then did I think upon the stream, to use
it, and I leapt quick therein, and did run very strong down the middle
part, which was nowheres so much as thigh-deep, and oft not above mine
ankles. And as I did run, there came again the bellow of that dire
Brute, following, and was now, as mine ears did say, scarce the half of
a mile to my rear.

And I did run but the stronger, for the dread of the sound; and so,
maybe, for a little minute; and after that time, I stopt from mine heavy
running, and went very wary, that I made no loud splashing; for by now
the Monster-Brute should be something anigh to that place where I did
enter the stream. And I looked round, with a constant looking; but did
see no surely visible thing; though my fear did shape me an Hound from
every shadow of the moss-bushes about me.

Then, in a moment, I did hear the Great Beast; for it bayed but a
little way up the stream, as that it had overshot the place where the
scent did end. And immediately, I sank swiftly into the water, which was
there so deep as my knee, and turned upon my belly. And the water surged
over my shoulders; for I kept my head above. And so I did look eager and
fearful through the steam into the shadows and the half-darkness,
towards where I did think to see the Night-Hound.

And in a moment I saw it coming; and it was a little vague, by reason of
the smoke of the river; yet did seem black and monstrous in the gloom,
and great as a mighty horse. And it went past me at a vast and
lumbersome gallop; but I did not see it in that moment; for I dived my
head down unto the rock of the river bottom, and held downward, until
that I was like to burst for sore longing of breath.

Then I put upward my head, and took swift and deep breathings, and lookt
about me, very cautious and fearful, as you can know. And I heard the
Night-Hound casting round among the moss-bushes, and it did send up a
wild and awesome baying; and I heard the bushes brake and smash beneath
it, as it did run to and hither. And afterward there was a quiet; yet I
moved not; but stayed there, very low in the water, and did have a
thankful heart that it was warm and easy to persist in; for I had surely
died of a frozen heart, if that it had been cold; for, by this time, you
do know even with me, how bitter was the chill of the Land.

Now, I had been awhile lain thus upon my belly, and heard no sound from
the monstrous Hound. Yet, I ceased not to be full of an horrid unease,
concerning the Great Beast; for I did better to know what it did, than
to have no knowing. And, sudden, I heard the sound of it, running very
swiftly and coming nigh; and it passed me, and did go up the stream; and
there was surely a quick stupor upon me; for I ducked not my head under
the water; but stayed very still; which as it did chance, was maybe not
such an utter foolishness; for my head did seem in that half-gloom to
be, mayhap, no more than a little rock in the water, and I made no move
to tell of life; yet should the Hound have smelled me; and that it
failed in this matter, doth be a puzzle to me.

And as the great Night-Hound past me, it tore the earth and the bushes,
with the exceeding strength that it put forth to run, and clods of the
earth and stones of bigness were cast this way and that by the feet of
the Hound, running. And so shall you have a little knowledge of the
strength of that Beast.

And the Hound ran on into the distance, and presently, I heard it baying
in the Night. Then I rose, and went onward, down the warm stream, and
made a strong walking, yet keeping alway to the water; and oft did stop
a little that I should listen; and always I heard the Night-Hound a
great way off in the night, baying, and seeming that it did surely run
to and fro, searching.

Now, I journeyed thus for twelve hours, and the baying of the Hound
making search, did never cease. And I kept always to the water, as I
did say, that I should leave no scent unto the Hound. And by that twelve
weary hours had gone, I found that I was come anigh unto the House of
Silence. And this put me in great trouble; as you may perceive; for
surely had mine whole effort been to the end that I should avoid that
House, by a great way. Yet had the Hound driven me thus a-near.

Now I saw that the small river did go onward, and did make a breach
across the Road Where The Silent Ones Walk; and I determined in my heart
that I should leave the water, which was now grown nigh to a bitter
cold, in that it was so long upon the face of the Land. Yet chiefly did
I mind to leave the water, that I should come no more anigh unto that
House of Silence; for the water did go that way. And I stood awhile, and
did listen for the baying of the Hound; but could hear it no more; and
did have a surety within me that it was indeed gone from searching for
me.

Then I came out of the water, and went forward, stooping and creeping,
among the moss-bushes, going outward to the Westward of North, so that I
should go away so quickly as I might from the nearness of the House.
Yet, lo! I was gone upon my hands and knees no more than an hundred
fathoms, when I did find the moss-bushes to cease to the Westward, for a
great way, and there to be a great bareness of rock, which, in truth,
was much shown thereabout. And I dared not to go outward upon that naked
Land; for then I had not been hid by the moss-bushes; but had stood
plain there for all things of the Night to behold; and moreover, though
I could nowise have a sure knowledge concerning this matter, yet did I
hope within me that I should make a sure hiding from the Power of the
House of Silence, did I but go very low among the bushes. But, indeed,
it was like enough that naught could give me hiding; yet should I lose
no chance unto my safety.

And because of this, I went backward among the bushes, and ceased to
escape out unto the Westward. And I found presently, that the
moss-bushes made but a narrow growth in that path, and grew only for a
while by the side of the Great Road; so that I was surely fain to keep
nigh to the Road, that I have the covering of the bushes.

And, in a while, I found the Road Where The Silent Ones Walk, to bend
inward at the North of the House of Silence; so that it came right
horridly close unto the House; for here the hill on which the House did
stand, was very abrupt and fell steeply unto the Road. And so was that
Dreadful House stood up there above me in the Silence, as that it did
seem to _brood_ there upon the Land. And this side did seem truly as the
other; and equal lone and dreadful. And the House was monstrous and
huge, and full of quiet lights; and it was truly as that there had been
no Sound ever in that House through Eternity; but yet was it as that the
heart did think each moment to see quiet and shrouded figures within,
and yet never were they seen; and this I do but set down that I bring
all home unto _your_ hearts also, as that you crouched there with me in
those low moss-bushes, there beside the Great Road, and did look upward
unto that Monstrous House of Everlasting Silence, and did feel the
utterness of silence to hang about it in the night; and to know in your
spirits the quiet threat that lived silent there within.

And so shall you have mind of me, hid there among the bushes, and sodden
and cold; and yet, as you will perceive, so held in my spirit by an
utter terror and loathing and solemn wonder and awe of that Mighty House
of Quietness loomed above me in the Night, that I wotted not of the
misery of my body, because that my spirit was put so greatly in dread
and terror for the life of my Being.

And also you shall have before you, how that I knew in all my body and
soul, that I stood anigh to that Place where but a little while gone
there had passed inward so dreadful to an everlasting Silence and Horrid
Mystery those poor Youths.

And after that you have minded you of this, you shall consider how that
the memory of all my life held dread thoughts of the monstrousness of
that House; and now was I anigh unto it. And it did seem to my soul that
the very Night about it, held an anguish of quiet terror. And always my
mind did come back to the sheer matter that I was so anigh. And this
thing I do say unto you once and again; for truly, as you do see, it
hath imprinted itself deep into my spirit. Yet shall I now cease from
saying further in this manner; for, surely, you shall never know all
that was in mine heart; and if I cease not, I do but be like to weary
you.

And so did I hide and creep, and oft pause to a time of shaking quiet;
and afterward gather something of new courage, and go onward; and peer
upward at that monstrous House, stood above me in the night. Yet, as it
did come about, I came presently clear of that horrid place; for the
Road came round again unto the North, and I began that I made a better
way through the moss-bushes; but never that I grew to much speed; for I
had oft to go about, that I should miss a naked part here, and another
there; for truly there was an abundance and bareness of rock, so that
the bushes grew not so thick as I could wish.

And in the space of five hours was I clear of that House; and did have a
greater ease about my heart; but yet was not free to come to food nor to
slumber, the both of which I did sorely need; for I had slept neither
eat for a weariful time, as you do know. But first I must go further off
from the House, and afterwards come to some fire-hole, that I should dry
myself and get warmth again into my body, which was bitter cold.

And now that I had come unto the Northward of the House of Silence,
there came to me a great Wonder, which bred in me a mighty Hope and
Gladness. For as I did go among the bushes, there broke sudden all
around me in the aether, the low and solemn beat of the Master-Word. And
the throb of the Word was utter weak; so that one moment I did say unto
myself that I heard, and in a moment that I did not; yet had I no proper
doubt in my heart.

And I reasoned with myself, and with a great shaking of excitement and
expectation upon me, that the Master-Word came not from the Great
Pyramid, which should have power to send it as a Great Force across the
everlasting Night; whilst that this that throbbed about me was faint and
scarce to be known even unto the keenness of the Night-Hearing, which
was mine.

And, immediately, as I crouched low there, and thrilled with the hope
that was bred in me, lo! there seemed to come the far faint voice of
Naani, calling with a little voice within my spirit. And I thought the
cry to have an utterness of supplication within it; so that I grew
desperate to up and go to running; yet did curb such foolishness, and
stayed very hushed, to listen.

But I heard no more; yet was shaken continually with the Joy and Hope
which this calling did breed in me, for truly did it seem now that I was
right that I did determine to go unto the North; for sure was I now that
the Lesser Redoubt lay that way in the Night. And it did seem plain unto
me, that the House of Silence had put a barrier between; and had power
to withhold so weak a calling. And now had I come beyond the Barrier.
And I did perceive in my heart how that Naani had called off, maybe in
the sadness of Despair; yet had the weak crying of her brain-elements
been held from me by the horrid power of the house; and surely, as I did
think, it was well named; for it did make a silence.

And so shall you stay with me in your hearts, and take to ourselves
something of the new Gladness that held all my being; for it did seem
truly that my bitter task and adventuring should not in the end be
offered to Uselessness; and that I did truly draw unto that far place in
the Everlasting Night, where mine own Maid did cry for me, that I should
succour her.

And ever as I went, did I hark; but there was no more the low eating of
the Master-Word in the Night; not at that time.

And presently, I spied outward to the West, as it did seem a good mile
off in the night, the shining of a fire-hole; and I began to plan that I
should come unto that place, and have warmth and dryness, and food and
slumber. And, in verity, so set was I to the need of these matters that
if there did be a Monstrous Thing nigh to the fire--as was so oft the
case--then would I give battle unto it; for neither my Joy nor my
labours did serve to put warmth into my body; and I must surely come
anigh to fire, or die.

Then, as I kneeled upward among the moss-bushes, and made to lay a true
course unto the fire-hole, I perceived that there came a Being along
the Road unto my right; and I went low into the bushes, and moved not;
for truly I had seen that there drew nigh one of the Silent Ones.

And I made a little place that should let me to see; and I spied out,
with an utter caution; and lo! the Being came on very quiet, and with no
hurry. And in a time, it went by me on the road, and did take no heed to
me; yet did I feel that it had knowledge that I stoopt there among the
moss-bushes. And it made no sound as it went; and was a Dreadful thing;
yet, it did seem unto my heart, as that it had no trouble of Wanton
Malice to work needless Destruction to any. And this, I crave strangely
that you to understand; for it was so to me that I had a quiet and great
respect for that thing; and did feel no hatred; yet was very dreadly in
fear of it. And it was Huge in size, and was shrouded unto its feet, and
seemed, maybe ten feet high. Yet, presently, it was gone onward down the
Road, and I was no more troubled by it.

Then did I make no waste of time; but set off unto the fire-hole; and
kept so much to shelter as I might; but was oft made to run over baked
places, ere that I should come to more of the bushes.

And I came presently nigh unto the fire-hole, and made a pause, and
crept unto it, with a great care. And I found it to be in the bottom of
a deep hollow of the rock of that part. And the rock was clear looking
of all living matters, the which did make me to be glad. And I went
round about the top of the hollow, carrying the Diskos very handily; but
there was nowhere any living thing; and I feared not to go downward into
the deep hollow, and so unto the fire-hole, which lay in the bottom, as
you have perceived.

And when I was come there, I made a close search of the rock, and found
it was very sweet and warm; and there were no serpents, neither any
stinging creatures; so that a certain comfort came upon my spirit.

Then stript I off mine armour and gear, and afterward all my garments,
so that I stood naked there in the hollow. Yet was that place almost so
warm as some mild oven, and I had no fear to suffer from the cold of the
Night Land; but was uneasy lest that any monstrous thing should be anigh
to come to take me so unawares.

Now I wrung the garments, and spread them upon the rock near unto the
fire-hole, where it was hot; and I did rub my body very brisk with my
hands, so that I glowed into health and had no fear of a stiffness.

And afterward, I did look to my food and drink, and to the matters in
the pouch; but there had no harm come to any, by reason of the tightness
of the scrip and the pouch, that had kept off the water. And I eat and
drank, there as I stood waiting for the garments to come to dryness; and
I walked about a little, as I eat; for I was restless to be into mine
armour swiftly. And now I did turn this garment upward of the dry side,
and now that; but did find them to steam, so that I turned them many
times before they were proper.

Yet, in truth, they dried in but a little while, and I gat me into them
very swift, and into the armour; and I felt the strength and courage of
my spirit to come back into me, which had gone outward somewhat when I
did stand there so naked. And this feeling you shall all have
understanding of; and know that you would have felt that way, likewise,
had you but stood there in that Land in so unhappy a plight.

And when I had come into mine armour, I put my gear upon me, and took
the Diskos into my hand, and did climb out of the hollow; for I would
find a more secure place to my slumber, and did not dare to sleep in
that place; for it was beyond seven and thirty hours since that I did
have sleep; though as I do see by my count, I have made it to seem but
as five and thirty; yet was a part consumed in diverse matters that I
have not set down. And you shall mind how bitter had been my labour and
weariness in all that time; and I did know of a surety that sleep must
come heavily upon me; so that I was sorely in need that I should search
out a safe place; for I should not be lightly waked, until that I had
slept away the tiredness of my heart, and the weariful achings from my
body. And, indeed, I should mind you how that I was not yet come perfect
from the bruising which I had gotten from the fight with the Yellow
Thing.

And presently, when I had searched but a little while, I did find that a
rock stood upward from a great clumping of the moss-bushes unto my left;
and I went over to the rock, and made a search about it. And I found
that there was a hole into the bottom part of the rock, and I thrust the
Diskos into the hole, and made the blade to spin a little, so that it
sent out a light; but there was no thing in the hole, and it did seem a
dry and safe place for my sleep.

Then I turned me about, and went into the hole with my feet that way;
and I found that it was so deep into the rock as the length of two men,
and just so wide as I could lie in it without having it to pinch me. And
there I made my bed in the hole, and went swift unto my sleep, and
scarce had but a moment even to think upon Naani; and by this thing
shall you know how utter was my weariness.

Now I waked of a sudden, and was very clear and refreshed. And I crept
to the mouth of the hole, and lookt out; but there was all a quietness
round about, and nothing to threaten.

And I found that I had slept ten hours; so that I made a haste to eat
and drink, that I should go forward swiftly upon my journey. And at that
time, as in the time when I did eat, naked, in the hollow, by the
fire-hole, I eat four of the tablets; and this you shall understand to
be rightly due unto me, in that I had gone so long fasting in that my
great journeying to come safe from the Hound, and to come past the House
of Silence. And this shall seem but a little thing to you; yet was it a
wondrous important matter unto me, that had gone so long with an empty
belly, and was never satisfied. And neither should any be, that had eat
so little as I did eat, and made to fill their belly always with a drink
of water. Yet, I doubt not but that it did keep my soul sweet and
wholesome and no useful thing to the Powers of Evil of the Land.

And when I had made an end of so great a gorging, and had ceased to be
drunken with water, I gat my gear upon me, and took the Diskos into mine
hand, and so went forth once more towards the North.

And presently, I was nigh unto the Road again; for it did curve
something Westward a space beyond. And I was sore tempted to go upon the
Road; for the ground was rough and the moss-bushes did catch my feet.
Yet did I stay among the bushes, though the Road was true and smooth, by
compare. And by this telling, you will perceive that I walked once more
upright, and had given over to crawl between the bushes. And, in truth,
this was so; for the Land did seem very quiet in all that part; and I
had less of fear, now that I stood beyond the horrid unease of the House
of Silence.

Now, after that I had journeyed twelve hours, I saw that I was come upon
the commencement of a great and mighty slope, as that the world did
slope downward always towards the North. And I went on again, after that
I had eat and drunk, as I did likewise before this at the sixth hour of
that day's journey.

And presently, I perceived the Road to cease; and surely this did
confound me; as that a man of this age had come to a part where the
world did end; for you shall know that the Road was that which had
seemed to go on for ever; and you shall mind the way of my life up till
that time, and so shall you the better conceive of my bewilderment, and
as it were a feeling of great strangeness unto one that was overprest,
as you would believe, with strange matters.

Yet, truly, was this all as the little book of metal had told unto me;
and so should I have been something prepared; yet are we ever thus
needing eye-proof; and perhaps it is more proper that it be so.

Yet, you shall perceive me adrift somewhat as to direction; for I had
steered before this time so that I should come to the North of the House
of Silence; and afterward had shaped my way by the Road. But now was I
adrift, as it might be set down, in the wilderness.

And so did I stand and consider, and presently did look unto the far
Pyramid, which was now a great way off in the night, and had seemed but
small by that which I knew it to be. And lo! as I did look, I perceived
that I could but see the high upper-point of the light of the Great
Pyramid, where did shine the Last Light; and I was confounded afresh;
yet in a moment I saw that the greatness of the slope did account for
this. But here I should tell to you that the slope was nowise steep; but
did seem as that it should never cease. And mayhaps this is clear unto
you.

And I perceived surely that the time was come when I should make an
utter parting from the Great Redoubt; and the thought came very heavy
upon me. And in the same time I knew that the aether was stirred by the
emotions of the Millions; so that I had knowledge they watched me with
the Great Spy-Glass, and did send word down unto the Hour-Slips; and by
this did the Millions know, and have a great thinking upon me in that
moment.

And you shall perceive how utter lost and lonesome I did feel. And it
was at that time that I did test the compass, to comfort me, as I did
tell before this, and feared I must sure forget, when I did come to the
proper place; yet have I minded me, as I did desire.

And I saw now that the Night Land that I did wot of, was hid from me by
the slope. And I turned and looked down the slope; and surely all before
me was utter wildness of a dark desolation; for it did seem to go
nowhither but into an everlasting night. And there was no fire down
there, neither light of any kind; but only Darkness and, as I did feel,
Eternity. And downward into that Blackness did the great slope seem to
go for ever.

Now, as I did stand there, looking downward into the Dark, and often
backward unto the shining of the Final Light, and put to a horrid
desolateness, behold! there came the low beating of the Master-Word in
the Night. And it did appear as that it had been sent to give me courage
and strength in that moment; and did seem unto my fancy that surely it
did come upward unto me from out of the mighty blackness into which the
Great Slope ran. Yet could this have been but a belief; for the aether
doth have no regard unto direction to show you whence the spiritual
sound doth come; and this did my knowledge and Reason know full well.

And I made that I would send back the Master-Word, sending it with my
brain-elements, and so give news unto Naani how that I did struggle to
come unto her. Yet did I have caution in time; for in verity, had I sent
the Master-Word, then had the Evil Forces of the Land wotted that I was
out; and mayhaps had come swift unto my Destruction; and so did I
contain my spirit and desire, and made to do wisely.

Yet was I put in courage by the low beat of the Master-Word; and did
listen very keen, that some message should follow; but there came none,
neither did the weak throb of the Word come about me again, at that
time. And because that I was now grown more to my natural state, and did
feel that I should indeed find the Maid, I looked once more unto the
Great Pyramid, long and eager and with a solemn heart; yet with no sign
or salutation, as I was before determined. And afterward, I turned and
went downward into the dark.




VIII

DOWN THE MIGHTY SLOPE


Now I went downward very quiet and slow into that Darkness; and did make
but a cautious way; for now you shall know me truly wrapped about with
such a night as did seem to press upon my very soul, and such as you
shall never have seen nor felt; so that I did seem lost even from my
self, and did appear as that I went presently in unreal fashion, and did
pass onward for ever and for ever through everlasting night; so that odd
whiles I did make to walk with random, as that I stept no more upon this
earth; but did go offwards into the Void. Yet was this foolishness of
the mind set straight and proper each time that it did come about; for
lo! I did kick against an upjutting rock here, and fall upon a great and
unseen boulder there, and so was shaken very quickly to a sound
knowledge that I trode the hard and actual earth; and had no true
dealings with unreal matters.

And ever I did go downward; and by this only did I have a guide to my
way. Yet, as you shall think, through reason of the utter dark I made
scarce a mile in an hour or even two full hours; and so grew bitter by
reason of mine unableness to go forward with a proper and free stride.

But I did think me presently upon a thing that I should do to light my
path; and to this end, I did make the Diskos to spin, odd whiles, and
did look down the mighty slope, the little way that the strange
glistening of the Diskos did show, and so fixed my path into mine inward
remembering, and would go forward afresh, until that I was shaken once
more by the darkness, and would fain to look once again upon the
blessedness of light, and make me some knowledge of my way.

And, truly, the light from the Diskos did seem astonishing great, and
this to be because there was so monstrous a darkness all about me there
forever. And thereafter would I go onward again, until the pain of my
stumblings did bid me surely to have that sweet shining once more unto
my path.

And so shall you perceive my going; and sore and miserable was it unto
the heart; and like to shake the courage of the spirit; yet, in verity,
I had come through much, and did have intent to give way to no
foolishness of thought.

And you shall well believe that I did make the light not more oft than I
did surely need; for it was no properness of wisdom to use the power of
the Diskos, save for mine extremity.

Now, presently, when I had done thiswise through six long and bitter
hours, and it being now beyond the twentieth hour since I did last
slumber, I sat me down there upon the Mighty Slope, in the everlasting
Dark, and did eat two of the tablets, and made the water, and could but
feel and hearken whether I did this thing right and that.

And when I had eat and drunk, I unfolded my cloak, and wrapt it around
me, and placed the scrip and the pouch under my head; and the Diskos I
took to company me; and so fell swiftly upon sleep; yet did think
earnestly but vaguely upon Naani, as I came unto slumber.

And I slept all but six hours, and did waken very sudden there in the
utter dark; and I got me to mine elbow, and did listen very keen; for I
had waked immediately, as that something had touched me or come nigh
unto me; and I gript the Diskos, and listened; but there did not even a
little sound come to me out of all that night.

And presently I had more assuredness that naught did make harm about me;
and I sat me up in the dark, and reached for my scrip, and did eat and
drink, there in that utter night; and fumbled somewhat, as you shall
think. Yet I was done in a while, and got my gear upon me, and the
Diskos into my hand, and so to my feet and forward.

Now all that day, I did have a strange unease of the spirit, so that I
stopt oft to listen, as that my soul told of something nigh unto me that
did follow very quiet. Yet did mine ears perceive nothing; and so I
alway to go downward again into the night that held the slope.

And here should I tell how that in the early part of the seventh hour,
after I had eat and drunk, and went forward as ever, upon my journey
down the Mighty Slope, I did have a very sore tumble against a sharp
rock; for I put my foot sudden into a small hole, and this did make me
to pitch. And I was utter shaked by the fall and lay very quiet for a
time; for the rock had surely ript my body, but for the armour.

And after that I was something renewed of strength and spirit, I made
that I should go no more upon my feet, but upon my hands and knees; and
thus should I feel the way that I went, and have a less need of the
Diskos, which had not overmuch use to light my way, in that I shone it
not often, and did guess more than I did perceive, as you may think.

And so I crept all that day, which was a bitter way of travel; yet had I
done many a sore mile thus through the Night Land. And when that I had
gone downward for eighteen hours, and eat and drunk thrice, I ceased
from my labour, and did feel about in the darkness, that I come to a
level place for my rest; and so did find presently, a place not so bad,
and did push and cast away such small boulders as had been like to irk
me.

Then did I eat and drink, and afterward composed me to my sleep, and had
many a thought of Naani, as I did drift unto slumber; yet also had I
memories of the strange half-fear that had been with me all that day, as
though something went constantly near me in the Dark. And because of
this, twice did I rise unto mine elbow, and listen; but heard no sound
to trouble me, and afterward did trust that I did but fancy; and so came
at last unto slumber, that yet was not over-restful, for truly I did
listen even as I slept.

And when I had been asleep scarce six hours, I waked again very sudden,
as I had done before, and had belief that something did be anigh unto
me; and I gript the Diskos, and did hearken; yet was there no sound that
mine ears did wot of; neither aught that had power to be surely known of
the spirit.

And all that day was as the day before; save that about the eighth hour
I came near to fall into some monstrous pit in the Great Slope; but did
only fall with my breast upon the edge, and so drew back, and presently
did crawl all around it in the dark, and come safe unto the lower side;
yet shaken and put more in trouble of spirit than before, and fearful
how I should go; for I knew not whether I had come among such things, or
whether I had but few to sorrow me.

And so you shall perceive that I went over-cautious for a great while in
all that utter dark; but did think at last upon a plan to go with more
surety and speed. But to this I did need a cord, and surely I had no
cord upon me; and if a boy be no boy that hath none such about him,
shall not the same be said of any man! And this I did think, as I
searched me; for the sayings of that day had many that were like to
this.

Yet in the end I did compass my plan; for I did buckle the scrip and the
pouch together, and took one of the straps from the pouch; and this
strap was long and thin, and well suited unto my purpose. Then I fixt a
stone into the end of the strap, and buckled it there, and after that, I
cast the stone before me, as I went upon my hands and knees; and I did
hold to the hither end of the strap, and so was abled to have something
of knowledge whether there lay any great deepness immediately before me,
and thiswise to strive that I fall not down some monstrous cliff in the
night.

And so did I go, casting the stone continually to my front, down the
slope; and this you shall think to be a cumbersome fashion of travel;
yet was I in better case than in all the time since I had begun to go
downward of the Mighty Slope in the everlasting darkness.

And at the eighteenth hour I did sleep; and was waked strangely before
the sixth hour, even as I had waked before. And this did put always
upon me a new wonder and unease. Yet did no harm seem to come unto me,
and I did strive that I have no needful trouble of mind. But that
something was always nigh unto me in the dark, I do truly believe; yet
have I no knowing that it was evil; for it harmed not me.

And three days more I journeyed thus, and did never cease to creep
downward weariful upon my hands and knees; and the Diskos I had to my
hip, and so shall you know how I carried it. And by this, as you do
know, I had been on the Great Slope six days of utter Dark; and did have
no wotting but that I went unto some dire and dreadful place; for,
surely, I had gone for ever downward a monstrous way.

And here, before I tell further, I must set down how that the cold was
much gone from out of the air upon the slope; and the air was grown, as
it did seem, very heavy unto my chest. And concerning this matter I
should say something. For, if I do mind me, I have said not overmuch
concerning the air of the Night Land and the Mighty Pyramid; for truly I
have been so set to tell my story of all that I did truly see and
adventure upon. Yet, though I have said but little, you will surely have
perceived that the air of that far and chill time was not as the air of
this; but was thin and keen within the Night Land, and lay not, as I do
think, to a great height above the land, but only nigh to the earth.

And as you do know through my tellings, there was a wondrous difference
between the air within the Mighty Pyramid, and that which lay without
around the base; for upward beyond that, I did understand that there was
no outward air that any should breathe; and so was all the Pyramid
sealed in certain wise in all the upper Cities for ever; and whether it
was sealed _utterly_ from the outward air at the base, I do not surely
remember, if, in truth that I did ever bother my head to such matters.

Yet, if I be set proper in memory and understanding, we did draw air
from the Underground Fields; but whether they gat any change or newness
of air from the Night Land, I have no knowledge; and do lament that I
have no sure knowing. Yet, as you shall believe, I could surely write an
hundred books upon that Wonder of the Future, and be still lacking in
the half of all that there is to be told; and so do I try to have
courage to this my task, and to have no over-trouble, because that I do
tell but a little of a Great Tale.

And here in this place will I set down how that the Peoples of the
Pyramid were greater to the chest, methinks, than we of this age; but
yet do I have no oversurety in the matter; for well it may be that the
Reason of _this_ age doth blind within me somewhat the Knowledge that I
have concerning _that_; for, in verity, is it not but a natural thing to
believe those Peoples to be great of the chest, so that they should make
a proper dealing with the thin air of that place and that time? And yet,
as I do strive to make plain unto you, because that this thing should
be, by the making of my Reason, I do the more distrust that Reason
shall make foolish my Knowledge; for even a fool should suppose that
which I have told; and the truth may be even otherwise.

Yet that the Peoples of the _Upper_ Cities had great chests, I do well
know; for this was a common knowledge; even as we of this age do
acknowledge the Peoples of Africa to be of blackness, or those of
Patagonia to be of great stature. And by this one thing should any know
a man of the Upper Cities, from a man of the Lower Cities. And because
that there grew this difference among the Peoples, there had been once,
as any could learn from the Histories, a plan whereby the Peoples should
be moved upward and downward through the great height of the Mighty
Pyramid, from this city unto that. Yet had it met with great disfavour;
and was put out of force; and this is easy to be seen as the natural way
of the human heart.

And here it doth occur unto me that it was like enough to be a plan for
health, beside of training of the mind, that each youth and maid was put
to travel through all the cities of the Mighty Pyramid; the which did
take three years and two hundred and twenty-five days, as I have told
before this. For by this plan, were they made to breathe the air of
every height, and this, mayhaps, unto the good of their developing. And
they also to discover that air which was best to their need.

And concerning the air of the Night Land, you shall know that there was
in all that Land no flying thing, because that the air was grown very
thin; yet, as the Records did show, there had once been monstrous
flying-brutes, that went over the Land in mighty bounds; but this was in
a long gone age; and we could but suppose that the Records gave truth.

And here you shall know that, when the Monstruwacans did learn that I
would journey through the Night Land, in search of Naani, there had been
some foolish and well-intended talk among them that I take a small
flying-ship, that was in the Great Museum beside the models of the Great
Ships. For, truly, this machine was yet sound to go; for it was made of
the grey metal of the Mighty Pyramid, that did seem to have no power to
cease. Yet, in verity, I had no skill to manage this, neither had it
flown, through an hundred thousand years; so that none did know the
mastership of that art, which did be learned but by a constant practice,
and oft made uneasy by fallings that did wreck the machine, as I did
know from the Book of Flying. And, moreover, as I have told, the air of
the Night Land was grown over-weak to uphold such a thing; which, I
doubt not, had made the Peoples of the Pyramid to cease from flyings,
quite so much as that they did fear the Forces of Evil in the night.

And if that there had been air and skill sufficient unto this purpose of
flying, yet had I been wicked with foolishness that I should work to be
hung upward in the night, for all the Evil of the Night Land to behold.
And though I had gone up some great way, yet the machine had surely made
a great noise in the quietness of the eternal night, as you shall
suppose.

Now indeed am I gone weary that I should need to tell so much concerning
the air of that Time and Place; for surely I do seem to make this my
story as that I did make a lecturing upon matters of chemistry; and so
do I cast about, that I may not bother to tell more upon this matter.
Yet, in truth, a little more of my thinkings and observings had I better
set down here, and so be done with it. But you shall have patience with
me, and know that had this, my story, been no more than an idle tale, I
had been free to make no labour with such matters.

Now there doth a wonder come to me why that the Road Makers, who were of
that far-off Age which was before the Age of the Mighty Pyramid, did not
_fly_ downward from the upper world into the deep of the monstrous
valley; but did instead build a road.

Yet it may be that the air of the upper world had grown thin a great
age, so that they had truly forgot that once man did have power to fly.
But even if that they did have proper machines to this purpose, surely
it were a wondrous and fearful thing to fly downward an hundred great
miles; for they surely to have a dread that they never to rise again
through so huge a deep.

And, moreover, the downward world that was the bottom of the Great
Valley, was full of monsters, as was told in the little metal book. And
the monsters were very strange and unknown; and foreign to the whole
world, that had never come unto the deep of the Valley. And the Valley
had come, as you shall mind, when the earth did split; and this thing
was, in truth, like to be thought that same Ending of the World, which
all Nations have been taught to believe shall come. For in verity, when
the world did split and burst, and the oceans rushed downward into the
earth, and there was fire, and storms, and a mighty chaos, surely it was
proper to think that the End had come. Yet was it, in truth, but the
beginning of hope of a new Eternity of Life; so that out of the End came
the Beginning, and Life out of Death, and Good out of that which did
seem a dire matter. And so is it always.

Yet doth this go past my first wonder, which did concern the wherefore
that they made not to descend in Things of Flight. Yet, maybe, shall my
reasons stand to show why this was not.

And again, mayhap it did chance that some were wild adventurers, and did
leap over the edge of the upper world, having to ease their flight
certain contrivings, like to parachutes. And these you shall picture, as
that you watched them to leap; and so shall you see them go downward
into the gloom; and you shall see them for maybe ten miles, and maybe
for twenty miles; and afterward shall they be lost utterly in that Great
Deep, and seen no more of any man for ever.

But when the Nations became Road-Makers, and came downward slowly to the
monstrous Deep of the Mighty Valley that did split the World, then were
they come there by millions, and with power sufficient to fight against
the Beasts; and afterward to grow back again to an ancient Civilizing;
and so to the building of the great airships that were yet shown in the
Great Museum of the Pyramid. And here shall I cease from these my
thinkings on this matter; for indeed, who shall say what did be truly a
Reason for those peoples and what was their Need? And so do I come to no
surety by my wonderings.

Yet, as you do know, all things do seem verily to go in a circle; for,
behold, in time, they of the Mighty Pyramid, were likewise held off from
the glory of the airships; and so were gone backward a great way,
according as we do look upon this matter. And so hath this been the way
always, as you shall know who have studied and thought, and seen the
true ways and goings of Life.

And now will I go forward in my telling; and here will set down a sure
thing that I did perceive, both by mine ears and by my fingers; for, as
I did make clear to you but a while gone, there had come a change into
the air as I did go downward of the Mighty Slope; and truly I was come
to a great and new Deepness, even beyond that of the wondrous depth
where did stand the Last Redoubt. So that I was afar down and in a
monstrous night. And the air here was of a great thickness and
abundancy, even as it might be the air of this our Age; or maybe more or
maybe less; for who may compare two matters with a sure guessing, that
do have an eternity to keep them asunder. And because that the air was
grown very strong and apparent, it shall be, mayhaps, that it was by
reason of this thing that the water, when I did make it, did fizz upward
in a moment very loud and plentiful, and did boil overward to the earth
from out of the cup, and wet upon my hand. And surely this thought did
come very keen to my Reason, as I did fumble, each time of mine eating,
there in the everlasting night and lonesomeness of the Great Slope.

And so shall you have knowledge now of this and that thing which did
come upon my thought, and of the little and the big wonders, and all
shall help something to give unto you the ache of newness and
bewilderment that was constant companion unto me.

Now by this time, as I have said, I was gone downward ever for six great
days; and I did seem as that I should presently come to the middle of
the world; for of going downward there was no end.

And then, when it did be that I was near ready to believe this, I
perceived far off in the deep of the night a little shining that was yet
weak and unsure. And I do not know whether I can truly give unto you the
great astonishment and pain of hope that did come upon me; so that I
grew sick in all my being but to behold once again the blessedness of
light, and to have help unto my belief that I went not downward to an
utter desolation.

And I stood upward from my knees, and did look very earnest, and surely
it did seem that a light was there afar downward in the night; and again
it did seem that I must be plagued by my hopes and by my fancy, and that
there was nowhere any light. And then again I did see it very clear, and
not to be mistaken, and I had a shaking to come upon me, and I gat me to
a run, and made a great and mad speed down the dark slope. And lo! I was
not gone any way, but I went headlong, and near brake myself; and could
but hold my teeth together very fierce and quiet until that the pain was
something gone from me.

And afterward, I gat me again to mine hands and knees, and went slowly,
as before; and so for a great hour or more, and did look oft; and alway
the light became more plain to my sight; but ever to come and go,
oddly-wise. Yet did I go six hours, before that I was come anywise near
to it. And by this shall you know how great a space off it had been. And
lo! when that I did seem surely anigh unto it, truly was it still far
away in the night; and I came not indeed near to it until that I was
gone onward again for three hours more. And all that time did I yet go
downward into the night; but the Slope now did not be so utter dark.

Now, presently, I made a pause, and stood upward to my feet, so that I
should the better perceive the light. And lo! as I did look toward it, I
heard a faraway sound in the dark, as that something did set up a
strange and monstrous piping in the night. And immediately, I went to
mine hands and knees among the stones of the Slope, and kept myself low
in the darkness, so that I should be the less plain to be seen, did any
Monster approach.

But there came nothing to trouble me, and I went downward of the Slope
for yet another hour; and all the time that I did go, the sound of the
piping grew more in the great eternity of the night upon the Slope.

And by this time was I come truly near unto the light; but yet did not
behold it plainly; for it did burn beyond certain monstrous rocks that
stood between. And I went to the left for, maybe, the half of a big
mile; and all the while that I did go, the piping made a mightier
whistling in the Night; and it did seem presently as that the earth sent
forth the sound and revelry of wild roarings. And I went the more
silent; and later did kneel among three rocks, and peered forth for a
while upon the place before me.

And now, being come nigh unto the light--though yet it was not unhid
from behind the great barriers of the uprising rocks, I perceived that I
crouched within the mouth of a mighty gorge; and the left side was a
great way off, and I saw it plain at whiles when the light did rise; but
the light was to the right, and it was so wondrous great that it did
make clear to me that a mountain was to that side of the gorge, and
went upward into the everlasting night, as it did seem for ever.

And afar down the gorge, I did see the shinings of strange fires, faint
and a great way off. And so was I come at last to the bottom of the
Mighty Slope. Yet the gorge also to go downward, but not so great.

And presently I did go forward again; and so did open the point of the
rocks, as the sailors do say. And I saw now that there gushed forth a
great blue flame from the earth; and the mighty rocks stood about it, as
that they were olden giants groupt there to some strange service.

And concerning this flame I was not overmuch astonished in my Reason;
for it had seemed to me as I drew anigh, that the fire and the sound
should be made by the roaring and whistling of a burning gas that did
issue forth among the rocks. Yet, truly, though it did be a natural
matter, it was yet a wondrous sight, and set amazement on my senses; for
the flame did dance, and sway whitherward monstrously, and sometimes did
seem that it dropt so low as an hundred feet, and afterward went upward
with a vast roaring unto the utter height, and did stand mighty and
blazing, maybe a full thousand feet, so that the far side of the gorge
was lit, and surely it was seven great miles off or more; but yet did
show plain and wondrous. And the light did show me the flank of the
mountain, that made the right hand side of the Gorge, to go up
measureless into the night.

And so shall you perceive that I stayed awhile among the rocks that were
in the mouth of the gorge, that I should gaze upon this thing; but
afterward I lookt this way and that way, so that I should have a knowing
of the place where I was come.

And it was a wild and stark and empty place, as you must perceive. And
the far side did be great miles off, as I did say; and everywhere there
was abundance of rock and lonesomeness. And before me there went the
great and dim length of the gorge, and there were lights here and lights
there, in a great distance, and oft--as it did seem--the quiet dancing
of lights in diverse places; but yet were these gone on the instant. And
ever there was a strong and vacant silence upon that place.

And presently, after that I had looked once more unto the mighty dancing
flame, and perceived nowhere any life around it, I went onward down the
quiet gorge. And for a great way as I journeyed was my path lit by the
dancing of the blue flame; and oft should I seem to be going but dimly
among the rocks, and my shadow faint and long; and lo! the flame would
leap, and all the gorge come to a wondrous brightness, and my figure to
shorten, and the shadows to be black and strong. And so shall you
perceive how I went.

And oft did I turn me about to behold the dancing of the Great Light;
for it was solemn to my spirit, even amid so much of Greatness and
Eternity, to think upon that Flame, and to conceive that it had an utter
age danced there at the foot of the Mighty Slope, unseen, through
lonesome Eternities. And this I do tell unto you; that thereby may you
have some knowledge of the strangeness and the bitter loneliness of that
place; which, in verity, did seem the expressing of all the lonesomeness
of my wanderings.

And all the time as I did go downward of the great Gorge, there sounded
the blast of the roaring, that was presently afar to my back; and the
mountain sides did catch it here and in that place, and sent it offwards
with strange and improper echoings, as of a chill piping, or oddwise as
hushed whisperings of monstrous creatures; so that I did oft stoop to
hide a little among the boulders; for truly I knew not but that some
unnatural thing called from the darkness of the mountain side.

And for six hours I walked onward thus, and sometimes did hide, having a
sudden fear, as I have told.

And presently, in a great while, the roaring was sunk to a far and
monstrous piping; but in the end to no more than a far and uncertain
whistling, that yet did catch strange echoes in the night. And in the
end there was only a quietness. And yet, as you do perceive, there had
been always a silence in that Gorge, as I have told, and this to the
despite of the whistling. And I do hope that you have understanding with
me in this matter; for it was truly as I have told, and there is no
contrariness of telling in this matter.

Now in all this time that I had walked in the great Gorge, I had past
four of the far lights that I did see from the bottom of the Slope; and
the two first and the fourth were blue, but the third was green; and all
did dance and quake, and sent fitful shinings into the belly of the
Gorge. And there came also from them whistlings, and from the second one
a low and strange moaning noise; and I doubted not the gas did come
oddly and with trouble. And I past these things with no great thought;
for truly they were no matters for notice, after that which I had
beheld.

Now, as you shall mind, it was surely in the early Third of the seventh
day of my journey down the Mighty Slope that I saw the first shining of
the monstrous gas fountain; and from that time until now had there past
maybe sixteen hours. And, as you do wot, I had eat not in all my travel
since that I had seen the light; so that I was gone to a proper lack
inward; and moreover, it was full nineteen hours or more since that I
had slept; and all that while had I laboured.

And I ceased me from wandering, and lookt about that I should come to a
safe and proper place for my slumber; and this I saw very quick; for
there was dry stone and rock everywhere, and no failing of holes and
diverse places to my purpose; so that I was soon in a little cave
between two mighty boulders.

And here I eat four of the tablets; for truly so many were my due, and I
had not been violent had I eat more. And afterward, I made some of the
water, and it did fizz up in a moment; so that I perceived that but a
good pinch made a great cup-full. And this I set to the count of the
strong and heavy air, as I have told, which I did think to have a
greater power of chemistry.

And presently I slept, having my gear about me as ever, and the Diskos
to my breast. And as I went into slumber, I thought sweetly upon Naani,
as I had done, indeed, an hundred times since I was come to the
hopefulness of the lights of the Gorge.

Now, whilst I slept, I dreamed that the Master-Word did presently beat
all about me in the night. Yet, as I do mind, I waked not; and because
that I continued to sleep, I have no sure knowing whether this was truly
a dream, or an Happening. And I minded me upon it, when I waked; but
this was after that I had slept seven hours; and I could have no
sureness anywise of the matter; but only that I was come safe through my
sleep; though heavy within my head and limbs, as that the air did call
me unto a further slumbering, as is like enough.

And after that I had eat and drunk, I put my gear about me, and the
Diskos to my hip, for I needed both my hands to the task of journeying
amid the great boulders. And I set forth again down the half-light of
the mighty Gorge, and through eighteen hours I made a strong going, save
when I did pause at the sixth and the twelfth hours to mine eating.

And by the eighteenth hour was come, I was very ready to my food and
slumber; and presently I was asleep in a place of the rocks. And that
day had I past three and twenty of the dancing gas fires; and five been
like a white fire; but the others blue and green. And all did dance and
made a strange and uncertain light within the great Gorge; yet was it a
peaceful thing unto my spirit that there was truly light, as you shall
understand.

And I slept six hours, and waked, and did want more sleep, as you shall
think. But I eat and drunk and put my gear upon me, and went on downward
of the Gorge.

And at the sixth hour, after that I had eat and drunk, I came to a part
where the big gas fires did cease to dance, and there was a certain
darkness upon that place. Yet was it not a proper dark; for there came
the glimmer of a flame here and the glimmer of a flame there, as that
little flames came upward between the stones, and did vanish, and come
upward in another part. And so did light and die out constant and
forever amid the stones and the boulders of that lonesome Gorge; and
made a low-spread light, so that it did seem unto me that strange
shudders of light beat upward through the dark of that place.

And I went onward, and a heavy fume did seem to hang in the air, and
horrid gases to come upward from the earth in odd puffings; and anon a
light would leap upward beyond the next stone, and afterward vanish, and
there would be an hundred thousand such upon every hand, running to and
fore; and afterward for a moment an utter dark, and again the little
flames everywhere; so that it did seem I went one moment amid the heart
of a strange country of fire, and immediately through a country of utter
night. And this was to me strange and a peculiar matter. Yet, as I do
think, the gases did bother me the more; for they did seem as that they
were like to hurt mine health utterly; for, in verity, oft did I seem as
that I should choke and breathe no more, by reason of the poison that
came upward from among the stones and the boulders.

And all that time, as they came or went, did the little flames make
small phlocks of sound in the Gorge as they did flash or die; and the
sounds did seem, to my likening, as stones cast into an utter silent
pool; for they but made apparent the everlasting quiet of the Gorge.

And afterward, I came beyond this place, and you shall see me going very
lonesome among the rocks of the Gorge, beyond. And by this, it was come
nigh unto the eighteenth hour; and I did find a place proper to my
slumber, and did eat and drink, and was quickly gone over unto sleep.

And here, I should tell how that I had not an over-fear of Evil Powers
whilst I was in the great Gorge; for truly it did seem as that nothing
that ever did live came anigh to that wild and silent place of stone and
rock; but that I journeyed through it alone, and was surely the first
that did go that way for maybe a million years. And this feeling that
was upon me, I do hope you to perceive and take unto yourselves, and
thus have an understanding of my heart at that time.

And as you shall know, I went always unto slumber with sweet and with
troubled thoughts of the Maid. Yet, for a great while, I had been put so
mightily to the labour of my way that my heart did suffer less at this
time than should be thought; and truly it doth show me how I was drawn
unto that One with all my being, that I did surely think so oft and
sweetly upon her amid so many perils and matters of horror. And this
doth seem something strange to say, when that you do consider that I was
adventured unto these same perils and horrors but only for the sake of
the Maid.

And in six hours did I wake, as I did strive alway to set myself to do;
yet was I very heavy and slow for a little, until that I was more
properly come to wakefulness. And surely, as I did think before, this
was like to be put upon me by the weighty air of the place; but yet it
might be that the gas which did float in the Gorge was upon my lungs.
And also, as you have perceived, if but you have attended my way, the
air was grown warm, and oft were the rocks pleasant to the seat, and all
of these matters did contrive to make me slumbrous.

Now, presently, the gas fires did cease utterly in the Gorge, and I
lookt downward, along that great place, and saw only a greyness, but
above the greyness there was, as it did seem, something of a vague and
ruddy shining in the night. And this did wake me to wonder what new
thing lay before; so that I grew more eager among the boulders.

And, later, when I had eat at the sixth and the twelfth hours, and gone
on awhile, I came to a place where the Gorge made a quick turning unto
my left, and at the end of the turning was a red and glowing light that
was very great and wonderful; so that I was utter keen to come to that
place, that I should discover what made the shining. And the place where
I was come then, was very dark, because that I was nigh under the mighty
wall of the mountain of the right side of the Gorge. Yet above, as it
did seem to me, there was a far red upward glowing in the night.

Then did I go forward very fast, and presently, in a good while, I
discovered that I drew near to a second great turning, that went to the
right. And about the seventeenth hour, I came nigh unto the second great
turning. And here did I put caution upon me, and crept for a while among
the dark rocks of that place, that I should come to a sight of that
which made the monstrous red shining.

And presently, I was beyond the corner of the mountain, and did look
downward into a mighty Country of Seas, and the burning of great
volcanoes. And the volcanoes did seem as that they burned in the Seas.
And the country was full of a great ruddy light from the volcanoes. And
so shall you perceive me there among the rocks that did all stand upward
strange and bold and silent in the red and monstrous glare of the light.
And I, as it did seem, the one thing of life in all that desolation and
eternity of rock and stone, there in the end part of the great Gorge.

And I peered forth into the wonder of the light, and was full of
thrillings and fancies that I was surely come to the place where the
Lesser Redoubt had been builded. And immediately I knew that this was
not so, for surer had not Naani told how that they were in a land of
darkness. And if this did be so, truly, how wondrous and dread a way had
I yet to go, if that this Country of Seas and mighty volcanoes stood
between.

Surely, it did seem to me then as that I must wander searching unto the
world's end. And so shall you be company unto me there with my trouble
and my thoughts, and the immediate wonder and strange glory of that
mighty Country.




IX

THE DARK PYRAMID


Now in two hours more I was come clear down out of the Gorge, and stood
in that Country; and for all that I did feel fresh troubled and
bewildered, yet was I rejoiceful, as you may believe, in the surprising
light and splendour of that sudden Land.

And before that I had come down out of the great Gorge, I had stood high
within the mouth thereof, and lookt well out over the mighty Country.
And I had counted seven and twenty great volcanoes, and this doth not
take heed of two monstrous ranges of fire-hills that burned afar off,
something unto my right. Neither doth it take account of an hundred
thousand lesser places of fire.

And truly it did seem a very land of fire and water. For there was a
small fire-hill stood within a sea, as it did seem no more than a little
mile from that place where I did stand. And maybe a score to the back of
it, spread all about. And here shall I do proper to tell concerning the
seas. For there were of these, that I did count at that time, three that
were small, and a mighty sea that went onward for ever into the red
light of the fire-hills, so that it was gone utterly out of my sight,
and did show no ending.

And there rose up out of the seas, islands; and on the islands,
volcanoes. But in other parts the fire-hills did come upward straightly
from the sea. And over the near sea, as it did seem, there lay a
plentitude of steam, as that the sea did boil at whiles and in diverse
places.

And there did seem to me, as it were within the red atmosphere of that
place, as that there were a muttering thunder, low and constant, shaking
the air, now from that distance and now from this, and this did I judge
to be the voices of the fire-hills, speaking with the fire that lived in
them.

And you shall conceive how utter new was all this unto me; for there was
in that Country a constant Voice of the Energy of Life, so that the
World-Noise of this our Age was even there again, and with a keen and
undoubted apparentness; and the more so some ways, than now.

And here shall I set down more closely the things that were ready to my
gaze.

And first, that it did much attract me, there was a huge and blackened
mountain unto the left of the mouth of the Gorge, and the mountain did
go upward into the night, maybe fifteen and maybe twenty miles. And
there was a mighty peaked volcano that grew out from the side of the
mountain so high up as five miles, as I did guess that height; and this
was upon the far side. And above this there was a second, maybe nine or
ten great miles up in the blackness of the night that hung afar upward.
And, as that this were not great wonder enough, there did burn and glow
two other mighty fire-hills, at an utter height, upon the left crest of
that black mountain; and these were upward so monstrous a way, as that
they did seem to make strange and smouldering suns within the night. And
truly, as you shall perceive, this was a wondrous thing.

And below these upward fire-hills there rose up from the earth vast
mountains of ash and burned stuff, that had been cast forth by these
perched volcanoes, and had poured downward unto the earth throughout
Eternity, and so to build grey and sombre monuments unto the dreadful
glory of Time.

And to my right there was always sea and sea and the red blazing of the
fire-hills; but unto my left, there were mighty forests, and there rose
upward here and in that place, as that they were beyond the great woods,
monstrous fire-hills. And so do you take from me something of that first
impressing upon my brain and sense.

And after that I had come down out of the mouth of the great Gorge, as I
did tell a little while gone, I came upon a pause; for, surely, which
way was the way proper unto my search. And I lookt about for a great
while, and afterward did climb back into the Gorge, and called myself
foolish, that I had not thought to map my way ere I came down.

And when I was come up into the Gorge again, lo! I saw that there was
but one way that I should go; for truly, as I have said, there was only
the seas unto my right; but unto the left, where the shores did meet the
seas, there seemed, so far as mine eyes did tell to me, a clear way for
a space. And mayhap, when I had come so far, I should even find a
further way to go forward. And so did I descend again unto the Country
of the Seas, as I did ever call that red-shining country of water and
fire.

And by, that I was come again from the height of the Gorge, it was four
and twenty hours since that I did last sleep; so that I was fain that I
should put into some nook, and come to slumber, as you shall well
believe.

And I found me a neat and proper place, where three great trees grew
about a little basin of rock that was very dry and warm. And here, after
that I had eat three of the tablets, and drunk some of the water--the
while that my belly did yearn, as ever, for proper eating-stuff--I made
my bed in the little basin of the rock, and lay me down, and did begin
to think awhile upon Naani; but was gone over to sleep before that I was
aware.

And lo! I was suddenly awake, and did find that I swam in a hot water;
and a mercy, I did think, was it that I was not drowned as I did sleep.
And I gat me to my feet, and the basin was full of water, hot and
steaming, and pungent to the taste, as well I did know. And I perceived
now that the water poured in from a smoothed slit upon the far side, and
did come with a strange gurgling and bubbling, so that I conceived some
deep well to boil, and thus to drive upward this water into the basin;
and glad was I that it did not boil as it came forth.

And surely, now that I was upon the dry land, and did consider, I did
quickly suppose that the water had poured forth at seasons into the
basin for an eternity of time, and afterward did go back by fissures in
the bottom of the basin; and this to happen, as I soon did find, a
little beyond the length of every hour; and, indeed the basin to empty
slow as I did watch.

Now, being much wetted, I stript off mine armour, having before this
dipt out mine effects from the hot pool, and so did come down to the
naked flesh, and I found a place where the rock was hot, and here I did
spread my garments. And whilst that they came to dryness, I gat me into
the hot pool, and had a very pleasant bathing, and did have no great
fear of any dangerous thing; for, as it did seem, I had surely left all
such behind, within the Night Lands. Yet did I have the Diskos upon the
pool edge to my hand; for I had no proper assurance in this matter. Yet,
as it did prove, there were many monstrous beasts in that Country; but
never did I feel the nearness and horrid power of any Evil Force; for
these, as I do conceive, were congregate and gathered about the Mighty
Pyramid, being attracted thereto by the great spiritual essence of so
wondrous a multitude of humans gotten so close in one spot, even as
sharks do come after the ship that hath bullocks within. Yet, how that
the Evil Powers were given entrance unto this State of our Life, I have
no sure knowing; yet have I put forward certain thoughts on this matter
in an earlier place; and more than such thinkings is surely vanity; for
there is no certainty in my Reasoning concerning the thing.

Now, presently was my clothing dry, yet before this, I had come out from
that bath, which truly was nigh all gone backward into the earth. And I
dressed me again, and got my armour upon me, and afterward was I in a
more lightsome state of the mind; and yet very ready to come again unto
my sleep. And this I did, and had six hours more beside the pool; and
once was wakened somewhat by the gruntling and bubbling noise of the
water, that was made as the pool did fill time and again.

And when the six hours were gone, I waked very well fitted in my senses
and feelings to go forward again through that red-lighted Country, and
this I did, after that I had eat and drunk.

Now all that day I went forward at a great pace; and the nameless woods
were unto my left, and the shores of the seas unto my right. And oft did
I find that the trees grew even into the water, so that oft did I go
forward among the trees, and a very wonderful thing was this to me, that
never had known before in all my life, until I was come into that
Country, how that a glad and wild mystery doth live among forest trees.
For there was no such strange wildness among the groves of the
Underground Fields; though a solemn beauty in plenty. And the scent of
the woods was sweet unto my spirit, as you shall wot.

Now all the time that I did go, there was the shore unto my right; but
alway to my left, and around me oft-times as I did say, the great
forests. And as I did go, lo! there was life in all those darksome
woods, and living eyes did peer out odd whiles upon me, and afterward go
backward into the dark; so that I wotted not whether to fear, or to have
no heed of trouble. Yet naught did come anigh to me, to make any hurt.

And thrice in that day did I come to little fire-hills that burnt redly,
and sent out fire and noise, so that I heard their trouble each time
through the forest, before that I was come to them. And about each was
there a deadness and desolation, where the fire had killed the big
trees; yet, as I did observe, the quick life of little plants did grow
more nigh, as that they were born and lived between the times of the
fire-bursts. And this I do take it that you perceive.

And in that one day I past thirty and seven boiling springs; but whether
they boiled truly, I do have no knowledge; only that they sent out a
great steam oft-times; and some did make a strong roaring noise; so that
to hear them afar off in the forests was to think odd times that some
wild beast roared strangely.

Now, when the eighteenth hour was come, I sat me down, as I had done
upon the sixth and the twelfth hours, and eat two of the tablets, and
drank some of the water, which here did fizz very rich and quick.

And afterward I lay down to my slumber, for I was greatly wearied. And I
had chosen a place against a great rock, which was so that no creature
might come upon me from behind. And I came easy upon sleep; but yet I
did fix it upon me that I slumber only with the body; for I did know, by
the shining of the eyes in the darksome woods, that strange creatures
abode in the mighty forests.

And ere I was gone over to sleep, I thought upon Naani, as I had done
much all that day, as though her spirit did hover near unto mine, and
did strive pitiful to speak with me. And this I set out to you, that you
shall know how it did seem unto me in my thoughts and fancyings. And as
I lay there, I put a blessing upon her, and a determination into my
heart that I make a more desperate speed of my going, if that might be;
so that I come the sooner to that strange, and unknown place in the dead
world where did stand the lesser Refuge. And I was then asleep in a
moment.

And lo! sudden I was awake. And lovely was the brightness of that
Country, that did show me in a moment my danger, and did not keep me
suspend in fearful Doubt, as did the grey darkness and strange shadows
and lights of the Night Land. For I saw, on the instant that I got me to
mine elbow, how that certain things did crouch within the borders of the
trees, no more than a score paces off. And I perceived in a moment that
my spirit had been given knowledge, and had wakened me. And I stared,
the while that I did grip the Diskos; and I saw that there were six
squat men that were humpt at the neck and shoulder; and they did crouch
all there in a row, and were something hid by the shadows; and I
perceived that they watched me; and the eyes of the men did shine like
the eyes of beasts; and so shall you know somewhat of the strange terror
that came upon me. Yet had I the Diskos and mine armour; and though my
heart did shake a little, yet was my spirit assured to conquer.

Now I gat me to my feet, and had the Diskos ready within my hand; and
behold! I could not see the Humped Men, for they were gone from that
place; yet never did I see them go, though I had kept my gaze very
steadfast upon that part where they did hide. And, as you shall
understand, I was near ready to believe that there had been nothing
there within the border of the wood; yet truly I knew that the men with
the humps had been there, as I had seen.

Now, I looked presently, and found that I had slept five hours; and I
eat two of the tablets, as I did stand there, watchful; and afterward
drank some of the water; and so was ready to go forward again; for I was
grown very anxious to be gone from that place; and did have no knowledge
but that those strangely humpt Men were but a little way off, among the
trees, and might come upon me in a moment; or, further, that they did go
to call an army of other humped men to my destruction.

And after that I was ready, and had my gear secure upon me, I set off at
a great stride, and did hold the Diskos very handy, and lookt this way
and lookt that way, and all the while made onward with speed; for,
truly, I was grown so lean and hard that it did seem to me that I had
power to out-pace those men or aught else of their kind.

And all that day, through thirty great hours did I go forward, at that
stride, and did always watch; and at every sixth hour, I eat two of the
tablets and drank a little of the water, and went onward again.

And so did I hope that I was lost from those Humped Men. Yet, though I
did hope, my faith was not this wise; for twice and thrice did it come
to me that there went things through the woods to my left all that day,
and did keep always to a level with my speed; yet were always hid. And,
as you shall believe, this did be a very shaking thing to my heart, and
did make my hope of but little account.

Now, because that I had no faith to company my hope, I was not easy to
have slumber, until that I was come to a place proper and safe. And so,
as I have told, I went onward through thirty great hours; and, in truth,
in all that while I did find nowhere that did seem to fit my need.

And lo! about the end of the thirtieth hour, I perceived that there was
water ahead, besides the water of the sea that was ever to my right. And
I thought, maybe, that the sea did go inward at that part of the land;
but it was otherwise; for when I was gotten to that place, I found that
a river came into the sea, and did come out of all the country that lay
unto my left.

And in the mouth of this river, there was a small island; and surely I
did look across to the island, and think it a refuge from the Humped Men
that did surely play dog upon my going. Yet, truly, this was but an idle
thought, and my need was that I should come to some way to cross over
the river, that I go forward beside the great sea, which did stretch
onward, as it did seem for ever, before me upon the far side.

And I knew not how to go across; for I had no power to swim, and had I
swum, there were surely monsters in that great and warm-flowing river,
as you shall believe.

And I went upward of the river-bank, that I might come to some place
where the river did narrow; and surely I had been like to walk a mighty
distance to this purpose, but that I came soon to a second river that
did enter the first, not a mile above the shore of the sea; so that, as
you do perceive, there was the sea to one side of me, and this second
river unto the other, and the first river before me; and thus was I
sorely perplexed, as any had been truly that was in a like trouble.

Yet, as it did chance, the need to go forward, and the danger of the
Humped Men, put wit into me, so that I lookt about for a tree that was
fallen. And there were many, yet great, so that I was much wearied and
something strained of the spirit, before that I gat two little trees
unto the water.

Now, when this was done, I made me a rough pole of a young tree-plant;
and afterward, I lashed the two trees together with my belts and straps,
and so had somewhat of a raft.

And you shall picture that, all the time as I did go about this
business, I was very heedful lest the Humped Men should come upon me,
ere that I was gone free upon the water. And this constant heeding did
double the labour of my work, as you shall perceive; yet, in the end, it
was done, and I ready to adventure over the river.

And so I did push off with the pole, and I pusht and paddled maybe the
half of an hour, for, indeed it was all a clumsy contriving, and mayhap
I the more so in my labours. Yet, presently, I was come so far over,
that I drew nigh to the island; and it did seem a wise and proper thing
that I should have my slumber there, and afterward go onward to the
farther shore. And this I did; and after that I had eat and drunk, as
ever, I lay down to sleep. And by this time it was three and thirty
hours since last I did slumber; so that I was bitterly awearied.

And I had a great and restful sleep; for, truly, the island did seem a
very safe place; and, in verity, I came to no harm, though I was as a
dead man for nine great hours; and so shall you perceive my weariness.

And when I was come proper awake, I eat two of the tablets, and drank
some of the water; and afterward made an end of my voyage, and then did
take back my belts and straps from binding the trees, and so forward
again upon my way, and no more fearful of the Humped Men; for, surely, I
did think I had left them all upon the far shore of the river; though
afterward I minded me that they might grow likewise upon the two sides;
but yet was I only discovered by those upon the one, as you do know.

And all that day I went very swift, and past many strange matters and
did coast upon wonders oft. And at the sixth and the twelfth hours did I
eat and drink, as ever; and between the eighth and the fourteenth hours
did I come past two mighty fire-hills, that made all the Country to
tremble with their noise. And four times did monstrous creatures pass by
me; but I was swift hid, and came to no harm.

And oft as I did go, were my thoughts upon the dear Maid that I
journeyed to save from destruction. Yet, as you must see, always were my
thinkings brought sharply unto my going; so that scarce was I ever set
off to ponder upon Naani, but that there came some danger or wonder to
give me heed to my way. And because of this, as you have learned, I was
more put to plan free of the instant trouble and peril of my way,
through all that mighty journey, than to have quiet chance for thoughts
of love unto mine Own. Yet, truly, was not my journey one whole thought
of love unto Naani? And, that peril made oft dumb my brain, was but the
truer song unto my Maid.

And at times I was among trees; but oft did go past unnumbered boiling
springs and small fire-hills; and oft was the air full of the noise of
the little fire-hills, and the roar of the boiling springs; but there
came no harm unto me.

And a thousand times did I perceive things that had life; and I made a
very cautious way; though with a great speed and cleverness of going
that made my heart glad.

And oft did I come to parts where a great life held the trees, and green
stuff did flourish exceedingly, and the air rich and full and wondrous
sweet; so that I was fain to think how that in some far-off time, it
might be that our children's children should come down unto this
Country, when the Upper Valley of the Night Land was grown to an utter
chill and lacking of air; and here build them a new Refuge, if, indeed
any should come clear of the Evil Forces and the Monsters that did live
about the Mighty Pyramid in the Night Land. Yet, how should they come
clear of those things; so that this is, as you do perceive, no more than
a thought that did rise vaguely in me. And yet, again, who shall say
what may be?

And onward I did pass, and I do mind me how that I saw the lower fires
of that Country to burn very fierce; and this I set to the richness of
the air; but yet with no surety of knowledge; and do but tell the same
that you shall see the oddments of thought that went oft across my
brain, and so have so much knowledge as I, concerning this and that.

Now, a little before the eighteenth hour was come, I came out from among
the trees, and the sea was downward of a great cliff unto my right, for
I had gone upward for a long and weary hour. And I did see now a thing
that made me to be cautious, and yet that did hold my heart to go
swiftly to perceive the thing; for it was very strange.

And I went forward quickly, yet with a wise care; and so was come
presently more nigh. And I perceived that the thing was, in part, a high
rock, very tall and pointed and maybe an hundred feet high; but
afterward I did find it to be more. And there was a monstrous great
thing upon the top of the rock, that did seem very strange; and I stopt
and lookt, and afterward went forward again; and so for a time, until
that I was but a little way off. And now I saw that there did seem to be
a mighty long rock laid across the topmost part of the upstanding rock,
and yet had a very strange and shapely appearance; and did seem upon the
underpart to be as that I had lookt before upon it. And upon the upper
part, there grew trees and green things, even as these did grow upon odd
ledges of the upstanding rock. Yet, for the most, the rock was very
stark, as that a blast had blown upon it, and made it bare.

Now, when I had lookt for a while, I bethought me that this should be a
safe and proper place for my slumber, if that I had power to come safe
to the top. And when I had thought this thing, I began at once to climb
up the rock; and I found that the rock was very high; so that in a while
I was come a great way off the earth, and yet was not come to the top of
the rock. And because that I was awearied, I lookt about for a safe
place to mine hand, and lo! there was a shelf of the rock very nigh,
that went inward a little to the side.

And I gat me to this ledge, and did eat and drink, and presently I
slept, and scarce had thought of Naani in the moment of my slumbering;
for a great weariness was upon me, the which I do think to have come by
reason that I was not yet proper rested from the task of the day that
was gone before that one.

Now I waked very sudden, maybe seven hours after; and I had knowledge
within me that my spirit did wot of some nigh danger. And I gat upward
from the rock, very quiet, and had the Diskos ready in my hand. And I
lookt swift about me in the moment that I did wake; yet did see nothing;
for there was naught on the ledge with me.

And I crept to the edge, and lookt downward, and lo! I did see that
there came up the rock two Humped Men; and they did climb very swift and
silent; and I perceived that they smelled me, and came to destroy me.
And I made ready the Diskos to do battle, and ceased not to look
downward. And I saw how that the Humped Men did seem to be humpt by
reason of their being so monstrous thick and mighty of the neck and the
shoulder, as that they had been human bulls. And I saw that they were
very strong, and by the speed of their climbing, I knew they were swift;
and so did I make steady my attention and my heart to the saving of my
life; for truly I did know that I should be dead in a little, or they.

Now I stept back a space from the edge of the rock, and had the Diskos
very ready; for it was needful that I should kill one of those brute men
speedy, that I have no danger that one take me in the back, whilst that
I fight with the other.

Then, in a moment it did seem, there came upward of the rock edge, the
great and brutish face of the man. And in that moment that I slew him, I
did note curiously how that he had large teeth upon each side of the
mouth; and was aware that he had come so quiet as a great cat. And in
the backward parts of my brain, I bethought that even thus, maybe, was
primal man, so that a strange and secondary questioning and wondering
did live in that part of me; and I did learn from these scarce conscious
reasonings that I was of belief the thing was truly a man; but very
crude and dangerous. And surely it is strange that I had all this
thought in that little moment; but in verity so it was; though I doubt
not but I bettered it with after thoughts, when a while had gone.

Now the first man died ere his great haired breast was come upward over
the rock; and he sank back, and sagged and fell dully, and I heard him
bodge downward from rock to rock, very lumbersome; and so in a moment
was silence.

Then did I look this way and that way of the ledge; for the second Humpt
Man was not yet upon me; and I feared that the pause did mean a cunning
mischief and strategy. And when a little time had past, and all the
while I was ready with the Diskos, and naught did come upward to harm
me, I stept very soft to the edge of the rock-ledge, and lookt downward;
but there was nowhere any thing to see.

Now, for a little moment, I did think that the brutish man had run off,
being feared by the death that I did deal unto the first; yet I put this
from me at once; for I did wot that such a creature did not be like to
fear in such wise; but was rather set to some horrid cunning of attack,
as I did fear, and was somewhere below me among the holes of the great
rock.

Then I did think sudden that he might be gone upward, so that he should
come down upon my back, and I lookt upward of the mighty rock; but did
see naught; and afterward I stoopt forward a great way beyond the edge,
so that I should perceive whether the man did hide beneath. And, behold!
he was there below me, and crouched under the rock-shelf, ready to his
spring. And in that moment, he made unto me with so mighty a leap as any
tiger should give. And he came half over the edge, and gript the Diskos
by the handle, in an instant.

And surely I had lost that trusted weapon, or been pulled over and cast
into the depth, but that the Diskos did spin, and the Earth-Current did
make live the handle--as was intended--save where the "grip" was set.
And lo! the man gave loose the handle very swift, for it had burned and
shaken the creature sore. And I staggered back, with the effort I had
made to withhold the Diskos; and the brutish man came upward again over
the rock edge, and leapt at me. Yet he gat me not; for I sprang unto my
right, and made a blow with the Diskos, even as I did leap. And the blow
came something short; but yet harmed the Humpt Man with a gash upon the
belly, very sore and horrid among the great brown hairs of the man. And
immediately he sprang after me; but I smote full at the face; so that he
leaped back from the strange roar and blaze of the Diskos, and yet was
harmed; for he gat not right free of the blow; but did be cut very sore
on the mighty and haired arm.

Now, seeing that he was something feared of the weapon, I ran in upon
him, and smote again at the face; yet was the man gone out of my reach
before that the blow did reach; for, truly, he was quick as a panther.
And immediately, he did leap unto the ending of the ledge, where it did
join upon the Rock; and he caught the living Rock between his two hands.
And truly the Rock must have been splitten there; for he tore out a
monstrous lump, so great near as my body; and did run upon me with the
rock above the head of him.

Now, I perceived I should be smashed in a moment, if that I did not slay
the man very quick. For so mighty was he, that he did leap this way and
that way after me, as though the great rock did cumber him no more than
it had been but a light matter.

And you shall perceive that I leapt this way and that way, to avoid the
man; and twice did strike him; but yet was feared to brake the Diskos
upon the rock, which the man did use as a shield each time that I did
make a blow. And all the while, I did act to escape when that the man
should cast the rock, as I did conceive at the first to be his intent.
Yet, truly, it was as that he had no wotting that a rock may be thrown;
for he strave only to come at me with the rock, that he should crush me,
as with a monstrous club. And, in verity, what should a man do against
so horrid an attack.

And time and oft did I leap now to the right and now to the left, and
again in a moment, I did cut the Humpt Man; but the blow was something
turned off by the great rock in the hands of the man; yet so strange and
mighty was the power of the Diskos, that it shore away a small portion
of the rock, and did come to no hurt in itself.

And, surely I had presently failed in wind and limb, because of the
leapings and chargings that I did make; and because of the weight of the
armour, that was not overmuch, yet to be considered; but that I fainted
not, was by reason of the wondrous hardness and leanness that I was
grown to, with so constant a journeying and strait living; for the
tablets did keep the strength in a man, though, truly, they eased not
the yearnings of the belly.

And lo! even the brutish man did grow weary, and the hot breath and
body-stink to come from him; and surely who shall wonder, for always he
did rush to and fro upon me, with the monstrous rock to crush me. And
sudden, I leapt unto the right of the man, thinking within me that I did
perceive a chance that I should cut him upon that side; but, truly, he
was less awearied than I did know; for he came very sharp upon me, and
had me between him and the wall of the Rock; and surely I had no room to
make escape, and had died in a moment, but that I made a sudden sham
toward the left with the Diskos, as that I should leap that way. And in
the same instant, I did go to the right with a strong bounding; and
immediately did come in upon the Humpt Man from that side; and I put my
fortune of life to the stroke, and stood anigh to the man, and I smote
him across the middle part, before that he did wot of my intent. And the
blow slew the man very surely, and did nigh cut the mighty creature in
twain. And surely he fell, half leaping even as he died, so that the
monstrous rock that was in the hands of the brutish man, did crash down
almost upon my feet, and I leapt very high that I should escape the
thundering of the rock; for in verity, I was near slain in that last
moment of the life of the Humpt Man. But yet I lived and came free of
death, and did have a relief of happiness about my heart, as you shall
believe.

Yet, truly, I was much shaken; and a little weakness took me, so that I
was fain to go down upon the rock-shelf, that I have back my strength.

And presently, I was grown steady again, and I took my gear, and did
haste down the Rock, and so was come presently to the earth again. And I
saw the first of the Humpt Men that I did slay, lying very quiet a
little off from the bottom of the Rock; so that I went round upon the
other side to avoid the man; for it was no pleasure to mine eyes or to
my heart. And, truly, it did trouble me always to make a death.

And when I was come round upon the other, which was the seaward, side of
the Rock, I perceived that I was yet shaken; and I remembered that it
were wise to eat and drink and rest a little, before that I did go
further upon my way.

Now, as I did sit there at the bottom of the Rock, I looked upward at
the strange crown thereof; and until that time, I had been taken up with
the fight and with gazings this way and that to see whether there came
others of the Humped Men to work me an harm.

But now that I was given some ease of the mind and of the body, I saw
plainly that I knew the thing that lay upward upon the Rock; for the
shape had been something strange and half-known to me even before that
moment, as that I had a vague knowledge concerning it; but yet with no
surety. And now, truly, I did know in a little instant that the thing
was one of the olden flying-ships, the which, as you shall mind, there
were certain in the Great Museum of the Mighty Pyramid.

And surely, I was ready to wonder why that I had not seen the thing
plain before that moment; yet was this like to be because that there was
a shadow upon the other side of the great Rock; but upon this side there
was a little fire-hill a way off to the cliff edge, and this did throw a
warm light that made a glimmer upon the dull metal of the ship's bottom,
which was uncovered to my sight, and was surely of that same deathless
grey metal that made the Great Redoubt.

And yet, as you shall believe, even as I said this thing to my mind,
that the strange matter upon the top of the Rock was truly one of the
olden air-ships, I did feel that I should be proper to doubt; for it was
a very wondrous thing to perceive a thing common to man, in that utter
strange Country, and after that I was gone so far off from the Mighty
Pyramid. Yet, in verity, I did know in my heart that it was indeed that
which I did perceive it to be; and I did stand and walk to and fore and
look upward constant; for I was very keen that I look well upon it.

And truly, as I did look from this place and from that place, it was
scarce a thing for wonder that I had not wotted it to be an air vessel;
for there were great trees and abundance of earth and living matters
upon the topmost side of the ship; so that none could easy perceive it
to be aught save a great and desolate rock that did lie upon the other
rock. Yet, truly, it was as I have told; and presently I did make to
climb upward of the great Rock, that I should come to the air vessel to
enter it. But yet was this not proper; for I had surely no duty save to
go forward forever, until that I found the Maid; but yet did I spend a
little while to this searching of the ship; and I do but set down that
which I did, and with a serious spirit. And truly, as it doth here occur
to me, I do be ever seeming a serious young man, as you maybe shall have
grown to think; but yet was I to a dread and serious business, and the
strain did be too great upon me and the trouble too much prest upon my
heart to give me much of laughter, as you do surely perceive, and so you
to give me your ear and your understanding. For, indeed, before that I
did lose Mirdath my Beautiful One, I was not over-grave; but so young
and joyous as any.

Now it took me a great time to go upward of the Rock; for it was so
monstrous steep and high. Yet, presently was I come nigh under the
bottom of the ship; and here I did perceive that she had been sore
battered in that far-off age when she did come upon the Rock; for,
surely, as I did perceive, the peak of the Rock was through the bottom
of the ship, so that the metal was burst this way and that, and very
plain to be seen in some parts; but in other places the earth and
growing matters did make a hiding.

And after that I had climbed this way and that way, I perceived that I
must come to the topmost part by the plants that did hang over, and grow
downward. And after that I had pulled upon them, to know that they were
strong to hold me, I went upon them, and was soon to the top of the
ship. Yet, truly, I might so well have been upon the earth; for the ship
was covered above by the earth and dust of a monstrous age of years; so
that I was like to need much time to dig downward unto the ship; and
because of this, I considered a little while, and afterward made no more
to search her; but did go downward again, that I should come once more
to my journey. Yet, as you shall think, it was with a queer thrilling of
the heart, and with strange thoughts upon the end of those that did
come, maybe, to a bitter and lonesome dying in that ship of the air, in
that far-off time when she did fly.

And surely, it did seem to me as I went downward of the great Rock, how
that the flying-ship had been there for an hundred thousand years; and
that mayhaps the sea did live all about the Rock in that Age; and truly
this was no improper thing to think, for it was like that the sea had
been monstrous high and great in those days; so that the Rock was but a
little island in the midst of the sea; and now was the sea gone small
from a great sea to lesser seas, and this through an eternity of years.
And always, as it doth seem to me, had the ship lain upon the Rock, and
lookt quiet and silent over the change and wonder and the lonesomeness
of all that Country of Fire and water, for ever.

But how the air-ship did come upon the rock, how shall I know; save,
maybe, it doth seem as that she might have flown low over the sea in
that olden age, and come hard upon the Rock, because, maybe, there was
one to the helm that did steer unwittingly. And again, it shall well be
otherwise, and I do but set down mine odd thoughts; and such as they be,
they have no especial use, save that they do show to you the different
workings of my mind at that time, as I did go downward. And so to set
you the more in possession of all that I did have knowledge of.

And presently, I was come again to the earth, and did go forward with a
great speed, so that I should waste no more of that day. Yet, oft did I
think upon that ship hid there upon the mighty Rock, under the wondrous
quiet ashes of eternity.

And I went eighteen hours walking, and in all that time I did see no
more of the Humped Men; yet three times was I put in a sudden danger,
for there went past me thrice, between the fourteenth and the
seventeenth hours, great flying monsters, that were winged very ugly,
and did go, as I thought, in a great bounding, rather than that they did
fly proper as doth a bird. Yet I suffered no hurt from these; for I was
swift to hide between the great boulders that were very plenty in that
part; but no trees. For I was gone now past the forests of trees; there
being none since that I had gone through a very shallow river, that I
came to about the thirteenth hour. And this had I waded, and sounded my
path with the staff of the Diskos; but I had kept mine armour upon me,
lest there be things, even in water so shallow, that might bite and work
harm upon me. But I gat through pretty quick, and had no hurt done me.
Now I had eat, as ever, at the sixth and the twelfth hours; and by that
the eighteenth hour was come, I was nigh again unto a forest, that came
down to the shore that went alway upon my right; and I to be very sore
and wearied, as you shall know; for I had fought very desperate after my
waking, and afterward climbed the great Rock, and then again to journey,
so that it was, by this, nigh to one and twenty hours since that I did
sleep.

And surely, I lookt this way and that way, constant, and did see no
place proper to my slumber. But afterward, I considered I did be a fool,
to lack such; for truly the trees were plentiful, and I could climb a
great one, and strap my body safe, and so have a sure bed for my rest.
And I did this thing, and went upward into a great tree, and did tie my
body to the tree, with my belts; yet I eat and drank before that I went
up the tree.

Now when I was fast upward in the tree, and had made a bed upon a
monstrous branch, and had the Diskos ready upon my hip, so that it
should not fall but be nigh to my hand, I lay a little while thinking
upon Naani; and I went not over to sleep immediately, which was strange;
yet mayhaps because that my bed was so uncertain.

And I considered very gravely how that it was a monstrous long while
since that I did hear the Master-Word from the dear Maid; and truly I
was come a dreadful way from mine home, which was the Mighty Pyramid;
for I had gone onward for ever through five and twenty great days of
travel, and was not yet come to any place that did appear like to be
that place where the Maid did abide.

And it did seem that I might even wander onward in that great Country of
Fire and Water for a time beyond all that I had before gone; and this
thought did put a great weight of trouble and weariness upon my heart;
for the Maid had been in sore need of me, and I did feel sudden to be
all adrift in the wilderness. But before this time, it had seemed as
that I surely went aright. And mayhaps your sympathy shall tell you just
how I to feel in the heart.

And after that I had lain there very awkward, and thought upon all
matters, I minded me that I would try the compass again upon the morrow;
but had no great hopes of the machine; yet did be willing to try aught
to see where I had gotten to. And truly, as it did come to my mind, if
that the compass did point a little as I did wot it was used to point in
the Lesser Redoubt, then, in verity, I was surely come something more
anigh to that unknown place of the world than I did dare to believe. And
this to be plain to you.

Then a little time did pass in which I did wake and sleep, and wake and
sleep, a little; but with no surety of sleep; but as that I was very
tired of the heart, and did but lie too wearied to come properly to
sleep.

And odd whiles I did lie with mine eyes half to open, and did look very
dreamful upward among the dark branches of the tree, as they did show
black and pretty against the redness of the shining that came from the
sea; for there was stood a great and bright-burning fire-hill in that
part of the sea that lay off the shore from me. And above the glaring of
the fire-hill, there was the deep night that did brood for ever above in
a monstrous black gloom of eternity, and did make the red smoke of the
volcano to show deep and mighty and thunderous-seeming, afar up in the
great dark. And the red and shining smoke did but show the utter
hugeness of the night, that had been upon the world through the great
ages.

And, in verity, as I did lie there so dreamful, it did come to me afresh
how wondrous strange was mine adventure; and how that I did lie warm and
alive in a Country of red light and smoking seas. And, truly, as I did
remember and consider, there was a great and lost world above me, upward
through the dark ... maybe an hundred and fifty great miles up in the
grim night.

And this thing did strike me very solemn, as I did lie; and I do trust
that you conceive how that there was, in truth, afar above in the
eternal and unknown night, the stupendous desolation of the dead world,
and the eternal snow and starless dark. And, as I do think, a cold so
bitter that it held death to all living that should come anigh to it.
Yet, bethink you, if one had lived in that far height of the dead world,
and come upon the edge of that mighty valley in which all life that was
left of earth, did abide, they should have been like to look downward
vaguely into so monstrous a deep that they had seen naught, mayhaps,
save a dull and utter strange glowing far downward in the great night,
in this place and in that.

And surely, as you shall have seen, I have set the Great Deep of the
Valley to be, maybe, an hundred and fifty miles of night; for, as you do
mind, it was conceived that the Valley of the Night Land was an hundred
miles deep, and mayhap to be more; and I had come from that Place
downward of the Mighty Slope, and of the Gorge, a very great way. Yet,
in verity, I do believe in my heart this measuring was utter wrong; for
I think the deep to have been monstrous, beyond these miles that I do
give; yet have I no proving of this belief, and do set it down for no
more than it is.

Now, presently, I had ceased from these vague thinkings and half
dreamings, and was gone truly to sleep. Yet, nowise did I sleep very
strong; but did seem to come anigh to wakefulness, this time and that.
And, as it did chance, this was mayhaps a very good thing for my life;
for I did presently come awake more surely, and did turn on the great
branch; for there was a noise in the air, that was not the noise of the
great fire-hill.

And the noise did grow, very heavy and lumbersome. And, in a moment,
there came seven Humped Men, running among the trees, as that some
monstrous thing did pursue. And immediately they were beneath the tree
in which I did lie; so that a great fear came upon me, and I loosed the
belt from the branch, that I should be free to fight.

And, directly upon this, I saw that the men did leap upward into the
tree, beneath me; but not as that they did wot of me or make to come at
me; but as that they did pay a great heed to some creature or happening
that was far off among the trees. And surely, the noise did seem to come
from that part, and did grow loud and mighty, and the Humped Men did all
crouch very silent, and did make no noise or motion one to the other;
but were quiet upon the lower branches.

And, as I did look now more to my ease, I perceived that they had each a
great stone, and bloody, that did seem as that it were split to a
certain sharpness, even as a stone doth break very natural. And they
carried the stone under this arm or under that arm, so that they had
their hands free to all matters.

And, alway the noise did come the more anigh, and I saw that a Humped
Man did come running from among the trees, and did run beneath that
place where the seven Humped Men did be on the branches. But they made
no sign to the man, to save him; yet truly it was very plain that some
monster pursued the man.

And immediately I saw how this thing was; for the Humped Man upon the
ground, did not run so fast as might be; and I conceived that he did act
to make some creature to come after him, to pass under the men within
the tree. And surely this thing did prove to be; for there came very
quick, a great and ugly thing, that had an ugly way of putting down the
feet, and did have seven feet to each side, which was very strange; and
the back was as that it were horny, and the belly of the thing did seem
to brush heavy upon the earth, and it grunted, as it went, and shook the
earth with the weight of it; so that a monstrous noise came from it,
upon so hasty a journey. And I did wot that it was not such a thing as
did properly pursue after matters of food; but did rather eat of that
which did need little haste, but a monstrous strength, to gain. And that
it did so make after the man, was in truth because that it had been
wounded and made fierce; for, indeed, there came blood from the creature
from great wounds upon the back; but how these were made, I could not
know in that instant.

And it did go under the tree in which I was hid; and in that moment when
it past under the tree, the seven Humped Men did leap out of the
branches, and did catch to the brute by the great horns of the spine;
and I saw that the wounds were in the joints of the spine, as was plain
when the back did work, with the going of the creature. And the seven
Humped Men took the sharp stones from under their arms, and did strike
very brutal in the wounds that were in the joints of the spine; and the
creature roared and cried, and went onward into the trees at a great
speed; and in all the time that it ran, the Humped Men ceased not to
strike with the stones.

And sudden, when it was gone a distance off, it did roll very swift over
upon the back, first to the right, as that it would go that way; so that
the Humped Men did leap off upon the other side. And immediately the
creature rolled to that side; and there ran clear of the brute only four
of the Humped Men; so that I knew that three were slain. And afterwards,
they that lived, ran beyond the beast, and gat up into a second tree,
and the one that was chased, did entice the creature to follow, and so
did tease it once more to pass beneath the other men; and they very
swiftly again to the back of the creature; and so from my sight,
striking with the great stones, and the beast bellowing very loud and
piteous. And how many of the Humped Men there were to the beginning of
that strange hunting, I know not; but surely there were few that lived
to the end.

And surely there were such things as this thing in the beginning of the
world, and again was it thus in the end; and I did ponder this a little
while, as I did sit upon the great branch, and hearken unto the sound of
the hunting, that was now gone a great way off, and was presently beyond
my hearing.

And afterward, I gat me to the earth, and did look this way and that
way, to see that no beast was anigh, neither any of the Humped Men; and
afterward, I eat two of the tablets and drank some of the water.

And when I had gat this far to a readiness for my going, I minded me
that I should try the compass again, as I did intend. And surely the
machine did point between the North and the South, upon the Westward
arc, even as Naani had told unto me; yet, as it did seem, with somewhat
more of a Southward pointing than she had made me to think. And because
of this telling of the compass, a great ease came upon my spirit; for,
surely, was not this but a sure sign that I did go direct unto that
hidden place of the world where the Lesser Refuge did abide; but yet was
not come over-close, so that the pull of the Mighty Earth-Current of the
Great Redoubt was something stronger than in the place where was the
Little Pyramid.

And all this did I think very swift to myself, and had a glad uplifting
of the heart, as you do perceive; so that I went forward upon my
journey, with a great stride, and did scarce fear any strange thing that
all the Country did hold, in that moment.

And I went all that day at a strong pace, and did be oft tempted to send
the Master-Word unto Naani; yet did keep from so foolish an acting, the
which, mayhaps, had brought straightway upon me an Evil Power, and had
given me to Destruction when that I was near come to the succour of the
Maid. And it was this quick and constant fear of the Evil Forces of the
Night Land, that did keep me ever from calling unto Naani, lest that
they should discover me, and follow after; and this, I doubt not, you to
know by now so well as I.

Now, by the sixth hour, I was come into a part of the Country where
there were an exceeding abundance of steam fountains and sprayings and
great upboilings of water in basins of rock; and the air did be full of
the sounds and the roarings of the boilings and the spoutings, and of a
hot mist and spray; so that, truly, I had scarce the power to see to my
front, nor to any side.

And here, presently, I made a pause, and did eat and drink, and
afterward went forward again; and I did keep the shore of the sea always
to my right, and so did go proper to my way; yet with no great ease; for
the sea also did steam very strong in that part, and because of this
great fog of steam, I was surely much laboured to make a great speed,
lest unseeing I go headlong into an hole of the boiling water.

And in the ninth hour, I did go clear of the hot boilings, and was come
again free of the mist and the steam, and might look with mine eyes to
my going. And, surely, as I did perceive, I was come to the end of the
great sea that had been ever to my right; for it did go against the feet
of great and monstrous mountains, that went upward for ever into the
night, and did seem as that they were the hither wall of that strange
Country of Fire and Water. And so was I stood there very much taken upon
doubt; for how should I go farther.

And after that I had been there a while, in a bewilderment of doubt and
of wit, I went to the left, along the feet of the mountains; and truly
this but of common sense; for how might I go any other way, save I go
back again!

And at the twelfth hour I eat two of the tablets, and drank some of the
water, and went forward once more. And lo! at the fifteenth hour, I was
come to a place between the mountains, even an upward gorge, very dark
and gloomy, and without light for a great way.

And, in verity, I did not want to go up the gorge, in that it was so
dreary a place and narrow and horrid and drear-seeming, after the light
and wideness of the Country in which I did yet stand.

And presently, I did go past the mouth of the gorge, that I should learn
whether there went another way out of that Country. And thiswise, for a
great hour more, along the feet of the mountains, and did presently come
to a monstrous black river, that was, maybe, a mile wide. And it to be
very shallow, and seeming as that the water scarce to cover the mud of
the bottom. And here and there a great steam did come from it, and
spirtings and moundings-up of the mud in many places, and monstrous
babblings and puffings-up of strange smoke, as that a great heat went
beneath it in this place and in that.

And surely it went backward into the country for a mighty way, so far as
my sight did go; and I did think it to be no river, but truly a further
sea. And there was no way across; for there were no trees anigh, to make
me a raft, neither might I wade across; for it might be shallow here and
deep there, and the mud be in all places. And, moreover, I had been like
to be caught in one of those upburstings of mud, even did I have a raft
to go upon. And because of all these things, I gat me back again to the
Gorge, and presently I did go upward into the darkness.

Now, I went upward very steady, save that I did stumble oft, and did go
through six great hours. And truly it did seem that I went in an utter
dark, because that I had been awhile in so constant a light.

And, by that I had been six hours in the Gorge, I was gone right away
from the Country of the Seas, and did be as that I was back into some
place that was like to the dreadness of the Night Land. For there were
in this place and in that place of the Gorge, red fire-holes, even as in
the Night Land. Yet not many until that I was come a great way up of the
Gorge. And there did be life of horrid things about the fires, as soon I
did wot; so that I made to keep off from them. Yet, as you shall
perceive, I must come oft pretty near, because that the Gorge was
nowheres scarce an hundred good paces across, and did oft come very
narrow, so that I did come oft anigh to the fire-holes, whether that I
did heed to or not.

And all that time, and ever, did the Gorge go very sharp upward, so that
it was a very weary thing to make great trial of speed, as you shall
know. But yet I went so fast as I could do; for I was grown sudden very
excited about the heart, and to feel as that I did surely draw anigh to
that strange and hid place of the world, where was the Lesser Refuge.

And when I had gone upward through six great hours, as I did say, I took
caution for a place proper to slumber; for I was surely very wearied.

And I saw a place presently, afar upward of the dark side of the Gorge,
upon the right, where a ledge of the Rock did show in the glaring from
one of the fire-holes that made a gloomy light in that place. And I
climbed unto this ledge, and did find it to be secure, and awkward to
come upon. And presently, after that I had eat and drunk, I did compose
myself unto sleep, the which came very speedy upon me, whilst yet I did
believe I thought only upon the sweetness of the Maid. And truly it had
been something over three and twenty hours, since last I did sleep; so
that I was greatly awearied.

And in six hours I waked and did eat, and did climb downward again to
the Gorge, and so unto mine upward journey.

Now, as you do perceive, when that I was come properly a great way up
the Gorge, and had come among the fire-holes, there was no more an utter
darkness, for the dull red glare of the pits beat upward upon the black
sides of the rock-mountains, that did make the sides of the Gorge; so
that oft I did see both sides very plain in the lower parts; yet of the
height of the Gorge, who might know aught; for the black sides did go
upward for ever into the everlasting night.

And because of the light from the fire-pits, I did see, time and oft
about the fires, horrid monsters, both that were snakes, and others like
to scorpions so great as my head; but no more than these for a long
while. And afterward I perceived that surely other matters did move
among the rocks of the Gorge; so that I did keep the Diskos very ready
in mine hand; yet had truly no use for it all that day.

Now I eat and drank at the sixth and the twelfth hours, and went onward
at a very strong speed. And at the sixteenth hour, I did seem as that I
knew the aether to be stirred about me, and the beat of the Master-Word
very faint upon mine inward ear. And immediately, a wondrous great and
lovely thrilling did wake all my being; for surely, I said, this was the
spirit of my love, calling unto me with her brain-elements. And, indeed,
this was a very proper and sensible thinking; for had the Master-Word
been sent from the Mighty Pyramid, I had been like to hear it very
plain, by reason of the force of the Earth-Current which was with them
and to their command. But, as you do know, the Earth-Current was nigh
gone from the Peoples of the Lesser Refuge; so that they were over-weak
to make any proper calling. And this I have spoken of before this place.

Yet, in a little while, as I did stand very hushed, that I should hark
the better, I was come to doubt whether that I did truly hear the
Master-Word. And one moment I did say that it had surely beat in the
night about me; and immediately would I be just so unsure; and so in a
while I gat once more to my journey, and had doubt in my heart; yet, as
you shall conceive, more of hope. And because of this thing, I went
onward for thirty great hours from the time that I did wake; for my
heart was excited within me. And when that I had gone so long forward as
this, I did see how that I did foolishly; and I lookt about for a place
for my slumber; and I found a small cave that was clean and empty, as I
did discover by the shining of the Diskos which I made to spin a little
time. And the cave was in the cliff of the mountain that made the right
side of the Gorge, and was nigh twenty good feet from the bottom of the
Gorge, and hard to approach.

And when I was come secure into the cave, and sure that it was proper to
my purpose, I eat four of the tablets, as was just and nice to my belly,
and did afterward drink some of the water, and so to my slumber; and all
the while, very sweet and strong in my thoughts upon Naani; so that
surely I was a little time before that I had myself rightly unto sleep.

And I slept six hours, and did wake, for I had set my spirit hard unto
such wakening; yet was I still greatly yearning for sleep. But this did
go somewhat, when that I had fought a little with my need. And
afterward, I eat two of the tablets, and drank some of the water, and
did gat my gear upon me, and was presently down unto the Gorge; and so
again to my journey.

Now in all that day I did go with a very stern speed; for it did seem as
that my soul did know for surety that I was truly come something nigh
unto that hid place in the night where I should find mine Olden Love
again. And the sweet hope that was bred of the calling that had seemed
truly to sound about my spirit, was in all my being, and more sure on
that day, than before that I had slept.

And I went thirty hours in all, even as before, ere that I did come
again to sleep, and I eat and drank at every sixth hour, so that my
strength should abide within me. And by that I was come to the ending of
the thirty hours, I was sorely awearied, and gat me upward of the
monstrous cliff that did make the left side of the Gorge, having
perceived in a place a great ledge of the rock, that did seem very
proper for my purpose of slumber.

And when I was come upward upon the ledge of the rock, I saw that there
did seem something, like to a mighty spider, that did stay half without
of a hole in the back part of the ledge. And I smote the thing gently
with the Diskos, so that it was very quickly dead; and afterward I
searched well about; but did gladly perceive that there abode there no
other horrid creature.

And I eat two of the tablets, and drank some of the water; and did
afterward make me ready for slumber, as ever. But now I did put the
cloak well about me; for truly there was grown a chill into the air of
the Gorge; and here also will I tell how that it did seem unto me that
the air was gone something from that great thickness and strength which
had been with me in the past days of my journeying.

Now I was gone so tired, that I fell upon sleep in a moment, yet with a
dear thought and anxious, concerning Naani; but was so starved of the
body for slumber, that even mine anxiousness kept me not awake. And I
was then so fast with sleep that I knew naught for eight hours of very
sound slumber. And then did I awake, and very thankful of the heart that
no evil beast or creeping thing had come upon me whilst that I was so
utter lost in sleep.

And now, truly, was I something fresh and ready; and I ate and drank,
and had my gear once more upon me, and so down into the Gorge. And
afterward, I went upon my journey for eighteen hours, and did pause but
a little while at the sixth and the twelfth hours that I should eat and
drink.

And when the eighteenth hour was nigh come, I perceived that the nature
of the Gorge was grown very horrid and dank. And in verity, I did feel
as that afar upward in the night the black mountains that did make the
sides of the Gorge had come together, and did make a monstrous roof
unseen in the utter height.

And this thing I do tell, only as of my belief; for I have no very sure
proof. Yet, truly, my reason doth say likewise; for there did oft drip
water upon me out of the darkness, even though I walked in the middle
way of the Gorge; and how should this thing be, save that there went an
overreaching of the sides, that should let the mildew down upon me.

And in this place, and for more than eleven great hours, there were
fire-holes and fire-pits only in this part and in that, and each a great
way off from another. And they burned very dull, and did seem to throw a
fume of sulphur into all the air, as that there was no freedom above for
the stink to pass away. And in every place were the rocks of the Gorge
very thick and slippery with strange growths; so that it was a sorrow to
walk upon them. And all that time was there an heavy wetness and
slowness in the air; and a smell, beside the stink of the fire-pits, as
that I did go forward through a place where dead things did be.

And for a great time there was a horrid darkness, as it had been that
the air was grown thick with the fumings of the fire-pits, as I do
believe; and beside this thing there was, as I have said, but a dull
fire here and another there; so that it was like that there should be a
heavy dark. And because that it was so utter black, and because that
there were growths upon the rocks in the bottom of the Gorge, I did go
but slowly, and with pain of stumblings; and always with the stink of
that place to trouble me half unto a sickness.

And sudden, as I did go past one of the fire-pits, I saw that the fire
made a dull shining upon some monstrous thing that did move before me,
upon the far side of the fire. And I came in one moment unto a swift
silence, and hid among the rocks of the bottom of the Gorge. And I lookt
very cautious at the thing that moved beyond the fire, and surely I had
seen no thing so monstrous since that I had come free of the Night Land;
for it was as that some huge Creature, like to the hull of a great ship
did move down out of the dark of the upper way of the Gorge. And it went
by the fire-hole, and onward into the dark of the lower way of the
Gorge; and I had perceived somewhat of it, as it did go past the fire,
and, surely, it was black and beslimed, and utter great in height and in
length, and it went always without noise, so that I had not known it to
be there, but that I saw it plain with mine eyes. And, truly, if I do
say that it was somewhat as that I had seen a monstrous slug-thing,
surely I should use wise and proper words to make known to you this
horrid brute.

And I stayed very quiet a time, and afterward I went upward again of the
Gorge, and did use a new caution to my way, and saw that the Diskos was
free upon my hip; for even thus I did carry the weapon, being that I
must use both hands to my way, and to save me in my stumblings and
slidings over the slippery rocks.

And once it did seem to me that some great thing moved in the darkness,
and I went downward among the rocks, and stirred not my body for a great
while; and sure am I that there went some living monster past me, that
did stink as a loathsome grave. And afterward, I went on again.

And three hours did I go thus, and came at last to a place where a
fire-hole did shine more ruddy; and I did look well about me, that I
should perceive that part of the Gorge the better. And as I stood there,
very quiet, away off from the fire, so that it did show no great light
upon my person, I did note how utter still was that place; and this to
take me anew, as though it had come fresh upon me. And here, there would
be the drip of water, and again in that place, and again elsewhere; and
all very solemn and very dismal. And the silence to be constant.

And presently, as I lookt, now to this way and again to that, I saw that
there was a monstrous slug-thing laid upward against the black side of
the Gorge, as that it had stood up on end; and the one end of the
monster went upward beyond the light from the fire-pit; but the other
part did come down and trail into the Gorge, as a long hillock, very
ugly and black and beslimed.

And I near sweat with a disgust and horror of the thing; but afterward I
had more courage, and spied well upon the brute. And surely, it moved
not at all, any more than the side of the cliff of the Gorge; and I
conceived that it stood not upward upon any feet; but clung to the rock,
even as you shall see a slug to go. And for a great space I was very
quiet and moved not, neither did I make to hide, but stood there very
stupid.

Yet, in a time, I had more of courage which brought strength unto my
heart, and I began again to go upon my way, but with an utter caution,
and I then to creep for a weary time upon my hands and knees among the
dank and weariful rocks and boulders that lay in the bottom of the
Gorge. And thrice between four hours was I passed by hidden and
monstrous things in the horrid dark places of the Gorge; yet with no
noise, save, as it might be, the odd rattle of a rock in this place and
that; but with an utter and dreadful stinking. And I to be quiet as
they went, as you shall think.

And each time now that I did go by the fire-pits and fire-holes that lay
odd-ways in the Gorge, I did pause and search about me with mine eyes,
very cautious, and oft now did I perceive how that the monstrous slug
creatures did lie in this place and in that against the cliffs of the
Gorge. And I did go then utter still, from this space to that space
among the rocks, and oft upon the flat of my belly, and with a constant
heed that I make not mine armour to knock against the boulders.

And always as I did go, there was a monstrous stench, and the choking of
sulphurous smoke very oft. And here and there, as mine heart doth
believe, there were utter great caverns within the mountains to the
right and to the left; and of this thing I have some small proof; for
once I did go by a place where a fire did burn, as it should be a
fire-hole, afar inward of the mountain side upon my right; so that I saw
in a moment that I looked in the darkness through the mouth of a mighty
cave-place; and I went past very quick and silent, for I knew not
whether any horrid thing should come forth out of that place to slay me.

And, truly, as I did think, if there did be one such place, there were
like to be many; and mayhaps the slugs came forth from those caverns,
where, as I did conceive there was naught save an eternal dripping of
waters and the foul growth of things in all parts. Yet is this last but
a thought, as I do say, and you shall wisely take it for no more than
that.

Now, I came clear of the darkness and the slime and the stinking in
about twelve hours after the time that I did think the mountains to be a
roof unto the Gorge; and the air was now free and did seem as that some
life and health did abound in it; and the fires did be more plentiful,
and burned very bright and clean, and threw all their fumings upward, so
that there was no more any bitter pain of sulphur within my throat.

And surely, it was with a thankful heart that I went onward, and with a
good speed; for there was much of light all about me, in that there
burned an hundred fire-pits here and in that place; so that I saw clear
before me and behind, and conceived that the slugs did abide only in the
closed part of the Gorge. And oft I did take the air very full into my
lungs, for the sweetness of it, after the horrid stenchings that I had
abode all those hours.

And presently, when I was come free of the roofed part of the Gorge,
maybe some three good hours, I lookt for a place proper to slumber; for
it was surely something over three and thirty hours since that I did
last come upon sleep; and I was utter worn and lost of strength with so
much of creeping and harking for monsters, as you shall believe;
moreover, about that time I had gone bitter long whiles between
slumberings through more than an hundred hours, as you shall have
perceived from my tellings.

Now, presently, I saw a small cave that went inward of the side of the
Gorge. And I lookt into the cave, and found it to be sweet and clean,
and very dry. And there was a small fire-pit off from the mouth of the
cave that did throw a good light for my purpose; so that I saw there was
no creeping thing or horror in the place; and I went in, and made to
prepare for my slumber.

But truly, when I was come to look upon myself, I was utter soiled and
did seem as that I stank with the slime and disgust of the dark part of
the Gorge, where I had gone upon my hands, and upon my belly. And
because of this, I was set that I should not eat or come to sleep,
without I washed me.

And I went out from the cave, and there was a spring near to the
fire-pit, as was oft in that part of the Gorge. And the spring was hot
and did fill a hollow of the rock, very quiet and with a fuming of
sulphur, as I did bend above it. And I washed mine hands and face and
mine armour and gear, in the hot spring, and did dry me with my
pocket-cloth; and so was sweetened and put to happiness of mind.

And I went back into the cave, and did sit in the mouth of the cave,
with the Diskos to mine hand; and I eat four of the tablets, for I was
gone a mortal long while without, and afterward I drank some of the
water. And as I did eat and drink, I lookt out upon the lightness of the
Gorge before me, and with a cheerful and composed heart.

And I saw presently that there came certain creatures out from their
holes, even as it might be that they were part rats; but very strange
looking, and not properly such. And some did lie about the fire-hole,
and some did hunt about in the rocks; and one came presently, and had a
snake by the neck. And it stood upon the snake, and did eat it, even
while that the snake did lash about upon the rock. And the snake did
lash until that it was nigh all eat; and a very strange thing this was
to see, and something troublesome to the pity. Yet was I glad to
perceive that there were enemies to the serpents of that place.

And when the rat creature did make an end of the snake, it made across
to the spring, and did drink the hot water a while; and afterward back
unto the fire, and there laid down anigh to the edge, and seeming very
sweetly comforted of the belly, which, in truth, was much otherwise with
me. And, after that, I saw many creatures that went about the fire, and
did have warmth from the fire and drink from the spring; and surely I
did ponder that the Peoples of this our Age should say, if they had
stood with me, that Providence had made nigh together the warmth and the
drink that were needful unto life (for it was grown to a bitter chill
now in the Gorge). But rather did this thing seem to me otherwise, that
these creatures did be but of their circumstance, and if that it had
been another way, then had they grown of their wits to meet it to their
means of life. Yet, as some would say, the arguments do but meet, and be
the same thing. And neither way do I care in this place; but do no more
than to show unto you the working of my brain, in this way and that, as
I made my journey.

Now, presently, when I was done eating, and come very ready to fall upon
sleep, I went out from the cave and gat me certain boulders, the which I
did carry into the cave. And when I was come back for the last time, I
put them very secure in the entrance-way, that no small stinging
creature come at me as I slept. And after that, I made ready, and went
to my sleep, having sweet thoughts and slumbrous, of the Maid.

Now I slept very quiet that time, and was not over troubled with the
chill of the Gorge, which was but little in that place, both by reason
of the fire-pit and because that the cave did help to keep my warmth to
me. And I had a deep slumber for eight hours, and waked then pretty
tired, but strong to go upon my way. And after that I had sat a little
while, I came full to wakefulness and afterward did eat two of the
tablets and drink some of the water, the which I did, sitting in the
mouth-part of the cave, after that I had cast free the boulders.

And afterward, I gat my gear upon me, and I went again upon my journey.
And the Gorge did continue very light and cheerful, with the shining of
the fires; and oft there did be a little steam that did hiss from this
part or that of the bottom of the Gorge and did blow very quaint and
noisy in the quiet of that place. And oft there did be hot pools, and
everywhere the great boulders in the bottom way, and to the right and to
the left the black and mighty sides of the Gorge that did go upward for
ever into the everlasting night.

And so I did go, and had eat and drunk at the sixth hour, and gone
onward again. And, lo! at the eighth hour, I did thrill sudden with a
wondrous great thrilling; for, in verity, it did seem to me that the
Master-Word did beat softly about me, out of all the night of the world.
And all my heart did throb with great glowings of joy; yet was the beat
of the Word unsure, so that I knew not truly whether my spirit had
indeed heard aught, for there was immediately a silence, as ever, about
mine inward being. Yet, as you shall believe, there was a new hope and
strength of courage in all my body and soul.

And I went forward very swift, and all renewed, as it were; and my
strength and hope did make naught of any terror that should lie to bar
my way, neither did I have further heed of the boulders that lay always
upon my path, but did go over them with quick leapings, and a wondrous
and thrilling eagerness of the heart within me.

And, sudden, in the end of the tenth hour, I perceived that the mighty
walls of blackness that made the sides of the Gorge did be no more
there, and that I was come truly upon the end of the Gorge. And I near
trembled with hope and astonishment; for when I was gone a little way
on, I had ceased to go upward any more, and was come clear out from the
mouth of the Gorge, and did peer forth across a mighty country of night.

And it did seem to me as that I was come to a second Land of Strange
matters, even as the Night Land where did lie the wonder of the Mighty
Pyramid. And surely, I did think within my heart that I was come at last
to that far and hidden place of the world where did be the Lesser
Redoubt. But yet was there no place in all that night where did tower
the shining lights of the Lesser Pyramid, the which I did hope vainly to
perceive. And because that I saw them not, a great heaviness came upon
my spirits for a time; but afterward the heaviness did go; for I put
Reason to help my courage, and did plan this cause and that to show why
that I was not come to sight of the shining embrasures of the Lesser
Redoubt. But yet was there left an ache of doubting, as you shall well
conceive.

Now this Land was very new and strange, and had a great light in this
part, and a wondrous grim darkness in that. And I did pause a great
while to determine how that I should go properly. And presently I
bethought me of the compass, and did draw it forth, and set it upon the
earth, that I should see how it did act. And truly it did go almost as
Naani had told to me; so that I was very sure in all my being that I was
in verity come anigh to the hidden Refuge. But yet did the compass give
me no proper guiding to my way; so that I was no more wise to this end
than before, only that I had the comfort of that which it did seem to
assure.

And, in a little while, I went forward into the Land, and did hope that
I should come presently to some matter to help my choice. And I went
first toward a certain great glowing of fire that lay before me, and did
seem joined to another great glare that went afar to my left.

And I found the ground of that Land to be very fair for my feet, and to
have in this place and that certain bushes, even as it did seem to me,
of the kind that we named moss-bushes in the Night Land, as you do know.
And I made a very good speed, and went thus until I had gone for maybe
six long hours. And by that time, I was come anigh to the glowing of
light; and did keep now a strong caution to my going; for truly, as I
did know from the tellings of the Maid, there were very horrid and
dreadful Powers in that Land, and I did well to remember that I was come
again to parts where might be the destruction of the spirit. Now I made
a pause, and lookt toward the glowing light; and it seemed to me that
for a monstrous way unto the right and unto the left, there did be
surely a great, hid valley in the earth before me. For the shining did
seem as that it came up from out of a valley, as that there burned a
deep light in such a place; but yet was I all unsure, and had no proper
knowing whether indeed there did be any valley there, but only a strange
and luminous shining that did come upward from the earth.

And I made no great haste now to go unto that place; but went down
sudden into the bushes, and lay upon my belly, and had a new great fear
upon my spirit. And presently, I parted the bushes a little, and made a
place for spying.

And I looked a great time unto the place of the light, and now to this
part and now to that. And sudden, I saw, as it did seem, a monstrous
head within the glowing; for the glowing did seem at whiles as that it
swept to and fore, as should a shining smoke that went obedient to a
quiet wind: and so to hide and again to uncover. And in a moment I lost
the great face, and was all unsure that ever I had seen aught.

And lo! in a little minute, I did see it again; but whether it did be
the shape of some utter monster of eternity--even as the Watchers about
the Mighty Pyramid--or whether it did be no more than a carven mountain
of rock, shaped unto the dire picturing of a Monster, I did have no
knowing. But I made that I should get hence very quick, and I did turn
me about in the bushes, and went upon my hands and knees; and so came at
last a great way off.

Now, presently, I came again upon my feet, and did take a new look
around that Land. And I had the mouth of the Gorge to my back, and this
I perceived by the shining of the fire-pits that made the place shown to
me.

And to the left of the Gorge was an utter blackness, as I did conceive
of black and monstrous mountains, through which the Gorge did come. And
to the right side of the Gorge there were many low volcanoes, that went
always along the feet of the great mountains that made the right wall of
the Gorge. And I saw the feet of these dark mountains, because that the
light from the little volcanoes made a glare upon the lower slopes.

And so shall you have some knowing of that part of this second Land of
Night.

And a good way off, was the shining that I had journeyed unto, and the
shining went into a distant light through a part of the Land that lay
afar to my left, for it stretched a great and strange way toward me, out
of the leftward gloom, and came unto my front, and so away into an utter
distance. Yet, though it was so great, you shall not think that it made
any huge light in the Land; but was rather as that it had a shining made
unto other ends; for it made not a great lightness in the Land.

And you do now perceive something roughly how the Land did seem to my
back part and unto my left, and somewhat before my face. And because
that I did think to have no profit to my search, if that I went to the
left, I made attention unto the Right. And here there was much of
darkness; yet oft the shining of fire-holes in this place and that amid
the darkness. And, as I did look, it grew very plain upon me how great
was the spread and drear wideness of that Country of Night; and how
that I did be an utter lonesome person in all that dark. And so shall
you be with me in sympathy of the utter greatness of my task, and know
of the fear that did breed, odd whiles, that I should search until I
die, and never find. And you to give me good human understanding.

Now I made no more to delay, but went unto the right, and did keep the
chain of the little volcanoes something level to my course; though a
great way off. And I went thus with a strange growing of hope, and an
excitement, for ten hours, and had eat not then for more than twenty
hours, and surely not since the sixth hour of that day and this because
that I was so utter shaken from my calmness of going.

And at the tenth hour, I went utter weak, and did seem surely as that I
must swoon. And lo! I bethought me how that I was gone so long without
aught for my belly. And surely, when I was quiet a time, I eat four of
the tablets, and in a good while did feel all renewed, and would rest no
more, after that I had drunk some of the water, but went onward; for, in
verity, my spirit did be as that it had slain me, if that I had lain
down at that time. And this because hope was so fierce in me; for I to
feel indeed that I was come near to the Maid.

And I went ten hours more, until that I did truly totter upon my feet,
with utter and dreadful weariness; for I had gone now through someways
of forty great hours, and had been foolish in mine eating and drinking,
as you have perceived; but yet was this to be forgiven; for I was as
that I should come any little minute upon the wonder of the Lesser
Pyramid, shining afar in the night. Yet, truly, there was nowhere
anything that might be likened unto it.

And I lay down there, just as I did be, and with no proper heed to my
safety. And I was gone asleep in one moment, as it did seem; and waked
not for twelve hours; and then did come suddenly unto knowledge; and
thankful was I in the heart that no monster had come upon me in that
dead-time of slumbering. And I eat four of the tablets, as was surely
due unto me, and drank some of the water, and so gat forward again into
the night.

And truly I was mortal stiff and did ache for a great while, and this
did be in part because that I had wrapped not the cloak about me, ere I
slept; for the Land was bitter cold and did make the blood very chill.

Now when I had gone onward through six hours, I ate and drank; for I did
mind now to be wise and keep my strength good within me. And I went
onward again at a very great speed, and full of an excitement. And
surely, I did be glad at last that the tablets were so easy gone in the
mouth, and unfilling to the belly; for I had been without power and
patience to eat proper victual.

And at the tenth hour, I saw that there rose a red-shining out of the
Land before me, as that it came upward from a mighty pit. And I made
slow my way, and so, when I was gone on for two great hours more, I saw
that monstrous figures went about, against the red glare of the shining.
And I gat me down into the bushes which were very plentiful in that
part.

And I stayed there for a certain while, and made a watch upon the
red-shining and the figures; and, truly, it did seem to me that there
were horrid giants in that Land, even as in the Night Land. And
afterward, I crept away, and went outward from the little volcanoes,
into that part of the Land that was dark, save, as you do mind, for the
glare of fire-holes in this part and that.

And I went now with an utter care; for the giants had put a new caution
into my heart, and I did surely mean that I should live to rescue mine
own Maid, and have joy through all my life. And thereafter, I went with
the Diskos in my hand, and at each hour that was the sixth, I eat two of
the tablets, and drank some of the water, and so did keep my strength
very good within me.

Now, presently, I was come to a place where the Land did go downward a
great slope, and there was a difference in the earth that went beneath
my feet, and no great plenty of the bushes; but only one in this place
and one in that, and nowhere any fire-hole.

And I gat me down and did feel the earth with my hands, and lo! I did
find presently smooth stones, and afterward olden shells. And
immediately, a great delight took me; for Naani had told how that the
Lesser Pyramid stood something nigh to the shore of an ancient sea, that
was long dried up in the years of eternity. And surely it might be that
I was come down into the dry bottom of that same olden sea, and should
presently have sight of the Little Pyramid.

And because that hope was put so fresh into me, I went forward through,
maybe, thirty hours, across the olden sea-bed; but in all that time I
had no sight of the lights of the Lesser Redoubt. And a great trouble
began to take me; for, indeed, Naani had not told me how great was the
sea; and it might be that I should wander a weariful age across it,
before that I come to the far side.

And it did come to me, presently, how that I should be wise to see that
my way was very straight, so that I waste not my strength in useless
wanderings. And I had a great care now to observe that the red-shining
did be always upon my right, to my rear; and by this reasonable cunning
did I make to steer very nicely through the great gloom of that place.

Now, as I did go across the bed of the great sea, I heard strange
sounds, now in this part of the darkness, and now in that; and oft did
there be a noise, as if things did run this way and that way in the bed
of the sea. And once, afar off in the night, there did be a strange and
horrid screaming; so that I did know truly that the monsters of that
Land were out, and did go about in the dark.

And, as you shall perceive and understand, I was all unknowing of the
lore of that Land; so that I knew not what to think of this strange
sound or that, neither knew I what they might portend, but only that, as
I did say, there were Monsters abroad. And I could do no more than have
my way forward with an utter care always, and be very ready with the
Diskos, or to hide, each as maybe according to the need.

And, surely, I went one-and-forty hours that day, and eat and drank
after every sixth hour. And before this, in the seven-and-thirtieth
hour, I heard a great roaring and bellowing in the night, coming nigh
unto me; and afterward the thudding of monstrous feet, as that a giant
ran past me in the darkness, and did make a chase of some creature. And
the thudding of the feet and the roaring went far off into the night;
and there did seem presently to come back to me from a great way, a
little screaming; but of this thing I had no surety; and I abode very
hushed in a clump of bush, until quietness was come again all about; for
there had been an utter frightening sound in the horrid voice and in the
thudding of the great feet.

Now, in the one-and-fortieth hour of that day, I came upon the farther
shore of the olden sea. But lo! there was nowhere any light to tell me
aught of the Lesser Refuge. And truly, a great doubt and bewilderment
took me; for, indeed, I could not perceive how it might be that I saw
not the lights of the embrasures of the Lesser Pyramid. And a great
despair took me; so that I sat down there upon the shore of the olden
sea, and had no heed of anything for a while.

But afterward, I ate and drunk, and went into a clump of bush, and wrapt
the cloak about me, and so went fast unto sleep, with the Diskos handy
to my breast. And, in verity, the pain of the despair and the
bewilderment of mine heart did make rather for sleep, than to keep me
wakeful; for, indeed, I was half stunned of the brain and of my courage;
and did seem now the farther off from the ending of my search than ever
I had been.

And I slept six hours, and waked then, sudden. And I leaned up upon mine
elbow in the bush, and harked very quiet, perchance some noise had
shaken my sleep from me. But, indeed, there was nothing, only that I was
wakeful, and did mind me of my trouble of failure. Yet now, I did invent
this thing and that thing to make natural account that I was not come to
the Lesser Redoubt; and so had hope again within me; yet much also of
doubt and bewilderment.

And I eat two of the tablets, and drank some of the water, and again to
my journey. And I made that I should keep along the shore of the sea,
the which I did through twelve hours, and was then still so much in
doubt as ever.

And I ceased from my journeying, and lookt about me over the Land, and
lo! I did note how that a weak and strange shining was in the air of the
Land, at a great way; as it had been that a far spreaded and faint
glowing made a little glare into all the night unto my left and before
me.

Now I ate and drank, and made to steady my spirit; for I did fear lest I
should feel utter lost in all the night of the world, and to know not
where to make any more my search, and so to grow desperate in despair.
And this thing you will understand.

And afterward, I did make across that Land, unto the place where it did
seem that the dull shining was something bright. And I went thus through
eighteen hours, and did make pause at each sixth hour, and ate and drank
very resolute; though, in verity, it did seem as that even so small a
matter as the tablets did be like to choke me. And by this is it plain
to me how great an anguish was come upon my spirit, lest that I was all
astray, and should have no joy to succour mine Own.

And thrice in the time that I did go, there did be a running of feet
amid the darkness; and odd whiles strange and horrid cryings in the
night; so that I put a force upon my despair, and hid me; for, indeed, I
had no right to lose care of my life, if there did be any chance yet
that I find the Maid.

And lo! in the eighteenth hour, which was truly the thirtieth of that
day, I found the shining in the night to be grown very plain, and an
utter stinking of sulphur; and truly I did be aware that the Land went
upward.

And I made upward through seven hours, and the light did grow more
plain, and was of a dull redness, very sombre and heavy. And in the end
of six more hours, I ceased to go upward, and did know of a strange low
sound, that did be like to no other sound that ever I did hear; and was
like to a dull roar that did never have ceased through eternity.

And I went forward unto the light, and the Land to be now as that I went
over an upland plain. And I did go thus through five hours, and the low
roar did grow ever upon mine ears. And truly! even as I did shape my
thoughts to take a caution for my body, I went upward again a little,
and came out upon the edge of a mighty cliff, and the low and constant
roar did moan upward against me with an everlasting muttering. And I
lookt downward a monstrous way, and surely there was spread out a mighty
sea, as it did seem, of dull fire, as that a red-hot mud did lap very
deep and quiet below me in all that night.

And I lookt outward across the strange sea, and the far side was hid
from me; for, surely, there were dull and solemn clouds that came off
the sea, and hid the distance from me. And the clouds to glow a little
redly; and so to rise, and presently to blacken into the night. And I
lookt to the right and to the left, and it was plain that the black
cliffs did stretch out both ways, and did go downward ever into that
monstrous sea of slow fire. And there were great headlands that went out
into the fire, as into a sea; and the fire did lap very quiet about
these, and where the fire lapt about them, there did shine and spirt out
green flames and vapours at diverse times.

And, indeed, as I did perceive, I was come to an upward sea of fire, as
it were the deep inwards of a low and utter monstrous volcano, that was
flat of the top and utter big across. And, in verity, I did look
downward into the fires of the inward earth, and a very wondrous sight
was it, to stand there alone upon the cliffs of that everlasting sea.
And a great heat came upward from the dull and grim fire of that gloomy
sea, and a reek of sulphur; so that I was like to be choked, and did go
backward from the edge of the cliff.

And surely, I was come to the end of that Dark Land upon that side, and
had nowhere perceived the Lesser Pyramid in all the night of my travel.
And a new despair came upon me; for, indeed, it seemed I was come all
astray in the night of the World, and did nowise have any knowing
whether I stood near to the Country of the Lesser Redoubt, or whether
that I was gone half across the World unto a strange place.

And, then, as the despair troubled my spirit and dulled the beating of
my heart, a sudden thought did light up a fresh hope within me; for,
indeed, as you do know, I was come upward of a great height, and did
surely have a huge view over all that Land; and mayhaps the Lesser
Pyramid did lie somewhere in a valley, if, in verity, it did be
anywheres at all in that Country. And I turned me from the cliffs, and
lookt backward over all the night of the Land; but there was nowhere in
all that Country the shining of the Lights of the Lesser Pyramid.

And lo! of a sudden I did know that there was something in the night.
And I stared, with a very keen and anxious look. And behold, there was
the black shape of a great pyramid afar off in the night, that did show
against the shining of the distant light; for it did stand between me
and the far-off fires. But until I was come to that place, whence I did
look, I had not stood to have it plain against the shining upon the
other side of that Land.

And how I did feel in that moment, I have no words to set out unto you.
But surely was my heart gracious with thankfulness, and I ready to leap
with joy and hope, and all my body thrilled with an excitement that
would not have me to be silent; so that, suddenly, I began to shout
foolishly across the night. But I came soon to wisdom and silence, as
you shall think.




X

THE MAID OF THE OLDEN DAYS


Now, as you shall perceive, all mine utter despair was turned in a
moment into an huge gladness and a great hope; so that it did seem to me
that I should be with my dear One in but a little while. Yet was this an
over-hope and expectation, and was not like to have a swift satisfying;
for, truly, I was made aware of naught, save that I did perceive the
shape of a great pyramid, going upward into the night.

And I knew that the Pyramid did surely stand upon an hill in the midst
of that dark Country, for only so might it show so great and high. And I
set me to run swift downward into the Land, so that I should make a
strong going unto the Pyramid.

And I ran for a few little minutes, and lo! I fell headlong, and did
truly feel as that I had brake my neck with the hardness and pain of my
fall. And I had no power to go forward any more for a great while; but
did just be there where I did fall, and very helpless and moaning a
little; so that any creature had been able to slay me, if that it had
come upon me in that time.

Yet, presently, I was able to sit upon the earth, and did hold my neck
with my hands, and afterward the pain went away; so that I gat once more
to my feet. But now I went forward very wisely, and had, moreover, an
anxiousness in my heart; for, indeed, how did it be that the Pyramid was
so utter dark, if that it did be the Lesser Refuge, in truth. And
immediately there did rise in me a fear that it should be some House of
Evil in the dark of that Land, or some wicked Force working a Pretence
and a bewilderment upon my sight. Yet, truly, the thing was plain now
against the far-off fires of the Land; and I did have little thought but
that it should be, in verity, the Lesser Refuge.

Now in the first moment that I did perceive the dark Pyramid, I had been
without wit, save to run very quick and blind unto the place; for you to
remember how long I had made so great a search. And afterward, I had
been minded to call unto Naani with my brain-elements, sending the
Master-Word, and my speech after to tell how that I was come unto her.
But now I did heed to have caution, and to discover what this darkness
should truly mean.

And so did I go downward again into the night of that Land, at the first
with a carefulness; but presently with a fierce eagerness and expecting
of the heart, the which had been dulled a little time with the horrid
shaking and pain of my fall.

Now I had climbed unto the upper plain of the great volcano in, maybe,
thirteen hours; but I went downward of that great Hill in ten, and had
made a greater speed, but that I was sore shaken and unsure, by reason
of my fall.

And in the end of the tenth hour, I perceived that I was come again to
the great Plain of the Land; and I had no more any proper sight of the
Refuge, because that it was upward afar in the darkness of the night.
Yet was I abled now to see that there went a bulk between me and the far
shinings, and did know that this great thing was surely the hill on
which the Pyramid did stand.

And I went four hours across the Land, and did pass in this place and
that, fire-holes that made a little red-shining in the night; and
because of the fires in those far parts and a-near, there was not an
utter dark.

And when I was gone four hours towards the Pyramid, I could no more see
the distant shinings, for the bulk of the hill-bottom stood up between,
and made all a blackness that way. And by this thing, I did guess that I
was come nigh unto the hill; but yet was a great hour more before that I
came to it. And in that five hours, since I was come down from the great
Volcano, there had past me thrice and again, the sounds of things
running in the night, and once there did be a sound as of a giant
roaring afar, and a strange and horrid screaming.

Now I began to go up the hill. And, at the first, an utter excitement
took me in the heart; so that I could have shouted the name of the Maid
aloud in the night, with vain hopings that she should hear me and make
an answer. But this state went from me very swift, as I did go upward,
and there came a caution again about me, and a coldness of fear, as that
my spirit did wot of something that my heart did not perceive.

And, presently, I was come upward almost to the top of the hill, the
which took me nigh three hours. And surely, when I was come that I could
see the grimness of the Pyramid, going upward very desolate and silent
into the night, lo! an utter shaking fear did take me; for the sweet
cunning of my spirit did know that there abode no human in all that
great and dark bulk; but that there did await me there, monstrous and
horrid things that should bring destruction upon my soul. And I went
downward of the hill, very quiet in the darkness; and so in the end,
away from that place.

And I was four great hours before that I was come clear away from the
hill, and I did feel that there was not any safety for my spirit in all
that Land. And surely I went a little blindly, in the first, and did go
with no heed unto my way.

And presently, I was upon the shore of the olden sea, and had no knowing
how that I was come there; for, surely, I did think it to be a great way
off. But now I do think that the dry bed of the sea did curve around
unto that place, or that there did be two, or more, olden seas in that
Country of Night.

Now, presently, I sat me down, very weak and bewildered; for it was as
that my heart did lie dead within me. And, in verity, you shall perceive
how this thing was, for I did know by the tellings of my spirit that
there abode evil things in the dark Pyramid upon the hill; and I doubted
not but that destruction had come upon the Peoples of the Lesser
Pyramid, and that evil creatures and Powers did now abide in that place.
And if this thing did be truly so, I was come over-late to the saving of
the Maid; and with this thought I was very glad that some evil thing
should come that I should fight with it and die quickly; for there was
naught then in all the world to make me glad to have life.

And so shall you know the utter desolation that was in my heart; and,
truly, I can perceive both the wiseness and the unwisdom of my
reasonings; for, indeed, I did have no _sure_ knowing that the dark
Pyramid did be truly the Lesser Refuge. But yet, in verity, my spirit
did know with a certain sureness, and there was no doubt concerning this
thing, in all my being.

And, after that I had sat there awhile, I did mind me suddenly that I
should send the Master-Word through the night; for, indeed, how else
might I ever know whether Naani did yet live; though, in truth, I had
little, save desperate hope in this matter; but yet did remember how
that I had seemed odd times of my journey to hear the beat of the
Master-Word with my spirit, out of all the dark of the world. And, in
verity, if Naani answered not to the Word, but there came instead an
Evil Power to destroy me, I should but cease me of mine utter
heart-ache.

And I stood me upon my feet, and looked outward about me into the
blackness of that Land. And I sent the Master-Word with my
brain-elements; and immediately I called Naani, thrice, sending the call
with my brain-elements.

And lo! in a moment, as it did seem, there broke around me out of all
the mystery of night, low and solemn, the Master-Word, beating in the
night. And immediately there did sound within my brain a far, small
voice, very lone and faint, as that it had come from the end of the
world. And the voice was the voice of Naani and the voice of Mirdath,
and did call me by mine olden love-name.

Then, indeed, I did near to choke with the utter affright of joy that
did take me in the heart, and also I was shaken with a mighty
excitement, and my despair was gone, as that I had never known it. For,
in verity, Naani did live and did call unto me with her brain-elements;
and surely I had not heard the voice of mine Own for an utter age of
grim labour and dread.

And the voice was, as I did say, as that it came from one that did be in
a far place of the earth. And, in verity, whilst I stood dazed with a
great joy that the Maid did live, I knew within me, concerning the fear
that she was utter far off; and what peril might come anigh to her,
before that I should stand to her side, to do battle for her life and
well-being and mine own joy.

And lo! in the same moment, and before that I made further speech unto
Naani, I did wot that someone did be a little way off from me, in the
bushes, where a fire-hole did burn anigh to me; and it was as that my
spirit knew this thing, and told of it unto my brain. And I made no
answer unto the Maid, across all the dark of the world; but went very
swift into a great bush that was nigh to the fire-hole, upon this side.

And I lookt through, into the open space that did be about the
fire-hole. And there was a little figure that did kneel, sobbing, upon
the earth, beside the fire-hole; and truly it was a slim maid, and she
did seem as that she harked very desperate, even whilst yet she did sob.
And surely, mine own soul did _Know_, all in one white moment of life.
And she there, unknowing, and harking unto a cry of the spirit, that she
did think to come through all the desolation of the night--even from the
Mighty Pyramid. For oft, as I did perceive, had she cried unto me in all
that lonesome month, and known no answer; neither that I was making a
desperate way unto her; for, indeed, her weakness was great, so that she
had no power to throw the Word strongly afar, neither to make plain her
spiritual cryings through any mighty space of the aether.

And lo! I drew in my breath, and set my teeth a moment, to steady my
lips; and I said: "MIRDATH," out of the bush where I did be, and using
natural human speech. And the Maid ceased from her weeping, and lookt
this way and that, with an utter new fear, and with a frightened hope
that did shine with her tears in the light from the fire-hole. And I
divided the bush before me, and went through the bush, so that I came
out before her, and did be there in my grey armour; and I did pause
then, and was all adrift in myself; for my heart said that I should take
this Maid into mine arms again; for that I was come again to be with
Mirdath after an utter lost Eternity. But yet was I all paused; for
truly she was Naani and she was Mirdath, and she did be a stranger in
mine eyes, and very dainty and pretty and shaken with woe and sore
trouble and grief.

And in that same moment of my coming unto her out of the bush, she
screamed and fell back from me, and strove weakly to gain unto the
hither bushes; for, truly, she knew not what was come upon her in that
first little moment. And immediately she saw that it did be an human
man, and no monster to slay her, and in that instant I said the
Master-Word unto her, aloud, that she should have knowledge of peace and
help. And I told my name, and said I am That One. And she knew this
thing, even as my lips made the sounds. And she cried out something in
an utter broke voice, and ran unto me, and thrust her two small hands
into my charge and keeping, and fell thence into a great sobbing and
shaking, so that I was all in trouble to ease her; but did keep a
silence and held fast her hands, for I had not on mine armoured gloves.

And she leaned against me, very weak, and seeming wondrous like to a
child. And lo! in a while she ceased to sob, and did but catch her
breath this time and that, but said no word. And I bethought me that she
did suffer of hunger, for I perceived that she had been long wandering
and alone, and was come unto the end of hope, when that I did come.

And the Maid stood there yet silent, for she might not yet command her
mouth to speak. And she trembled as she stood. And I opened my left
hand, and lookt at the hand within my palm, and surely it was utter thin
and wasted. And I made no more pause, but lifted mine Own and set her
easy upon the earth, with an hump of smooth rock unto her back. And I
stript off my cloak very quick, and put it about her, for she was scarce
covered with her clothes that had been all torn among the bushes; so
that part she shook with an utter chill, and part because of weakness,
for she was nigh to be starved unto her death, and destroyed with her
grief and lonesomeness.

And I took from my back the scrip and the pouch, and I gat a tablet from
the scrip, and brake it into my cup, and with the water I made a little
broth very swift upon an hot rock that was to the edge of the fire-hole.
And I fed the broth unto the Maid, for truly her hands did shake so that
she had spilt it all, if that I had done otherwise.

And she drank the broth, and was so weak that presently she did fall
again to sobbing, yet very quiet; so that I strove not to be troubled in
the heart; for, indeed, this thing was but reasonable, and not cause for
me to have an anxiousness. But I put my hands under the cloak and took
her hands into mine and held them strong and firm; and this did seem to
bring something of peace and strength unto her; so that presently the
trembling and the weeping went from her. And, indeed, the broth was
surely helpful in this matter.

And presently, I knew that her hands did stir a little within mine, and
I loosed somewhat of my grip; and immediately, she graspt my hands with
a weak and gentle grasp; but lookt not yet at me; only did stay very
quiet, as that she did gather her strength within her. And, indeed, I
was content; save that an anxiousness of the heart did stir me this
time and that, lest some monster should come upon us. And because of
this trouble, I did hark about me, now and oft, and with a new and
strange fearfulness of danger, because that now mine Own was given unto
my charge; and surely my heart would break, if that there came any hurt
unto her.

Now, of a sudden, the Maid did make as that she would rise, and I loosed
free from her, to give help. And she gat me by the hand, and slipt
sudden to her knees, and did kiss my hand, and did begin again to weep.
And surely I was so utter abashed that I stood very stupid and let her
do this thing. But in a moment I drew free from her; for this thing
might not be. And I gat me to my knee likewise before her, and took her
hands, and kist them once, newly humbled, as it were; and thus should
she know all that was in my heart, and of mine understanding. And she
did but sob the more; for she was so weak, and utter moved unto me,
because that I had come to her through the night of the world. And this
thing I knew, though no speech had yet past between us. And I gave up
her hands, lest she need them for her tears; but she left them to lie in
my palms, as she did kneel there; and she bowed her head a little over
her weeping; but did show that she was mine, in verity, unto the very
essence of her dear spirit.

And I took her into mine arms, very gently and without caress; but
presently I stroked her hair, and called her Naani and Mirdath, and said
many things unto her, that now I scarce do wot of, but she did know them
in the after time. And she was very quiet in mine arms, and seeming
wondrous content; but yet did sob onward for a great time. And oft did I
coax her and say vague things of comfort, as I have told. But truly she
did ask no more comfort at that time than that she be sheltered where
she did be. And truly she had been lonesome and in terror and in grief
and dread, a great and horrid time.

Now, presently, she was grown quiet; and I made to put her comfortable
in the cloak against the rock, that I should have freedom to make her
more of the broth. But yet she did nestle unto me, with a little sweet
wistfulness, that made warm my heart in a most wondrous fashion; for
surely she was mine Own. And she to begin to say odd words to me. And so
to have gentle obedience, and to rest quiet against the rock, the while
that I did make the broth. Yet ever her gaze did follow me, as I knew;
for I must look oft her way.

And I took the broth to her, and she drank it, using her own two hands;
and I sat by, and eat three of the tablets and drank some of the water,
for truly it was a foolish great time since last I had eat.

Now, in a while, the broth did make bright the eyes of the Maid, and she
did begin to talk; and at whiles had pauses, because that she lacked of
strength, and there was more to be told than an human may have the
heart-strength and cunning to make plain. And twice she did come again
to sobbing; for, truly, her father was dead and the Peoples of the
Lesser redoubt all slain and dispersed through the night of that Land.

And I learned that an Evil Force had made action upon the Peoples within
the Lesser Redoubt; so that some, being utter weak by reason of the
failing of the Earth-Current, had opened the Great Door, and gone forth
into the night. And immediately there had come into the Lesser Pyramid,
great and horrid monsters, and had made a great and brutish chase, and
had slain many; but some had escaped forth into the night.

And with these had come Naani, after that her father, the Master
Monstruwacan, had been slain by a shaggy man, very brutal and monstrous.
And there had been three maids with Naani, when that she made escape
into the night; but there had come certain creatures upon them, as they
did sleep among the bushes, and had stolen two, and the other maid had
run off, as did Naani, and they had neither met the other any more.

And this dreadful happening unto the Peoples of the Lesser Redoubt, had
been a great while gone, as it to seem to her; but she had no means to
tell me how long this time should be; for, in verity, how should she
make a count. Yet had it been a dread long while unto her; and I found
presently, that she had been lost through all that time that I did make
my journey unto her; for, indeed, this thing I discovered by asking
concerning my callings unto her. And she had heard none that did come to
her, in any time since she had escaped out of the Lost Refuge into this
dreadful Land.

Yet, in verity, oft had she callen unto me, until that her heart did
grow sick with the desolation of her lonesomeness and her utter
forsakeness. And her callings had told unto the Evil things of the Land
that she did be in this part and that; for there had come things and
beasts in search for her; but having the gift of the hearing, she had
known of their approach, most whiles, and had come free from them; yet
oft-times with piteous and fearful runnings and hiding among the rocks
and the bushes, so that she had grown afterward to make no calling unto
me, save odd whiles, lest she bring the monsters upon her. And, indeed,
as you do know, naught had come plain unto me, for she was so utter weak
that she had no power of her brain-elements to send the Word afar or the
tellings of her spirit.

And because that she was so sorely chased, she had come nigh to be
naked, even as I found her; for the bushes and the rocks had torn her
garments from her, and she had naught with which to make any proper
mending of them. And for food she had eat the moss upon the rocks, and
odd strange berries and growths, and had drunk of the waters of the hot
springs; and oft had she been made utter sick, because of the sulphur,
or somewhat, of the water and, maybe, the poison of odd plants. Yet, as
I did think, it was like that the first did save her life from the
second; but in this thing I do make only a guessing.

And in all that dreadful time, since that she had come to be quite
alone, she had heard a score drear things; for there had been once the
slaying of a young maid nigh unto her, by some Brute out in the darkness
of the Land; and thrice and more had she heard the feet of people
running this way and that, and the tread of giants pursuing. And by this
telling I did understand those things which mine ears had told to me as
I did go across that Land, and surely a new pity and sorrow and horror
did come upward within me. And the Maid told me how that she came once
upon certain of the Peoples of the Lesser Redoubt, as they did hide
among the bushes; but they ran, with no heed to her callings that she
did be human, even as they; and by this is it plain the sore and
dreadful panic that was upon the hearts of such.

And the bitter chill of the Land had made her to strive alway to be nigh
unto the fire-holes that were very plentiful; but even as this did be
needful unto her, so was it a thing that drew the Monstrous Brutes of
that Land, even as I had found in the Night Land, and in the Upward
Gorge. And because of this, she was oft made to stay afar off in the
utter cold of the night.

Yet, in truth, odd whiles she did be so desperate, that she would make
the venture, and so mayhaps have a time of warmth; and because of this,
she had been nigh slain in her sleep, twice and thrice. Moreover, there
were snakes about the fires, though not over-plentiful in all parts, and
there did be spider-crabs and monstrous scorpions.

And, indeed, even as she had lain by the fire-hole, very weak and
seeming near unto her death, even this time when my call had come unto
her to stir her unto life and bitter knowledge of despair, even then was
she all surround by creatures that were like to crabs, that did squat
all about her, and did but wait for her to die; so that she had been
feared to sleep, lest they destroy her in her slumber.

And by this thing, she had known that her death was surely nigh; and lo!
out of all the night of the world had come the beat of the Master-Word,
strong and powerful, beating as a low and spiritual thunder out of all
the dark of the night. Yet had she thought of me, only as speaking from
the far-off Mighty Pyramid; so that the cry had brought naught of hope
unto her, but only a newer and more known despair. And, behold, in a
little minute, there had come her name, spoken surely with the tongue;
and a name that was different from the name that my spirit had said
after the beat of the Word. And immediately, I had come out of the bush,
and she had fallen back in a sudden great fear that a monster was stolen
upon her; and then did see a young man in grey armour, and did know in
one instant that I was that olden one of her memory dreams, and the one
that had spoken unto her in the spirit across half of the dead world, as
it did seem. And now was I come through all that unknown desolation and
affright, to succour her. And she was immediately safe; but yet all
broken because of her weakness and her utter joy and her sweet honour
for me.

And this is the chief of that which she did tell unto me; and the way
that she had seen and did regard the marvel of this our coming together.
But, surely, no man was made ever to be worthy of the way that she did
look upon me, or of the words that she did say unto me in her weakness
and happiness. Now, with the Maid having speech concerning the
spider-crabs, I lookt presently well around, and surely, in a minute, I
saw that they were not gone away; but did be a circle of silent and
steadfast watching and impudence and horror all about us. And surely
this thing put an anger and disgust upon me; so that I gat to my feet,
and went unto the border of the light, and I spurned this little monster
and that, and did truly kick maybe a dozen, before that they were
content to be gone. And by this thing shall you know of their calm and
foolish assurance; but yet were they seemingly without courage; for they
made not to attack me. Yet a true crab of this day been wishful to pinch
me, had I put my toe forth unto it.

Now, I went back to the Maid, and she did laugh with a little, weak
gleefulness; so that I perceived that she was like to be a very joyous
maiden, if but I did have her in health. And I made her another cup of
the broth, and she drank it very easy. And afterward, I made a very
stern and playful order that she must sleep, and, indeed, she to need it
sore, for she was gone again from her excitement, and her weakness upon
her; yet very happy and content and without fear.

And I made a smooth place for her, and put the pouch and the scrip to be
for a pillow, and I did lay her there very quiet and sweet in the cloak,
and covered her feet; but, indeed, I saw first that they did be sore cut
and without any gear to them; so that I perceived that Mine Own had worn
out her foot-gear utter in her lonesome journeyings, and in running from
Brutes that did come to find her. And so I to know more in the heart,
somewhat of the true dreadfulness and fear that had companioned Mine
Own. And I was minded then that I would wash and bind up her feet; but
yet was she so utter worn, that I did prefer that she sleep so soon as
she might, and afterward, when she was come wakeful again, then should I
take a proper heed of her feet. And truly, they were very small and
shapely.

And presently, she slept; and, surely, I doubt whether she had slumbered
so peaceful and proper for a great month; for she never to have known
when any evil thing should come upon her in her sleep. And this to be a
very dreadful feeling, as you do know well; for you do know how I had
been in this same matter.

Now, while Naani did sleep, I stript off mine armour, and took off mine
under-suit, which was named the Armour-Suit, and a very warm and proper
garment, and made thick that it should ease the chafe of the armour. And
afterward, I put on the armour again; but the suit I folded, and laid
beside the Maid; for, truly, she was nigh unclothed, by reason of the
bushes and the rocks, that had rent her garments all-wise.

And I stood watch for the Maid, the while that she did slumber; and
surely she went ten long hours. And I walked upon this side of the
fire-hole and now upon that, and did oft cease, that I might hearken
both with mine ears and with my spirit; for, truly, I was all wakened to
a new care and delight, and did have a fresh and doubled fear of any
Horrid Creature or Force of Evil. And this shall be very plain to you.

And in the end of ten long hours, the Maid wakened, and I ran to her all
joyed that she was come again to knowledge and to be that I could talk
with her.

And she sat upward and looked at me, and there was new light and
movement in her, so that I knew her strength was come back into her. And
for a little minute, she said naught unto me, the while that I did ask
how she did be; and she lookt at me very keen, so that I wondered some
wise in a daze, what was in her mind.

And she askt me, of a sudden, how long it did be since that I had slept.
And having not thought to put away her asking, because that the question
was over sudden, I said four-and-eighty hours, which should be three
days and the half of a day of four hours and twenty; and this thing I
knew, because that I kept alway a very careful counting of the hours,
lest that I get all adrift, and know not how long I was taken to come to
this place and that.

And, truly, even as I told this thing to the Maid, I was grown very
quaint in the head; for, indeed, I was gone a wondrous while without
slumber, and had done much and bitter work in that time; and before then
had been much lacking of rest, as you do know.

And, sudden the Maid cried out something, and tost the cloak from her,
and had me into her arms, and did heed not to have any foolish shame of
her nakedness. And, in verity, I knew not how I was gone so strange; but
do see now that I was nigh to swoon for lack of slumber and rest.

And she kept me very steady for a little, and afterward helped me to be
laid upon the ground; and she put the scrip and the pouch under my head;
and so I did lie very calm and restful, and did be the more so, because
that I was grown so tired in the heart, the which did make my head to be
very husht, as that all the world was grown very quiet in a moment.

And the Maid did mind then that she did lack to be properly covered, and
she gat the cloak, and put it about her, and did afterward sit a little
beside me, and did rub my hands. And presently, I was something more to
myself, and she did grow more happy of her mind, and made to give me
something for my stomach; for, indeed, I was grown those late hours to
be foolish and to have no wiseness to proper eating.

And she did lift my head, the while that she did take the scrip from
under, and kept me very sweetly upon her knee, and so until she had gat
free a pack of the tablets, and the flask and the cup; for I had put all
matters back into the scrip before Naani had gone unto sleep, and
because of this, I had not been able to eat or drink aught, save by
wakening her, as you perceive; for, indeed I had put the scrip and the
pouch under her head for a pillow, as I have told.

And she would not bide that I should do aught; but only did ask
concerning the making of the water, and was wondrous amazed to see how
the powder did fizz up and become water; and indeed, she had too much
into the cup, for, truly, it rose up and ran to the ground. And when she
had done thus, and ceased to marvel, she put three of the tablets into
the water, and made me a broth, even as I had made a broth for her; but,
indeed, I was in no need, and had done very well to eat the tablets and
drink the water. Yet, truly, I was not wishful to lack the love of her
way, as you may think.

Now while I did drink the broth, I did be very restful upon the earth,
and mine head against mine own Maid; and I did mind me now that I tell
her concerning the Armour-Suit that I did mean for her wear.

Yet I said not that I had stript it from me, for then she had been like
to say nay, and to trouble that I was like to come to a chill, as is the
way of a woman. But, indeed, I might so well have told her, for truly,
she did know on the moment, and set to a little unto weeping; yet very
gentle and sweet, and did kiss me as I lay there, and say such things as
should make a young man the better to have heard, if but that his own
dear Love doth say the same.

And she would nowise wear the garment; but yet in the end I prevailed by
gentle reasonings and because that I was her master, as I was born to
be; and moreover, her own sweet sense did show that I spoke for wisdom;
for how should she come through all the bitter way before, if that she
had not a strong and close-made garment; and as you do mind, her
coverings did be in utter rags, as I have told; yet very sweet and
clean, as I had known; so that I ween she had stript oft in the lonesome
night, and washt her garments in this or that hot spring of the sulphur
waters and other matters.

And, in verity, alway she was much given to washings, as I did soon
perceive.

Now, presently, I did be very well again; but with a sore slumber that
did press upon my head. Yet, ere I should sleep, I did mean that I bathe
her feet and bind them with ointment and with my pocket-cloth; and truly
her feet were very small and pretty.

And I sat me up, talking my head from her knee; and told her of mine
intent. But, in verity, she did but throw her arms about my neck and
give me one loving kiss, and laught so hearty that I did think to do
this thing when indeed she was the better able to mind it, and I the
better suited to have me to my rest. And, surely, this was very true,
and I made no ado, save to give her the ointment; but lay back, and did
be quiet.

Now I did be upon my right side, and she went to my back, and took the
cloak from about her, and spread it upon me, and afterward stoopt over
very dainty, and kist me, and bade me to go very swift to my sleep, for
that she did mean to make her toilet and to get into mine Armour-Suit.

And I made no foolishness in this matter; yet told her to ease the cloak
a little about me, so that I should have room to take the Diskos from my
hip; and this thing I did, and took the Diskos to my breast, as was my
habit; and surely I saw that her eyes did look at me with a little
shining, because that I had so strange and fierce a bed-mate.

And I made her to promise that she keep a very keen harking, the which
was like that she should do, and to call me on the instant that she did
perceive any unease in the night. And after that, I shut mine eyes, that
I should not shame her, and put out mine arms, and kist her once and
turned from her unto my slumber; and she away to my back that she might
be modest to her needs.

And surely, I was asleep in but a little moment, and with a great love
and delight in my heart and in all my being.

And, truly, I waked not for twelve great hours. And when that time was
gone, lo! I came awake, and surely the Maid did sit beside me, so bonny,
and so winsome and pretty that mine arms went unto her in a moment, and
she into them, and gave me a loving and tender kiss; and afterward slipt
away from me, very sensible and loving; and did stand up and turn about
to be lookt at. For she did wear the Armour-Suit, and surely it was
loose upon her; but yet very pleasing, being close-knit. And I to my
seat, from lying, that I might see the Maid the better. And, in verity,
I must kiss her again; for she did be with her hair all about her, that
she look pretty unto me; and her little feet did be bare, and so that
they made my heart new tender to look upon them; for truly she was utter
lost of foot-gear. And I to my knee to her; and she, not to deny me, did
come to be kist again.

Now when I found how great a time I had slept, I did scold Mine Own; but
yet, as she did say, I must have long slumber if that I go so long
wakeful, else should I lose my strength. And I askt how oft she had eat,
and she told me but the once, and that six hours off.

And on this I did scold again; but surely she put a very pretty finger
sudden upon my lips, so that I might do naught but laugh, and kiss that
same finger.

And, after that, we did eat and drink, and made plans. And once I did
comfort the Maid; for, indeed, her sorrow did rise in her, because that
her father was come unto his death, and the Peoples of the Lesser
Redoubt all destroyed, and adrift in the night amid the monsters of that
Land.

And, in verity, I was set that we go quickly out of that place, ere
there came an horrid Destruction upon us; and, surely, there should
scarce be any human, beside, in all that Land; for there must have come
death upon the chief of those that did make escape.

And after we had eat and drunk, I did count the packs of the tablets,
and was thankful in all my being that I had been careful and denied my
belly; for I did perceive that there were left enough for our needs, if
that we made a good speed, and did not fear to be empty. And of the
water-powder, as it might be named, there were left two full flasks, and
somewhat of that one that I had drunk from, all my journeying. And by
this thing you shall perceive that we did not be like to die for the
need of such matters.

And here, as it doth occur unto me, I do ponder how it did be that we
had no thought to slay any small creature for our food; but, mayhap, we
had no knowledge this way; for surely, they did not this thing to my
knowing in the Mighty Pyramid. But yet, as I have said before this, I
have not all knowledge of the doings of the Peoples. But, in verity, I
never saw joint meat in all the time of that far Life that I do wot of.
Yet, had we but slain somewhat for our hunger in that great wandering,
we had been less empty in the belly.

Now, before that we should do aught beside, we must contrive that Naani
have some gear for her feet; and to this intent, I did make a search
into the pouch, and surely I found that there did be a change pair of
inner shoes, that were made to go within mine own shoes of the grey
metal.

And at this I was wondrous glad, and did make the Maid to sit upon a
little rock, while that I made a fitting of the shoes. And, surely, they
did be utter big and clumsy upon her little feet; so that I was in
surprise to know how great is a man, beside a Maid. But in the end I had
a cunning thought, for I cut off all the side of a strap, throughout the
length of the strap, very thin and careful, and so had a lace to tie the
boots around the tops, which were soft and easy for such a purpose. And
after that, I stood away to look at the Maid, and neither she nor I were
truly pleased; for, indeed, she was too pretty to be so hid and muffled.
Yet were we glad otherwise; for now she might go without hurt to her
feet.

And afterward, we packt our gear, and she did make a bundle of her torn
garments; for, truly, they might be proper somewise to our need. And so
we to begin the way out of that Desolate Land.

And we went forward together across the Land, and the journey was no
more a weariness, but of a close and sweet joy; yet did I have a new
anxiousness, as you do perceive, lest that any monster come to harm Mine
Own.

And we went twelve great hours in the bed of the olden sea, and did eat
twice in that time. And surely the Maid did grow utter weak and weary;
for she was not come proper unto her strength; yet did she make no odd
saying to tell me of this thing. But indeed, I did know; and I stopt in
the thirteenth hour, and took her into mine arms, even as I should carry
a babe; and I went forward with her, and did hush her protesting with a
kiss, and afterward she did but nestle unto me and shelter against my
breast.

And I bade the Maid to sleep; but, indeed, she had no power to this end,
for her body did ache very sore; but yet did she strive to give me an
obedience in this thing. And in the eighteenth hour, when that I stopt
to have food and drink, surely she did be awake, yet had she been utter
silent; and I made to scold her; but she gat from mine arms, and did go
upward upon her toes, and put her finger against my lips very naughtily.
And afterward she did be impudent unto me, and did deny me to kiss her.
But she went unto my back, and did open the scrip, and gat me to my
food, even as a quiet and proper wife should go. As she did be so sedate
that I knew she had mischief her heart of harmless kind.

But afterward this did pass sudden into weeping; for she had a quick and
sore memory of her father and of the Destruction; and I took the Maid
into mine arms, and did let her be there very gentle, and made not to
kiss or to comfort her; but yet to give comfort.

And presently she ceased from weeping, and did slip her hand into mine,
and I to keep it within, very soft and quiet; and afterward, she began
to eat her tablets, yet always she did be very husht; so that I did be
quiet also, and feel as that my love did be round her as a shield. And I
knew that she had knowledge of this thing in her heart.

And oft I harked into the night of the Land; but there was nowhere any
sound, or disturbing of the aether, to trouble me. And the Maid in mine
arms did know when that I harked; for in verity, she had the
Night-Hearing and the understanding spirit that doth be needful to such.
And odd whiles did I look down to her through the gloom that did be
about us; and presently I did perceive that she lookt up to me, out of
mine arms.

And I kist her.

Now, in all that day, we had come nowhere upon any fire-hole in the bed
of the olden sea; and truly I did ache to be nigh unto the warmth of
such; for I did feel the cold of the Land, because that I was weary, and
because that I had not the thickness of the Armour-Suit below mine
armour to warm me.

And the cloak did be about the Maid; for I had feared that she should
grow cold as I carried her. Yet, now she did know subtly that I was come
to feel the utter chill of the Land; and she gat from mine arms, and put
the cloak about me, and afterward came again into mine arms. And I let
the cloak bide there, and drew it forward to be around her, also. Yet,
truly, I was joyful that I did be cold, as you shall perceive. For it
was sweet to the heart to bear somewhat of that dread chill for Mine
Own; and she half troubled and likewise with understanding of my heart,
because that I was less clothed than I had been.

Now, in a little while, the Maid did pack the scrip; and so we did make
ready again to go forward, for I was grown anxious, as you may suppose,
that we should come to some fire-hole, that we have a place for sleep
that had warmth and light; for, truly, the cold of the Land did be drear
and horrid.

And I stoopt to take the Maid into mine arms, that I should carry her;
but she did say nay, that she did be well rested. And I not to gainsay
her, for she did mean the thing, as I perceived, and I had no desire to
force my way upon her, save when I saw truly that she did seem to go
unwisely. And, indeed, when such did be the case I did strive with her,
only with a nice reasonableness, as you shall know.

And the Maid walkt by my side, and wondrous silent; but yet very nigh to
me, so that I knew she did be very full of love to me, and of that
quaint and sweet humbleness that love doth breed odd whiles in a woman
when she doth be with her man, if but that man be also her master. And
presently, I perceived that the cloak did be over mine own shoulders,
and I took it and would have put it about the Maid; but truly she did
not allow this; and when I did be stern with her, that she obey me in
this matter, she did stand upon her toes, that she might kiss me, and
pulled my head down, and surely she kist me and coaxed me that I wear
the cloak, else should I give pain to her, in that I did surely be cold
because she did wear the Armour-Suit.

Yet, I would not hark to this thing; so that the Maid did be truly in
trouble. And first she made a threatening that she wear but her olden
garments that did be only rags, if that I did persist. But this I saw to
be foolishness and scarce-meant, and did as much need to smile at her as
that I did think to scold her; but I did be firm that she wear the
cloak.

And lo! she went sudden into crying; and this had been beyond my
thoughts. And truly, it set me all adrift; for I perceived that she did
be greatly distrest concerning this matter, when I had conceived that
she did but mean this thing for tenderness' sake. But mine heart helped
me to understand, and I saw how she did be truly shamed, in her sweet
womanhood, if that I helped her not in this matter; for she did feel
that she was made to do hurt unto that one that was her Love. And this
thing I do pray you to think upon, that you understand; for, indeed,
until that I was made to think, I had not seen it thiswise, for her.

And in the end, I came to agreement with the Maid, that we wear the
garment hour by hour, in turn; and she to wear it the first hour and I
to wear it the second hour; and so to go forward.

And truly, this did be an happy arranging; but yet she stampt her foot a
little, as I put the cloak about her. And thrice in the hour did she ask
me concerning the time that was gone; and surely, when the hour was but
up, she had the cloak off in a moment, and went to my back and cast it
upon my shoulders, and after to my front, and made it fast upon my
breast; and so eager and naughty was she to this, that I took her by the
shoulders, and shook her, somewhat, even as she had made to stamp at me;
yet mayhaps with more of laughter. And she to take no heed at all; but
to button the cloak and be very sedate. Yet, in verity, I caught her up
into mine arms, and kissed her, for a sweet and naughty Maid; and she
very willing, now that she had gotten something of her way.

But yet in an hour, I did have the cloak about her, again; and so did
straiten matters, as you shall conceive.

Now, when we had gone forward, through five great hours, I perceived
that the Maid did be utter worn, but yet did make presence that she was
unwearied. And because I saw how she did be, I did heed and be anxious
only that we come to some rock, to be for our safe refuge, and mayhap
there to find an hole or cave, that should be somewhat to keep our heat
about us; for there was nowhere any fire-hole anigh in all those hours.

And presently, we came to a part where there did be rocks, and we went
to and fro in the gloom, and came in the end to a place where the rocks
did go upward into the night, as that it had been a small and ancient
cliff.

And surely in a while I found a hole that did go inwards of the rock;
and the hole did be above mine head; yet when I was come to it, and had
made the Diskos to spin therein, that I should have light to see whether
there did be any creature or creeping thing in the hole, I was well
pleased; for truly it did be sweet and dry.

Now the Maid had cried out a little to see the sudden shining that did
come from within the hole, when I made the Diskos to spin, and because
of the low roar of the weapon. But I answered her that there did be
naught to have fear concerning; and so was she peaceful again, but yet a
little trembling when that I came down to her; for, indeed, the Diskos
did make always a strange sounding and a quaint and drear shining, as
you do know; and she did be feared for me that some Evil Force had come
upon me out of the cave; for she had neither knowledge nor conceiving
that ever there did be so wondrous a weapon in all the world.

And I gave the Maid an help upward to the little cave, and came after,
myself; and so we did be in a very nice and cosy place, that did not be
easily gotten at by any monstrous thing. And surely I was utter glad for
such a place, so that both should have safety that we might sleep in the
same hours.

And, in truth, this was a needful plan; for if one had stayed wakeful to
keep a watch for the other, then had our sleep taken us double hours;
and this thing might not be, else should our food be done, and we to be
twice so long as need be, ere ever we did come unto the refuge of the
Mighty Pyramid; and I utter wearied and anxious of the heart and spirit
that I bring Mine Own soon unto the safety and glory of my Mighty Home,
and so free from the Destruction that did hang above our two souls for
ever in that Land, and the peril that did be everywhere, save in the
Last Redoubt.

Now when we were come into the hole of the rock, the Maid did slip the
scrip and the pouch from my shoulders; and she gat out the tablets, and
made some of the water, and did be very swift and natty, and all to the
despite of the gloom that did be utter in that little cave.

And we eat each of us two of the tablets and drank some of the water;
and I made jest with the Maid how that the tablets did be proper for
strength, yet very lacking to fill the belly; though, indeed, I named it
otherwise.

And she to agree, and did pat mine arm, and did tell me how that she
should cook me a monstrous tasty and great meal when that we were come
unto the Mighty Pyramid. And immediately afterward, she did make to
laugh upon me, and to name me impudently for so much thought unto my
feeding; and afterward again to silence, and to patting my hand.

Now, when that we had made an end of eating and drinking, I was very
ready for sleep; for, truly, it was six and twenty great hours since
that I did last slumber; but for the Maid it did be eight and thirty
great hours; for, as you do mind, she had made no sleeping when that she
did lie in mine arms for six hours of our journeying.

And I made how we should sleep; and put the cloak about the Maid; but
surely she did refuse, very piteous, and seeming to have also somewhat
of doubt and puzzlement. But in this thing I did be very stern and
intending; for she did not be over-warm clad, as you do know, and
moreover, she was but a little One, while I did be wondrous hardy.

And, in verity, I made her to obey, and gave her the scrip and the pouch
for her pillow; and she, as it did seem to me, to sob to herself a
little in the gloom of the night. But yet did I stay my heart a little
stern to mine intent. And I wrapt the cloak about her, and set the scrip
and the pouch very nice beneath her head; and afterward, I knelt over to
kiss her, before that I came unto mine own slumber. Yet did she turn her
mouth from me, and did put her hand above her face to ward me off, the
which did grieve me; for truly, I did heed alway that I should never
thrust my love upon her in her lonesomeness; but only let it be to her
for a shield and for all comfort unto her heart.

And I turned my back, and went a pace away and lay down; for truly there
did be no way else but to be near unto the Maid, for it was but a little
cave. And I lay very husht, because that I was so sore in the heart.
Yet, truly, I could not come unto my slumber, for I was so disturbed in
my love; and I stayed very quiet maybe for a great hour; and did fight
that I shake not mine armour to jinglings with the utter cold that did
make me to tremble. But the Maid did sleep very sweet and calm, as I
perceived by her breathings.

Yet, in verity, the Maid did be so much awake as I, and with some sweet
and naughty intent of the heart, as my spirit did sudden perceive. And I
lay very husht, and did wait to discover what this thing might be.

And I made my breathing to seem as the breathing of one that did sleep,
even as that naughty Maid did make pretending. And surely, in a while I
did know that she moved very quiet, and came unto me; and I made yet
that I slept very sound and strong; though the cold did nigh to conquer
all my quietness.

And in a moment I perceived the intent of the Maid; for I did feel the
cloak spread over me with a wondrous gentleness; and afterward there did
be a soft kiss put upon my hand; and the Maid back then to her pillow;
yet, as I did hear, she brought it something more nigh to me; as that
she did crave to be near unto me that was her own Love.

And I sat up, and I put forth my hands suddenly and took the Maid into
mine arms; and she to nestle unto me so that I did be wordless, because
that I loved her so utter.

And presently, I felt her to stir in mine arms; and I loost her
somewhat; for I did be always very mindful that I impose not upon her
dear liberty of maidenhood. Yet she made not to go from me, but only to
gather the cloak about her; so that we did both be in the cloak. And she
askt why this might not be; for surely it did be madness that one should
starve and the other be very nice in warmth. And, indeed, this did be
but wisdom; yet it might not come the first from me.

And I said to Mine Own that this thing should be; and she reached out,
and brought the scrip and the pouch, and placed them for a pillow for my
head, and told me that I should put my head thereon. And I askt her how
this did be right; for she did need a pillow the more than I. But she
bid me to bide, and to have obedience in my turn. And when I was so, she
spread the cloak over me, and afterward crept under, and did lie down
beside me, and did seem as that she was asleep in one moment.

Yet, though she did be so sedate and matter-of-the-fact, as we do say,
while that she was wakeful, she did yet nestle unto me very sweet and
childlike in her sleep. And surely I did want to kiss her; but yet did
refrain from my love; for, truly, I did well that I treat her very
gently, at such a time, as you do perceive. And, in verity, such a Maid
doth make a reverence in the soul of a man.

Now, presently, I was gone over unto sleep; and in seven hours I waked;
and in that time had the Maid slumbered through eight hours; yet did I
intend that she be not disturbed, until that we were aready to the
journey. And I slipt from under the cloak, and put it round her, very
gentle. Yet it to be as she did miss me, even in her sleep; for it to
seem to me that she put out her arms in the darkness, and she made a
little moaning in her slumber. Yet, in a moment, she did be quiet, and
afterward I put the cloak about her again.

And I went then to the opening of the little cave, and put forth my
head, and lookt well about, and harked a long while; but there stirred
nothing in the night thereabout; neither did my spirit wot of any matter
for trouble unto us.

And presently, I gat out two of the tablets; for, as you do know, the
Maid had given me the scrip and the pouch to be my pillow, so that I had
power to come at these matters, without awaking her; but for her own
part, as I did learn after, she had used her torn garments to be for a
pillow; yet had made no explaining, as you do mind; and surely this was
one of her naughty whimsies; and mayhap she had been so full of a
playful happiness--as doth take the heart betimes--that she had made a
little mystery where there did be no mystery; and this but to release
her joy, and so to say masterful things unto me, out of her impudence;
and afterward had meant that she tell me; but yet was gone unto slumber,
ere that she did mind her.

Yet, since that time, a new thought hath come unto me that she did mean
in the first that she should come into mine arms to sleep, and thereby
need no pillow. But afterward, it may hap that she saw with a sudden
olden wisdom, all in one moment; and afterward did act lovingly, yet
with understanding. And so did change from her intent; yet with no
improperness of modesty; but only with a niceness of Sense, which she
did make no talk of; but yet did have. And surely, how oft is a man thus
wisely ordered, unknowing.

And to cease from these thinkings, and to go forward, I eat two of the
tablets, and afterward made some of the water. And lo! the fizzing of
the water waked the Maid; and I knew that she reached out very sudden to
me; but afterward knew in a moment what did make the sound, and that I
did be up and making ready for the journeying.

And she gat up in the darkness, and said my name, and came unto me, and
kist my forehead in the dark; and immediately she ran her hands gently
downward of my left arm, and when she came to the cup, she took it from
me, and slapt my hand, very dainty. And afterward I knew that she took a
sip from the cup, and then did turn that side to me, and so gave me to
drink, and did scold me that I had not waked her to tend to my needs;
for surely she did be Mine Own, to have her duties to me.

And after that I had drank, she took the cup, and did finish it; and she
gat two of the tablets, as I did think, and came afterward and sat upon
the rock to my side, and did nestle somewhat against mine armour, and
took mine arm and set it about her; and so did make to eat.

But first she put her tablet unto my lips, in the dark, that I should
kiss it; and surely this was an olden way of Mirdath My Beautiful One;
so that I did be all shaken of the heart. And I kist the tablet; and
immediately she nestled unto me, and did begin to eat.

And truly it was as that Eternity had been rolled backward; for I had
discovered the soul of mine olden Love in this dainty Maid to my side.
Yet, in looks had Mirdath been of an utter differing; but, in verity
Naani was wondrous lovely. But, though I to be so stirred, I did be
silent; for my heart was very full of memory.

And as the Maid eat, she slipt her fingers between mine, curling them
softly; and surely her fingers did be very little; and she stirred mine
olden memories again in this thing. And surely I was dumb before my
Memory.

And presently, she put up the second tablet, as I did think, that I
should kiss it; and I kist it, as before. Yet, ere she did begin again
to eat, I did wot suddenly that she hid some intent from me.

And I caught her hand very quick in the dark; and her fingers did close
upon the tablet, very guilty; so that I perceived that I had guessed
aright. And I opened her fingers; and I found that there did be but the
half of a tablet within her hand. And surely she had taken but that one
tablet, and had given me the one end to kiss, and afterward the other;
so that I should suppose she did eat two proper and complete tablets.

And I perceived that she had done this thing secretly, being minded that
if she eat always but one tablet, then should I never lack, even if that
we did be over-long coming unto the Mighty Pyramid.

And I askt how oft already had she eat but one, for two. And she
confessed in a very quiet voice that this did make the fifth time. And I
was so angered, that I took her hand and whipt it thrice, so hard that
she had screamed if that she had been any coward. And she said nothing
to me, neither went away.

And she began again to eat the half of the tablet, and did eat it from
the other hand, as I to be aware, because that her left hand did be
hurt. And she wept not, but was very quiet by me; and presently I knew
that she kist the whipt hand secretly in the dark.

And afterward, I put mine arm again about her; and she did be there in
it, very sober and happy. And when she had made an end of the first
tablet, I gave her the second, and she eat it very quiet and content.

And presently I talked with her, and showed her how that this thing did
hurt my heart, even as she had been hurt that I did be cold garmented,
the while that she did be warm. And I showed her the wickedness that she
had done, that she did play so foolish with her life and strength; and
well might she be weak and all a-lack.

Yet, did I think a little sweet impudence came into her, as I told her
concerning her wickednesses. And I took her then into mine arms, and I
showed her how that I knew all the unselfishness and wonder of her
heart; and I kist her, and truly her lips did have a lovely glad
humbleness as they came unto mine; so that it was as that I had not kist
her truly until that moment. And I made her to promise that she never
deceive me in such matter again. And indeed she promised; but yet with
no ready tongue.

And afterward, we made proper for the journey; and when we had gotten
our gear together, I went downward of the rock, and gave the Maid help
to come down. And when we did stand at last upon the bottom of the rock,
I askt Naani how she did feel, and whether her feet did hurt. And she
answered that she did be very well and had no soreness in her feet.

And we went forward then, and she close unto me; and odd whiles with low
speech, but more oft with silence, because that we did need that we hark
alway for any danger or horror; and also there did be so utter a silence
upon that part of the Land, which did be the bottom of the olden sea.
And we eat and drank at the sixth and the twelfth hours; and in the
fifteenth hour, we came upon a great slope of the earth; and lo! it did
be the far side of the sea. And we went upward for a long hour; and so
came to the upward part, and did be able once more to look over the
greatness of that Land.




XI

THE HOMEWARD WAY


Now, truly, it did seem very light, after the horrid and lonesome gloom
that did lie all-ways in the bottom of the olden sea; and I saw that I
was come out upon a part of the Land that did be surely to the right of
that place where I made entry into the sea-bed, on mine outward going.
And there did be a great plenty of fire-holes, so that mine heart was
warmed to see them; yet did I mind to be wary in coming unto them; for,
as you do know, there did so oft be life of this kind and that about
these fires.

And I lookt now down to the Maid, and she upward to me, and did come
more anigh to me, and truly she did be most wondrous pretty and sweet;
yet did seem very awearied and pale in the face; so that I made blame
upon myself that I had overwalked her; for, in verity, I do think that I
was so strong and hard as that I had been made from iron; and she but a
dear and tender Maid. Yet did she refuse that I should so reproach
myself; and did but stand anigh to me and look at me with eyes that were
very beautiful. And so I put mine arms about her, and kist her; and
afterward lookt again over the Land, that I should shape out our further
journeying.

And from that place where I did stand, there spread out all before me
the blue shining that I had seen from the mouth-part of the Upward
Gorge; yet did it be a great way off. And, indeed, I should tell you in
this place, that it was by the glimmering of this shine within the sky
of the night that I had steered, as we did come across the olden
sea-bed. And, truly, it was but a broad thing to go toward; but yet did
serve me, in that it told me that I went toward the far side of the
sea-bed, and made not to go all about in blind circles in the night.

And after that I had considered a while, I did know somewhat where the
Gorge should be, and perceived that I should go unto my left; but not
overmuch, for indeed I saw the red-shining of the giants' hole that lay
at a great space that way; and surely I must go so that I missed the
place of the giants so much as I might, and in the same going, come not
overnear unto the blue-shining that lay before me, across all the far
part of that Country; for, in verity, I Mistrusted the place where that
shining did be.

Now when I had gained somewhat of knowledge where should be found the
Mouth of the Upward Gorge, I put mine arm about the Maid, where she did
stand so nigh to me, and very husht, the while that I had lookt about. And
I pointed outward over the dark Land unto my left, and told her that the
Gorge did be somewhere that way, a great distance off; yet utter out of my
sight, and only to be known that it did be somewise there by the things
that I did mind of, concerning my way after I came into the Land.

Now the Maid, having stood very quiet, had lookt all that time about
her; and so had come to some knowing of the place where she did be in the
Land, for she to know the land someways, as you shall think. And she askt
me how I did mind to go; and truly I said, so straight as we might; but yet
so that we come neither too nigh to the shining nor to the great red
fire-pit of the Giants.

And the Maid bade me to look in the way that I did mind to go; and I
lookt, but yet there was nothing save, as they did seem, certain
fire-holes that had a green-shining about them. And she set out unto me
then, how that there did go a tract of bad gas in that part of the
Land, that should be utter poisonous unto any; and this had been well
known in the Lesser Redoubt, by the reading of their instruments. And
where the gas did go, there was there a green-shining about the
fire-holes.

And she showed me how that the Place of the Gas went a great way unto
the North-West, so that I learned now somewhat how the land did lie, as we
do say in these days. And it was in all the North-West that the great
blue-shining did burn. And I askt Naani how they named this, and she told
me by no name, save but The Shine.

And Mine Own made very earnest to warn me, regarding The Shine; and urged
that we go no more that-wards than should be needful to our lives--the
which, indeed, was no wish of mine. And her reason to be that the Fixed
Giants did be within the borders of The Shine, and all hid in the light
thereof, save when the burning mist did roll this way or that. And I
took a great heed of this thing, and did guess that these Fixed Giants
were somewhat even as the Great Watchers that were about the Mighty
Pyramid, as you do know. And immediately I minded me of that utter
monstrous face that I did see amid the bright smoke of The Shine, when
that I came first into the Land; and surely this had been one of the
Fixed Giants, that Naani told me were Forces of great and very horrid
Evil.

And I askt Mine Own how far the Place of the Gas went across the Land;
and she pointed and made further explaining. And, in verity, in the
end, I saw not how I should come that way to the mouth of the Gorge, if
that I would keep off-wards from The Shine. Yet, in a moment, Naani askt
me how I did come across the Land, when that I searched for her. And,
truly, as I showed her, I had walked then by a sweet chance, or guiding,
alway upon the far side of the Place of the Gas, and so unto the Olden
Sea bed; and was in this way come free of the gas, and all unknowing of
it.

And at this telling, the Maid said that we go downward again into the
bed of the Olden Sea, and walk some great hours below the shore, but in
the way that should take us unto the South-West, and so until we were
come beyond the Place of the Gas. And afterward up again into the Land,
and then to have an utter caution that we escape the watching of the
giants who did be ever about the Great Red Fire-Hole. And by this plan
very speedy to the entering-part of the Upward Gorge.

And, truly, this did be very good and sound, and such as I should have
planned in a moment; for, indeed, I am not over-slow in such matters;
only the Maid did be very eager and quick; and it was very sweet to me
that she should thus plan; for, in verity, I loved alway the sounding of
her voice, and to hear her have speech and to plan and think, and so to
show me the workings of her inward self and her dear qualities and human
niceness. And to have part and lot alway with me in all things and
thinkings.

And, we shaped to this plan that Naani made; but at that time, as you do
mind, it was somewhat of seventeen hours since last we had slumber; and
the Maid was sore wearied, as I did see. And I showed to her how that it
did be wise that we have our rest very soon, and so forward again in new
strength and ability.

And the Maid did soon agree with me; for indeed she was very weary; and
we made it that we should venture unto one of the fire-holes that lay no
great seeming away, a little upon our right, which was the Northward-way
of that Land.

And we went toward the fire-hole; and, truly, it did be further off than
we had thought; for it was a good hour before that we came anigh to it;
and, indeed, it to prove a very great and red-glowing shine that went
upward into the night, out of the hollow place where it did burn among
rocks.

And when we were come near unto it, I made a sign to the Maid that she
be utter husht; and I took the Diskos from mine hip, and went forward
before her; and afterward to my knees and hands, and beckoned backward
to Mine Own, that she do likewise.

And we came this way to the edge of the hollow-place where the fire-hole
did burn; and so were able in the end to look downward. And truly it was
a great fire that burned in the earth in that place; yet, as I perceived
very swift, there did seem nowhere any monstrous thing about the fire,
the which set some peace upon mine heart; but yet not overmuch; for it
was come fresh upon me that we did well to stay afar off from the fires
of the Land, in that it was about the fires that all living things did
congregate.

And I lookt a great time, and the Maid crept unto mine elbow, and lookt
with me; and afterward we harked, very keen, into the night; but there
was nowhere any trouble of the air or of the aether of the Land. Yet I
spoke quiet with the Maid, and showed unto her how that we did well to
stay off-ward from the fires; but, truly, she was so utter cold and
chill, that she did beg that we go down by the fire-hole, even should it
be that we stay no more there than should put a warmth through the utter
chill of our bodies.

And, in verity, I was so bitter cold that I was all weak to go beside
the fire; yet, truly, I do think that the shiverings of the Maid was
that which did force my heart, to go against the teachings of my head;
so that in the end, we came down into the hollow, and very swift unto
the fire.

Now, truly, it doth seem a strange thing to be so diverse-minded as
this, when that, as you do know, I had been so long a-search for a
fire-pit; and mayhaps you shall perceive the better how my heart and
brain did be contrary, when that I tell to you, now, how that I have
belief that my spirit did even then be subtly set to warn me. And, also,
as all do know, it doth be easy to forget this warning and that of
experience; by which saying, I do mean that, oft as I had come to know
the dangers that did be alway about the fire-holes, yet when I did be
far off from them, and Mine Own broken and a-shiver with the chill of
the Land, the danger did seem but a small thing and afar off from my
mind, and unreal; but the cold to be doubly real. Yet, when we did come
even unto the fire-hole, then did come again all about my heart the
truth of those dangers that had seemed, but a while gone, so little.
And, indeed, I do hope you perceive me in this thing, and how that I
strive alway to set unto you the utter truth, so that you shall go with
me all the way, and lend me your nice understanding.

Now, when we were come down unto the fire-pit, I went this way and that
among the rocks that did be in the bottom of the hollow, so that I
should perceive whether there did be any living creature there hid, that
should mayhap come out, unknown, to work us harm.

But, indeed, I discovered nothing of any greatness; yet I saw three
snakes, and there were, beside, two scorpion-creatures, as I did name
them, that neither went backward from me, nor came against me; but did
bide where I saw them, each in an hole of the rock.

And because I had seen these things, I saw that we should not do wise to
sleep nigh unto the fire-hole; for the creeping things did mortally like
the heat, and should be like to come upon us in our slumber. And,
indeed, this did but uphold my caution, that we should be well
actioned, if that we chose some other part to our rest.

Yet, as you shall suppose, I said naught unto the Maid concerning the
creeping and the poisonous things; for I did mean that she have rest and
happiness the while that we did stay beside the fire-hole; and
afterward, I should tell her, and so she be the more ready to see the
properness that we go elsewhere to our sleep. But, as you to understand,
if that she not to see wisely and be still intent to the fire-hole, I
should have her to obey; for surely she was Mine Own, and I did love her
and did mean alway to have her to safety.

Now, presently, the Maid was something warmed, and afterward, she slipt
the scrip from my shoulder, and so had food and drink very swift to my
need.

And we sat together, and eat and drank; and the Maid very sweet and
quiet, as she did begin to eat her second tablet; and, truly, I had
knowing that she did remember in all her body that I had whipt her. And,
indeed, she did be utter mine.

And oft as we did eat and drink, I lookt this way and that, so that no
creeping thing should come anigh to us; and presently, when we had made
an end of our food, the Maid saw that I did look about, and she then
very swift to catch some of mine unease, and to stare over her shoulder.
And, indeed, in a little while she saw a snake go among the rocks; and
she then to be very eager that we find some place that should be secure
from creeping things. And we to begin then to look for such.

But in the end, we stayed in the hollow, for we found a little cave that
did be in an upstanding rock of the hollow, and the upstanding rock was,
mayhaps, an hundred good feet off from the fire; for the hollow was very
great. And the cave did be a hole that was thrice my height up from the
bottom rocks; and it was dry and sweet and with no creeping thing within
it, neither did there be any place to hide such therein.

And when we were gotten into the hole, surely it did be very sweet and
cozy; for the shine of the fire-hole did shine therein; and surely we
had felt it a very haven, but that there was ever the fear of the Land
upon our hearts; and upon mine the more than upon the Maid; for, truly,
Mine Own did seem to trust me utter; and to seem that she feared not any
evil monster, but to have surety that I had power to succour her in all
ways. And truly this trust had been very sweet unto my heart, if that I
had lacked somewhat of my terror for the safe home-going of Mine Own.

And we slept that night as we had done before, and shared the cloak over
us; for truly, the fire-hole made no great warmth unto us; yet was it
less bitter in that part than in the darkness of the Land.

And by that we had come unto sleep, it was twenty good hours since last
we had slumber; and truly we did be very wearied; but yet came unto our
rest with our spirits set anxious to harken on danger the while that we
did sleep.

And we slept seven hours, and did know suddenly of some matter that had
need to waken us; and lo! in a moment I did wake, and the Maid in the
same instant of time; and there was a great screaming and crying out in
the night, that surely affrighted us both; yet did hurt our hearts the
more; for it did be the utter cryings and terror of poor humans in the
night of that Land. Yet might I do naught; but only wait that I learn
more of the matter; for my duty was unto Mine Own, and I had no leave of
rashness any more.

Yet, as you do suppose, I was all shaken to go downward of the rock, and
afterward to climb out from the hollow, that I should give some help
unto they that did need help; but yet might I not leave the Maid.

And immediately, there was a great roaring in one part of the night, and
again another roaring in another part of the night; and lo! in a moment
the roarings did be answered; and the roarings were the sounds of big
and husky voices; so that it did seem that we harked to men so big as
houses that did run and shout in the night.

And the Maid did begin to shake, and I put mine arm about her, and drew
her backward into the hole so that she did be into the shadow; and she
to tremble like one that was broken in courage; for, truly, she had
heard those sounds oft in the night in all the long and dreadful month
that she had wandered.

And, indeed, I was all shaken in my courage; for it did be the shouting
of giants that I heard; and you do know somewhat of the utter horror and
terror that did be alway in the heart that did harken unto those
monstrous voices, for you do know my tale.

And there came in a moment, a dreadful screaming out in the night, and
the screaming did be the screaming of a young maid that doth be slain
very brutal. And my heart sickened, because of Mine Own; but my spirit
did swell with a strange and utter anger, as that it should burst my
body. And the Maid to my side broke into an utter sobbing.

And the screaming of the maid afar off in the dark did end very sudden;
but in a moment there did be other screamings in diverse places, and the
hoarse shoutings of the great men and the thudding of mighty feet that
ran this way and that, a-chase.

And the cryings of the humans came nearer, and the thuddings of the
great feet. And, in verity, in a little minute, it did seem unto me that
the sounds did be right upon the hollow; and I crept forward, and peered
out. And I felt the night to be full of people running; and immediately
there passed by the hollow a clustering of humans that ran ever, and
screamed and gasped and wept, panting, as they ran. And the shining of
the fire-hole made them plain seen and clear, and they did be both men
and women, and were but in rags or utter naked, and all torn by the
rocks and the bushes, and did seem, indeed, as that they had been wild
things that did go by so swift and lost.

And mine heart troubled me with the pain and longing that it did know;
so that I had gone in a moment after those people, but that I should
leave Mine Own and put her to peril. And even while that I felt so utter
in this thing, there came a great thudding of monstrous feet; and there
ran four great men out of the night, and went past the hollow very
quick. And three did be dull coloured and seeming much haired and
brutish; but the other did be an horrid white, and livid-blotched; so
that it did seem to my spirit that there went by, a thing that did be a
very man-monster filled of unwholesome life. And surely they did be gone
from out of the shine of the fire, in one moment, as we do say; and
again into the night to their dreadful chasing.

And when the thudding of their feet had gone a long way off over the
Land, I heard them bellowing, and afterward a far away screaming, that
did have a death note in it; and I knew that those dreadful brute-men
did be taking the life from some poor wild humans; and afterward there
did be the silence again.

And, surely, it did come to me with a fierce impatience of sorrow, that
those people did be without spirit of courage; else had they turned them
upon the giants, and slain them with their hands, even if that all had
died to compass that slaying; for, truly, they should all die anywise by
the giant-men; and they had died then with somewhat to comfort their
hate.

Yet, as I do know, the Peoples of the Lesser Redoubt had long been born
of parents that were starved of the Earth-Current through an
hundred-thousand years and more, and because of this thing, they did
surely lack somewhat in all ways. Yet was Naani otherwise; but this not
to prove aught, save the rule, as we do say.

Now, sudden, as I stooped very husht and troubled in the mouth of the
little cave, I knew that Mine Own sobbed dryly in the back part of the
cave. And I had gone to comfort her, but that in the same moment, I saw
a naked maid run very swift over the edge of the hollow, and did look
over her shoulder, as she ran. And she came to the bottom, and crept in
under a ledge of rock that did be in that place; and she did seem utter
worn, and gone of the spirit, and desperate. And I perceived in the same
instant why that she did go stealthy and swift in that fashion, and to
cower, as for her very life; for there came a squat, haired man, so
broad as a bullock, who did come silent down into the hollow, looking
this way and that, even as a wild beast doth peer, very sudden.

And the Squat Man had instant knowing of the place where the maid did
be; and ran in upon her, with no sound.

And I paused not; but leaped all the great way unto the bottom of the
hollow, which did be, mayhaps, twenty good feet and more; for mine anger
was upon me, and I did mean that I save that one, though I did be
powerless to give succour unto those others.

And I fell strong upon my feet, and had no harm of my limbs, for all
that the leap did be so high. And in that moment, before that I had time
to save the maid, the Squat Man ript her; and she cried out once with a
very dreadful scream, and was suddenly dead in the hands of the
Brute-Man.

And my heart made my blood to burn with wrath in mine eyes, so that I
had scarce power in that instant to see the Squat Man, as I ran upon
him. And the roar of the Diskos filled all the hollow, as I made it to
spin, as that it did rage with an anger, and to be glut of the Man.

And the Man came round upon me; and thought, mayhaps, to deal with me,
as it had dealt with that poor maid, but not all thatwise, as you must
know. And I swung the Diskos, and it did seem to sing and to cry eager
in my hands. And I smote at the Squat Man, even as it did leap silent
upon me, as a tiger doth leap, making no sound. But I gat not home the
blow; for the Man dropt sudden down upon the hands, and the blow went
overwards. And the Brute-Man caught me by the legs, to rip me; and I cut
quick with the Diskos, and it did have but one monstrous talon left unto
it. And immediately, it cast me with the other, half across the hollow,
and I fell with mine armour clanging mightily, and the Diskos did ring
like a bell.

And by the graciousness of all good things, I was harmed not by that
monster throw; but was to my feet in one instant, and had not loosed the
Diskos from my hand. And the Beast-Man did be upon me with two quick
boundings; and I stood up to the Man, and it made no sound or cry as it
came at me; and there did a great froth of brute anger and intent come
from the mouth of it, and the teeth came down on each side of the mouth,
very great and sharp. And I leaped and smote, so that my blow should
come the more speedy, and the Diskos took away the head and the shoulder
of the Squat Man; and the dead thing knockt me backward, with the spring
that it had made; but it harmed me not greatly. Yet afterward I did know
how sore and bruised I did be, in all my body and being. And I came back
very swift against the Man; but it did be truly dead and greatly horrid.

And I went from the dead monster, and did go, all heart-shaken, unto the
dead maid. And I took the torn body of the maid, very sorrowful, and
cast it into the fire-hole.

And I turned me then that I should look unto the cave, that I should
know that all did be well with Mine Own, and whether she did have seen
the horror, or be gone into a swoon.

And lo! Mine Own did run toward me; and she had in her hand my
belt-knife which I did give her, before that time, to be a weapon for
her defence. And I perceived that she had come to be mine aid, if that
I did need such. And she did be utter pale, yet very steadfast and not
seeming to tremble.

And I made to take her from that place; but she went beyond me, and
lookt at the monstrous bulk of the Squat Man; and was very silent. And
she came back unto me; and still so silent. And she stood before me, and
said no word; but my heart knew what she did be thinking; for I am not
foolish, to have lacked to know what did be in her heart; though mine
effort had not shown itself that way unto me, before that moment. And I
had no pretending of modesty, but received with gladness and a
strangeness of humbleness the honour that her eyes did give to me; for,
indeed, she did be so, that she might not give word to her joy of me and
her glad respecting, the which is so wondrous good unto the heart of all
men that do be loving of a dear and honest maid.

And she said nothing, neither then nor afterward; but I did be honoured
all my life after, when that I did anytime mind me of the way that Mine
Own lookt upward at me in those moments.

And afterward she did need and allow herself to come unto mine arms,
that I hold her from the trembling of heart which did come to her, after
that there did be no need for courage; for surely we had both seen a
very dreadful thing, and there was a great horror upon us.

And I climbed upward again to the little cave, and did help Naani; and
when we were come there again, we did rest awhile. And presently we eat,
each of us, two of the tablets and drank some of the water, and indeed
we were both utter thirsty.

And in about an hour, after that we had harked very keen a time, we came
downward again from the cave, and had our gear with us; and we came up
out of the hollow, and set forward with a great caution unto the olden
sea-bed. And we came there in two long hours; for we went very slow and
with constant harkings; for the fear of the monstrous men was upon us.
But there came no harm anigh, neither did we perceive any disturbance in
the night of the Land.

And we went down an hour into the olden sea-bed, and did go now the more
swift; for our fear was something eased from us, because that we had
come away from that place where we had perceived so great and dread an
hunting. But yet had we all care about us; for the giants surely to be
everywhere in that Land; but yet, as I do think, they to roam more oft
anigh to the fire-holes; for the humans did surely wander in such parts,
that they have warmth of the fires.

And after we had gone downward an hour into the sea-bed, we turned
somewhat unto the South-West, and went for twelve great hours, and did
never be any huge space from the shore; for it did run that way, as you
do know. And I made to steer by the shinings of the Land, and with
advices from Mine Own.

And in the end of the twelfth hour, I did count our distance, making
that we did walk somewhat of a certain speed; and by the tellings of the
Maid, we did be surely come beyond the place of the Land where the
Poison Gas did lie.

And by this, it did be something after seventeen hours since we did
sleep; and surely we did be very ready to have rest; for we had gone
forward strongly, and with anxiousness; and truly my hurts did be come
upon me, so that my whole body did ache; for the quick fight had been
bitter, and I had been thrown very hard and brutal; and, indeed, it was
wondrous that I had not been all smashed, only that the armour did save
me.

And this doth show truly how hard and strong I did be; and Naani did
speak upon this, and was oft a-wonder, and at that time did beg me that
I make some rest to cure my hurts; for she had not conceived that a man
did grow so strong and hardy; and, in verity, the men of the Lesser
Redoubt did be soft-made and lacking of grimness, as I did perceive,
both through my reason and from her tellings; for they did lack the
strong life that doth breed where is the beat of the Earth-Current, as
we to have in the Mighty Pyramid. And this thing I have said somewise
before this time.

And because that we did be so wearied, I said unto Naani that we find a
place for our slumber, and she very willing, as I have shown, and to
counsel me likewise.

Yet did we search about in that gloom for a great hour more, and found
no cave or hole to give us a safe refuge for our sleep.

And when that we could not find such, I told Naani that we should put
the boulders together, somewhat, and so have them about us, that we be
greatly hid; and, in truth, even as I began to tell her my plan, she did
have the same words in her mouth, so that we caught our little fingers,
there in the dark of that grim Land in the end of the world, even as she
and I had done oft in the early years, before that eternity, when that
she did be Mirdath the Beautiful. And we did both be silent, and after
that we had wished very solemn and earnest, we said each a name; even as
lad and maid shall do in this age; and so to laughter and kist one the
other. And truly, the world doth seem not to alter in the heart, as you
shall think. And this was what I did find.

And we set-to, and gathered together the boulders which did be very
plentiful in that part. And she carry those that did be thin and flat,
and I to roll those that did be great and round. And I made a place that
did be long and narrow; and afterward, I set the flat stones round the
sides, that there be no little hole by which any creeping thing should
come inward to sting us in our sleep.

And afterward we gat inside; and surely it did be very cozy, as we do
say; but yet not so secure as I did wish, only that I could not shift to
plan aught better. And, indeed, it should keep off from us any small
thing, and should be like to save us from any monstrous Brute treading
upon us; but otherwise, it did be but a poor affair.

Now we eat two of the tablets, each, and drank some of the water, even
as we had done in the sixth and the twelfth hours; and afterward we
shared the cloak for our slumber; and we kist very sedate and loving,
and charged our spirits that we wake if that any horrid thing should
come anigh to us in our sleep; and afterward we did be gone very swift
to slumbering, and suffered no harm.

And I waked seven hours after, and surely I did ache very bitter, as I
did move my body; for the bruisings did be gotten hold of me.

And I slipt away from the Maid, very gentle; for I had mind that she
sleep a while more, as I did mean that we make a great journey that day.

And after I had harked a while, and perceived that there was no evil
thing anigh, I went outward of the stones. And I walked to and fore and
moved mine arms, that I be eased somewhat of the stiffness and ache; but
surely it did seem that many hours must go ere I should make any speed
of travel; for I did be all clumsy and slow and nigh to groan with the
pain of going and aught that I did.

And I minded me that I should do somewhat to ease this thing, lest that
I cause us both to come to an harm by staying over-long in that Land.

And I went back into the stones, and gat an ointment from the pouch,
that I did carry. And surely the Maid did yet sleep. And I went outward
of the stones, again; and stript off the armour, and all my garments;
and I rubbed my body with the ointment, and surely the pain did be so
that I groaned at this time and that; but yet must I rub good and strong
so that I die not of the cold of the Land; and beside I was greatly
anxious to cure myself.

And sudden, as I did rub very strong and savage, and heeding so well as
I might that I groan not, the Maid did speak close beside me. And,
indeed, she could see me but dimly, and had waked sudden to hear my
groaning, and I was not to her side. And immediately she had thought
that some evil thing harmed me, and was come in an instant that she be
with me.

And she cared not that I did be naked; but was utter in anger that I
strove to do this thing alone, and with none to aid me, and all
uncovered to the chill of the Land. And she ran back into the stones,
and brought the cloak and put it about me; and was so angered that she
stampt, and had no impudence, but rather as that she did be minded to
have tears.

And she sent me back into the sheltering of the stones, and gathered
mine armour, and brought these things after me. But the Diskos I took in
my hand. And she took the pot of the ointment from me, and made me to
lie, and she rubbed me very strong and tender, and kept me warm with
the cloak; and surely she was a wise and lovely Maid, and utter Mine
Own.

And in the end, she askt me how I was, and I said that I did be
different; and she hurried me that I be clothed very quick; for she did
be sore afraid that I should come to a chill.

And when I was gotten again into mine armour, she came to me, and showed
me where I did lack wisdom, and spoke very straitly and gentle and
serious; and afterward kist me, and gave me my tablets, and to sit
beside me. And we eat and drank; and I with a new lovingness unto Mine
Own; and she somewhat as that she did mother me; but when I put mine arm
about her, she did be only a maid. And we did be thus, with but little
talk and a great content.

And afterward, we gat our gear together, and went from that little
refuge that we had made; and in a while we did go upward out of the
olden sea-bed.

And when we were come again to the top of the shore, the which we did in
two good hours, I lookt over the Land, a time, with Mine Own anigh to
me. And I perceived that the Great Red Fire-Pit of the Giants did be no
mighty way off unto the South and West; and surely in a little moment,
we saw that there went monstrous figures against the shine of the mighty
fire-pit; and we stoopt unto the earth; for it did seem that the light
did be like to show us standing there, though truly we did be afar off,
as you perceive. Yet, mayhaps, you do share with us the utter horror and
distress that those horrid Men did cast about the heart, and so have a
kindly understanding of our fear.

And over all the Land, in this place and that, there did be the small
shining of little fire-holes and pits, that did be alway red, save in
that part where the Poison Gas did lie, the which we had now come safe
past.

And beyond the fire-holes, was the great Shine, that lay from the West
unto the North of all that Land; and, in verity, we did need that we
steer so that we come not anigh to it, neither unto the Great Red
Fire-Pit of the Giants; neither unto the low volcanoes, which were
beyond the Great Red Fire-Pit, as you do know, and someways unto the
Mouth of the Upward Gorge.

And the way of our journey was between the West and the South-West of
that Land; and to be made with cunning and wisdom, that we come clear of
all unseemly danger unto Mine Own. And I askt her concerning this thing
and that of the Land; and surely she told me so much of terror that I
was half in a wonder that ever I did live in the end to come unto her.

And it was because of the things that she set out to me, that I
perceived how we must come nowise anigh to the low volcanoes that were
upon this side of the mouth of the Upward Gorge; for it had been known
alway in the Lesser Redoubt that there went very horrid men in that
part that did be called wolf-men; but whether there did be any such
thing in that age, she had no knowing; for she told me the things that
did be set down in the Records and the Histories; and truly no man of
the Lesser Redoubt had found heart in a thousand great years to make a
journeying through the Land, for the desire of glad and dreadful
adventuring, such as our young men did be oft set to; though it was not
all such that went.

And because there did be no adventuring for so monstrous a space of
years, there was no certain new knowledge of the Land of that age. And
this thing is plain to you, and needing not of many words, which do so
irk me.

And Naani set out to me how that The Shine was conceived to be a land
where Evil did live for ever, and whence came all those Forces of Evil
that did work upon the Lesser Refuge. And afterward, she did quiet; so
that presently I perceived that she did weep to herself, because that
her memory was all new-stirred by my questionings. And I took her very
gentle into mine arms, as we did be there kneeled upon the earth.

And after that time, I askt her no question, save as it did be needful
to our health and life; yet oft did she tell me this thing and that of
her knowledge, to be for mine help and guiding.

Now we went forward, going a space toward the North-West, so that we
come the more clear of the place where did be the Great Red Fire-Pit of
the Giants. And we journeyed with a care alway that we show not
ourselves over-plain unto the light that shone over the Land from the
great Pit; and oft we did creep a while over this stark place and that;
and went nimbly amid the bushes that grew oft in great parts.

And we made six hours this way, and did then have pause, that we eat and
drink; and truly it was nine hours since first I did wake; yet had we
made no pausing, because that we were so set to our journeying to come
clear of the place where did be the Giants.

And after that we had eat and drunk, we went onward again; and made now
unto the South-West; for we did heed that we go no more unto the
North-West, because that should bring us over-near to The Shine.

And in the fourteenth hour of that day's travel, we came to a part where
the Land dipt downward into a broad valley; and surely it did be very
dark down there, and did be seeming shallow, yet truly of a great
deepness; but we went that way, because that it did be a weary long
journey to go around the place where the valley did be.

And the Valley had a different darkness from the gloom that went alway
in the olden sea-bed; for the gloom of the sea-bed did be ever of a
greyness; but the gloom of this Valley had a greater dark within it; yet
did the air seem more clear.

And we went downward three hours into the Valley, and stopt then that
we eat and drink; and truly I had not paused then; but that Mine Own did
insist; for our methods did be like, else, to go all adrift, and we to
be lacking of proper strength.

And this was wisdom of the Maid; but I to be a little irked-like and
restless; and this mayhap because that my blood did itch me, because
that it did be so full of the poison of my bruises.

And it was gone now of seventeen hours since last we did sleep; but yet
did we be ready to go forward, that we come so quick as maybe out of the
dark of that Valley; for there did seem nowheres any fire-hole to make a
light; only that in this place and that, there did be a little blue
shining, as that there burned a strange gas in this part or that.

Now, in two hours after the time that we did eat, we stopt, both of us,
very sudden; for there did be some vague and curious sound in the night.
And we went very swift to the earth, that we be hid, and harked. But did
hear nothing.

And in a while, we to go onward again; yet there did be an unease upon
our spirits; for our spirits did perceive something afar off in the
night; but yet had we no surety in this matter.

And we went forward through a great hour more; and did pass in that
time, two places where the blue-shining did be; and truly it seemed as
that a low gas hung to the earth in this part and that, and made a slow
burning, having neither noise nor spurtings; but slow, as that it did
smoulder and be all to shine and luminous. And oft there did be a strong
smelling of a bitter gas, very horrid in the throat.

And in the end of another hour, while that we were a space off from one
of those gas-shinings, there went past us at a distance, as it did seem
people, running in the night; as that they did be lost spirits; yet with
a rustling very soft; so that they did be like to be barefoot.

And I thought mayhap that these did be some of the Peoples of the Lesser
Pyramid; yet did they be only as that shadows went among the
blue-shinings. And I pondered a moment, whether that I send my voice
over the Valley, to question what they did be; but yet had caution, and
harked through the utter silence of the night; for I had no surety of
aught.

And, surely, in that moment that we harked very keen, there did be a
sound afar off in the night of the Land; and it was as that we had heard
the sound before; and, in verity, our spirits had perceived the sound,
those two hours back; and now our bodies did wot, and perceived that we
had known it subtly before that moment. And the sound was as that
something went spinning in the night.

And a very great terror came upon the Maid; for she did know the sound;
and the sound was that which did show that one of the great Evil Forces
of the Land did approach; and the sound had been known alway in the
Lesser Refuge to show this thing. And, indeed, mine own spirit had been
half to know that a Power of Evil did come through the night; but yet
was the assurance very terrible; for how should I protect Mine Own.

And the spinning came toward us, and was presently in the Valley; and it
came swiftly across the dark of the Valley. And my heart was all broken
within me, because that there had been happiness with us, but a little
time gone; and now there did be our death anigh.

And Mine Own gave me the knife that I had given to her; meaning that I
slay her, in the last moment; for she did heed even in that moment that
she be not gashed horridly by the terror of the Diskos. And I took the
knife. And I kist not Mine Own; but stood there, very shaken and
desperate, and gript her fast unto me, scarce heeding the hardness of my
gripe; and alway I lookt unto the way of the coming of the Sound. And
presently did unbare my wrist where the Capsule did be.

And the sound of the thing Spinning came anigh, across the Valley; and
my heart did dull and my spirit go black with my desperateness, because
that this thing must be, and because that I could nowhere see hope that
I should save Mine Own.

And, of a sudden, the Maid put up her arms, and pulled me downward, and
kist me once on the lips; but I wot not whether I kist her; for I did
burn with despair and was all adrift in my being. Yet was there a sharp
comfort that mine own dying did be so nigh.

And the Maid stood gently against me; so that she did be convenient unto
my hand. And afterward I remembered this thing; and do you pray that you
be never to have such a matter on your hearts! But, indeed, there was a
wonder in this thing, beside the horror; so that my memory doth be alway
knowing of this wonder; and mayhap you do see with me, and love Mine Own
also in your hearts. And in the moment that the Maid stood thus, as I
have told, I perceived sudden that there did be a little glowing in the
night, and the glowing was pale and horrid. And there was no more any
sound of the Spinning; only there did be, as it were, the trunk of a
great tree, that did show in the glowing; and the trunk of the tree came
toward us across the darkness.

And I turned the Maid from the Tree, and she did flutter a little in my
hands, as I did know, scarce-knowing; for she perceived that she did be
going to die in that moment. And I had my body thus between the Evil
Thing and the Maid. And lo! the Tree came no more anigh to us; but went
backward, and the pale glowing did fade, and the Tree no more to be
seen.

And I cried unto the Maid, very husky, that we did live; for that the
Evil Power was gone off from us; but she answered not, and did be heavy
against me. And I held her, and lookt alway about us, lest the Tree come
in upon the other side.

And, as I lookt this way and that, I saw naught; and afterward, in a
moment, I searched the night above, lest that the Thing come from
above. And, behold, I saw that there abode over us a clear light, as it
were a clear burning Circle, above us in the night. And my heart did
leap with an holy joy and an utter great thankfulness; and I was no more
in fear of the Tree; for, in verity, there fought for our souls one of
those sweet Powers of Goodness, that did strive ever to stand between
the Forces of Evil and the spirit of man; and this matter have I shown
to you, before this time.

And concerning this holy Defense, I have thought that it should not,
mayhap, to have had so strong a power to save us, if that we had shown
an over-weakness and fear, but because that we did rather stand so well
as we might to make battle of escape from so dire a Destruction.

And, surely, this doth seem but a sane thinking unto me; but yet without
proof, and to be said to you, only as the shapings of my thoughts. And
this the chief end of that happening, that the holy Circle did truly
deliver us, and burned through twelve great hours above us; and by this,
do I know that the Evil Power hovered anigh, to destroy us, all that
while; for, indeed, it doth not be proper of reason to suppose that such
an utter wondrous thing did be needlessly over us, save to be a Shield
of Great and Lovely Force against a waiting Evil Thing. And surely you
do see thiswise with me?

And, truly, so soon as my Spirit and Reason perceived that we did be no
more to suffer from the Evil Thing, I remembered that I did know that
Mine Own had swooned. And, in verity, you shall mind how that she did
face her death so utter sweet and brave, and had given no cry, but made
quietly to help me in that dreadful moment, and did stand brave and
gentle to the stroke. And so fell into a swoon, as you have seen,
because that she did suffer an hundred deaths as she did stand so brave,
waiting to be slain, for the blow did be so long delayed, yet to come in
any moment.

And I gat her to come-to unto her life again, and I set the lovely tale
very swift to ease her, and surely with love and warmth, and kist her
with a great joy. And I showed how I did honour her for her good
courage.

And she to weep a little, with the ease come so sudden upon her; and
afterward to kiss me upon the lips an hundred times, and to need that
she be very safe in mine arms, because that I had meant that I do so
dread an office to her. And surely I do wonder whether you perceive all
that did be then in her heart.

And the holy light that did be over us, she did watch with a sweetness
of awe; and rest did come more great upon her in the heart, as she did
learn how sure was the seeming of that Lovely Power to deliver us.

And, presently, we made forward again in the Valley. And did go
steadfast, and newly-loving each to the other, and so through twelve
great and body-weary hours; but our hearts could never be done singing
within us, nor our hands to cease from the hands of the other, because
that we did so crave each unto the beloved.

And in the ninth hour, a monstrous way off in the dark of the Valley,
there did seem as that there went a far and dreadful screaming in the
night. And it did be as that our spirits perceived the sound of
something Spinning in the night; yet faint and a great way off; but yet
had we no surety that we did truly hear the sound of the Spinning; only
we did be so shaken in the heart, for truly there was some horror done
unto humans, downward in the mighty darkness of the Valley. And to think
upon the sound of the Spinning, was to be in a shaking trouble of the
spirit; and to bless the quiet and holy light that went above us in all
that time; and to ache only that it should stay to be to our protecting.
And surely it did be plain that there were the signs of great Forces in
that Land.

And three hours after that time when we did hear the far-off screaming,
we were come up over the edge of the Valley, and did be once more unto
such light as did be general in the Land; and truly it did seem a
wondrous lightness, after so utter a dark.

And we did be all exhaust, and Mine Own drew her feet so weary that it
was as that she must go no more, until we did rest; for indeed it was
three and thirty hours since last that we had slept; and a bitter
trouble and work there had been in that space, as you do know.

Now we had eat some of the tablets a few hours back, as we did walk, and
had drunk some of the water; but had made no rest; for we did crave only
that we come free of that Valley. And now it was needful that we rest,
if but a little time.

And I minded that we find some place where I should have a hot pool,
that I be able to bathe Naani's feet. And, surely, we came in a while to
a hollow-place, and there did be two dull-burning fire-holes in this
place, and a hot-bubbling spring, the which did seem to be a rare thing
in that Land; so that we were the more fortunate to perceive it.

And I made Mine Own to sit, with her feet in the hot-spring; for it was
not over-hot, and did seem pretty natural to my taste, as I did prove in
the first. And also I did search about the hollow, lest there be any
harmful creature near-by; and this you will have truly supposed, because
you do know the methods of my journeying. But yet did I not have so much
care as did be proper; for I was so dull in the mind, by reason of my
weariness; but, indeed, there came naught to work us any harm; and so we
came to no suffering, through mine aches and dullness.

And I sat beside the Maid, and made her to eat a tablet, and saw that
the cloak did be nice about her, and her head to rest against my knee,
and I laid the palm of my hand to be as a pillow, because of the armour,
to ease the hardness.

And I eat with the Maid, and we both drank after; and so there came
back somewhat of our strength. Then I took the Maid's little feet, and
rubbed a portion of the ointment from the pot all about them, very
gentle and constant; and so did they be new-rested and eased; and she
presently fit again to the journey; for I was strong set that we go
quickly hence out of that Land, and stay no more there to sleep, lest we
come unto Destruction.

And when we had rested an hour, I put the shoes again upon the Maid, and
made them secure; and so gat my gear about me, and made to the journey.

And lo! as we did leave the hollow, I lookt upward unto the Holy Light;
and behold it was gone from us, and by this thing I supposed that we had
come free of instant danger; but yet did there be to me a seeming of
nakedness and unprotection, as you must perceive.

And because that the Light was vanished, I was the more set that we come
speedy out of the Land. And we went forward at a strong speed, and had
the Great Red Fire-Pit of the Giants to our rear unto the left, and a
mighty way off in the night; but yet I did wish it the further. And
before us, was a small ridging up of the dark Land, as I did judge,
because that our view of the lights and the shinings was bounded; and to
our left at a great way the low volcanoes, and somewhat to our right,
across all that part of the Land went the cold and horrid glare of the
Shine.

Now, in a little while, I felt that the ground did be sloped upward
before us a little, and by this thing I saw that I had known aright, for
that there did be a ridge that hid the Land somewise over unto the part
where I lookt to find the mouth of the Upward Gorge. And we went up this
slope at a strong pace, because that I was so eager that I find where we
did be in nearness unto the mouth of the Upward Gorge.

And surely, I was something forgetful, in mine eagerness, and came
somewhat ahead of Mine Own, who did make to hide from me that she did
begin to lag, because that her new strength was near gone from her.

And sudden there did be a very dreadful cry, to my back; and I came
round in one instant, so quick as a light doth flash; for it was the
voice of Mine Own, and all my being did suddenly burn with fear that
kindled through me in a moment of thought.

And lo! Mine Own did struggle terribly with a yellow thing which I
perceived to be a man with four arms; and the Man had two arms about the
Maid, and with two did make to choke her unto death; for she cried out
no more.

And I came unto the Man with a quick leaping, and stopt not to pluck the
Diskos from my hip; and surely I did be very strong, and mine anger and
rage to make me monstrous; for I caught the two upper arms of the Man,
and brought them backward in an instant, so fierce and savage, and so
wrencht upon them, that I brake them in the shoulders of the Man.

And the Man roared and shriekt, even as a wild and dreadful Beast should
cry out, and came round upon me with the two lower arms. And surely it
was a mighty and brutish thing, and so broad and bulkt as an ox, and the
lower arms were huge and greatly haired, and the fingers of the hands
did have the nails grown into horrid talons, as that they should grip
very bitter.

And it caught me by the thighs, to rip me upward, as I did fear; but yet
this did not be the intent of the Man; for in a moment it caught me
round the body; and on the instant, I gat the Man by the great throat,
and the throat did be haired, and so great as the neck of a bull. And I
strove with mine armoured hands that I choke the Man, and surely I made
it to suffer great trouble; yet, I could not harm it in the life.

And so I did be an horrid minute, and fought with the Beast, with no
more than the strength of my body; and it was as that an human went with
his hands to slay a monster so strong as an horse. And the breath of the
Man-Beast came at me, and did sicken me; and I held the face off from
me; for I had died with horror, if that it had come more anigh; and
surely the mouth of the Man was small and shaped so that I knew that it
did never eat of aught that it did slay; but to drink as a vampire; and
in truth, I did mean that I chop the Man to pieces, if that I have
chance to the Diskos.

And I did sway this way and that, as we did struggle; and surely it was
as that the Man had never made to use the lower arms, save to hold unto
prey, the while that it did use the upper arms to strangle, as I do
think. For all that weary minute of the fight, the Man made not to loose
from me, that it should tear my hands from their grip to the throat; but
made vain waggings with the arms that I brake, as that it would use
these to the attack; but surely they had no more power to do hurt.

And sudden, it put forth an utter power about my body, so that mine
armour did be like to crack; and truly I had died in a moment; but for
the strongness of the armour. And the man hugged me thus for an horrid
time, the while that I did hold off from me the brutish face, and gript
very savage into the haired throat.

And lo! the creature did work slow in the brain, and in the end loost
from me, abrupt, and went back with a leap, so that my hands did be ript
from the throat of the Beast. And in one instant it did be back unto me,
and gave me no moment to free the Diskos. But I made anew to fight, and
shaped as I had learned in the Exercises of mine Upbringing; for truly I
had been alway deep in practice of such matters. And I slipt from the
great hands of the Man, as it did try to take me by the head; and I hit
the Man with mine armoured fist, and put a great power and skill to the
blow. And I went instant to the side with a swift stepping, and evaded
the Man, and I smote the Man again, and took him very savage in the
neck; but all the while grown very cold and brutal and cruel; for I was
set to the slaying. And the Man-Beast came round on me; and lo! I slipt
the gripe of the great hands, and my body and my legs and mine arms did
work together unto that last blow; so that I did hit so hard as a great
hammer. And I gat the Beast in the throat, and the Beast went backward
to the earth, even as it did think to hold me.

And lo! in a moment, I was free, and I pluckt forth the Diskos from my
hip. And the Yellow Beast-Man grunted upon the ground; and it rose up
again to come at me; and it stood and did grunt, and did seem as that it
was gone mazed; for it did make other sounds, and an horrid screeching,
so that truly, by the way of it, I conceived that it cried out unknown
and half-shapen words at me. And in a moment, it came again at me; but I
cut the head from the Beast-Man, that was in verity an horrid monster,
and the Man died, and was quiet upon the earth.

And truly, in that moment, the distress of mine efforts and mine utter
tiredness and the ache of the bruises took me; so that I do surely think
I rockt as I stood; but yet was my head strong to think and my heart set
in anxiousness; for I wotted not how great an hurt had been done upon
Mine Own.

And I ran to her, and came to where she did be upon the ground; and
surely she was all huddled, and had her hands very piteous to her
throat, that did be so pretty. And it did shake me in that moment that
she was truly slain; for she was gone so utter still and as that she did
be broken unto death.

And I took her hands from her throat, and surely it did be a little
torn; yet not to be much, or so that it should loose her of her dear
life. And I strove that I steady the trembling of my hands; and I gat
free of mine armoured gloves; and made that I feel whether her throat
did be deadly hurt; and, in verity, it seemed not so; only that my hands
did so shake, because that I was so frightened for Mine Own, and because
that I was but new come from the battle; and because of this, I had not
power of touch to assure me.

I made then that I quieten my breath, which did yet come very full and
laboured; and I put mine ear above the heart of the Maid, and lo! her
heart did beat, and the horridness of my fear went from me in a moment.

And I had the scrip from my back very speedy, and some of the water to
fizz, and I dashed the water upon her face and upon her throat; and
surely there did be a little quivering and an answering of her body.

And I strove with her for a while more; and she came unto her life
again; and in the first, she was all a-lack, as you may think; and
immediately she began that she remembered, and she then to shake.

And I told her how that the Four-Armed Man was surely dead and could
harm her no more; and she then to weep, because that she had been put
to such shock and horror, and held by so brutish a thing. But I took her
into mine arms, and so she did come presently to an ease; and I
perceived in all my being that she was as a little ship that doth lie in
harbour; for she did cling and nestle unto me; and did be safe with me
in all her heart and body and belief. And surely she was Mine Own, and I
to have glory in that knowing.

And presently, I put her from mine arms, to lie; yet so that she might
not perceive the body of the Yellow Beast-Man. And I made clean the
Diskos, from her sight, and afterward I put on the scrip; and I took the
Maid to mine arms again, and had the Diskos in my hand beside her.

And she made protest that she should truly walk; for that I was all
a-weary, and she come to her strength again. And, indeed, I carried her
a certain way, and did then put her down to her feet; and truly her
knees did so tremble that she had not stood, let be to walk! And I
caught her up again; and I kist her, and I told her that I did be surely
her Master, in verity, and she mine own Baby-Slave. And truly you shall
not laugh upon me; for I was so human as any; and a man doth talk this
way with his maid.

And she did be quiet and sweet and to obey wisely; for she was gone very
weak. And thiswise we did go; and I to say loving words, in the first;
but afterward I did heed more of my going, now that she was something
eased and at rest within mine arms. And I did peer everywhere about,
lest that some other evil thing come outward of the bushes, to have at
us ere I did ware. And, truly, the bushes grew here and there in that
place, very plentiful, in great dumpings.

And presently I was come to the top part of the ridge; and lo! a great
gladness took me, and some amazement; for there did be the lights that
did be in the mouth of the Upward Gorge, and they did show me that I was
come anigh to that place. Yet had I feared that we were surely a dozen
great miles off; and now I to learn that we did be scarce of two or
maybe three, as I did judge.

And I told this thing to the Maid; and she rejoiced in mine arms, with a
deep and quiet thankfulness. And I set forward then at so good a pace as
I might; and I was come into the mouth-part of the Upward Gorge in about
an hour; and surely I did be very weary, for it was beyond six and
thirty hours that we had gone since last we did sleep; and there had
been sore labour and terror to our share in that time, as I have told.

And I turned in the mouth of the Gorge, and told Mine Own, very gentle,
that we did take our last look upon that Land. And she askt that I put
her down to her feet; and I put her down. And therewith we stood in that
place, and mine arm about her; and so did I support the Maid, the while
that she lookt silent over the dark of the Land.

And presently she askt me in a very husht voice, whether that I knew
where the Lesser Pyramid did be in all that Darkness; for she was all
adrift of her bearings, and was as a stranger, because that she had
never lookt upon the Land from that place, before then. And I showed her
where I thought the Pyramid to stand hid in the everlasting night; and
she nodded, very quiet, as that she did think thatwise, also.

And so a time did pass, and I knew that Naani said good-bye forever unto
all that she had known of the world in all her life; and she did be
whispering a goodbye in her soul unto her Dead.

And I was very husht, and deeply sorrowful for the Maid, and did
understand; for in verity, there should no other human look upon that
Land of terror through all the quiet of eternity; and the Maid did lose
all her young life into that blackness, and the Father that was her
Father; and the grave of her Mother; and the friends of all her years.
And there went death in the Land, even then, after those that did live.

And Mine Own shook a little within mine arm; so that I knew she strove
that she be brave, to weep not; but afterward, she made not to cease
from her tears; and truly I was there, to be her understanding; and she
did be sweet and natural ever with me; for she was Mine Own, and did be
hourly the more so.

And presently, I moved a little, to sign that we go downward of the
Gorge; and she stayed me one moment, that she look once more over all
that Land; and afterward, she submitted, and turned with me, and did
break into very bitter sobbing as she did go stumbling beside me; for
the sorrow of memory did fill her; and she was truly a very lonesome
Maid in that moment, and had come through much dreadfulness.

And in a minute, I stoopt and lifted her; and she wept in mine arms
against mine armour; and I very silent and tender with her; and carried
her downward of the Gorge for a great hour more. And presently she was
grown calm, and I knew that she slept in mine arms.

And in thiswise we made farewell of that dark Land, and left it unto
Eternity.




XII

DOWNWARD OF THE GORGE


Now I carried the Maid an hour downward of the Gorge, as I did say; and
I was then grown so weary that I near fell, as I walked, and stumbled
everywhile, because that I had lost somewhat of guiding in my feet, the
which did show mine utter alackness.

And I saw that I must come very swift to a place for slumber, or that I
did be like to fall headlong with the Maid; for I nigh slept as I walkt.

And I began that I give attention to the sides of the Gorge; and surely
I had gone that hour all in a dream; for I was fresh-waked, as it were,
in that I did give my will to perceive aught; and when I did come to
have power to attend, I knew that I had gone, even as a sleep-walker;
for the Gorge did seem a fresh matter unto me, and as that I had come
awake sudden to find myself a-walk in that strange and narrow place.

And presently, I saw somewhat where I did be; for I minded the memory of
mine outward journey, and truly I have a good power to know and remember
a way that I have gone. And I saw that there was a great and ruddy
fire-hole anigh to me; and I was all sure that I had perceived certain
caves in the wall of the Gorge, near to that fire, as I past it on mine
upward way; and I had been given a mighty longing of heart at that time,
that it be given to me that I should bring safe Mine Own out of the
peril that beset her, and have her unto just such a place for her
slumber, on the way of our journey backward.

And surely I tell you this thing as a child in pleasure; for, truly, it
was a wondrous happy matter that my desiring should be like to have a
true ending; as, indeed, it did seem was truly to be, if that my memory
had set me aright.

And I went onward somewhat; and lo! I to be right, for the little caves
did be there, a little past the great fire-hole; and there were seven of
them in the left side of the great cliff of the Gorge; and one did be as
that it were very cozy and a place of sure safety, if that we could win
unto it.

And truly, as I did conceive, we had come safe from the Evil Forces of
that Land; but yet did I mind that there was no surety in this thing;
and neither did I know but that some Monster should come downward of the
Gorge, out of that Land; and so work our deaths, as we did sleep; if
that we have no sure place for our slumber. And, indeed, I had wished
that we were come a greater way downward of the Gorge, but this might
not be; for I was all adrift with weariness. And truly, if that we gat
upward to the top-most cave, there did be few Monsters that should have
power to come at us, ere we be warned of their coming. And afterward
they should be like to come upward against the Diskos; and this should
be indeed a thing difficult, as you shall conceive.

Now it did be needful that I wake the Maid, and I kist her, as she did
be in mine arms; and surely that dear One did kiss back again in her
sleep, and was yet asleep. And truly I did love her with all my being;
and I kist her again, and shook her very gentle, and so had her to
wakefulness, and told how we did be come to a place fit for our slumber.

And she to look about, very sleepy, as I set her to her feet; and then
to upbraid herself that she did over to slumber, the while that I did
labour with her carrying. And, in verity, I kist her again, as she did
stand making to steady herself, and looking so pretty with the sleep
that did lie yet in her eyes. And she to kiss me very dear and all mine;
and even then scarce proper come to wakefulness; and did say with
something of a little dear abandon, that she did love me utter and
forever.

And afterward, I climbed to the topmost of the caves, and told Mine Own
the while that she walk up and down a little; so that she come to a full
awakedness; and this I was careful to, because that she should have a
need of all her powers that she come safe upward unto the cave.

And when I was come to the cave, lo! it did be so sweet and dry, as did
make glad my heart. And there did be a warmth in the cave, as that there
went a fire somewhere through the rocks anigh. And the light from the
fire-hole did make a reflection inward, and so this did seem a place
safe, and fit to our slumbering.

And I came downward unto Naani, calling that the cave was very proper
for our use; and presently I gave her mine aid to the climbing, and so
we came in the end safe into the cave; and truly we did feel very safe
and happy.

Yet, before we did sleep, I set free the scrip and the pouch, and took
the straps and went downward again into the Gorge; and I gat a good
boulder, so heavy as I might carry, and strapt it to my back, and came
upward again to the cave, and the Maid very grave and anxious, lest that
I slip to my hurt. And when I was come to the cave again, I set the
boulder in the mouth of the cave, and did balance it so light upon the
edge, that a touch should send it rolling downward.

And by this devising, I conceived that any Beast or Monstrous thing that
should climb upward whilst that we slept, should be like to set the
rock adrift, and mayhaps the rock to work an harm to such, but the
chief end to be that I should be swiftly waked by the noise.

And then I did turn that we go to our slumber; and lo! the Maid had
spread the cloak upon the rock, that we should sleep upon it; for truly
there did be no need that we have it now to our covering, because that
the cave did be so warm as I have told before.

And surely, there did be no cause either that I should have the cloak
for a bed; for how should I perceive any softness from the cloak,
through all the sternness of mine armour; but yet did I see that the
Maid had made a couch that should be for the two of us, and did be so
sweet and natural, and to lie by me; but yet to preserve her sweet
modesty, and to do the thing with no thought, save that it was natural
to our hearts; and that she did long alway to be anigh to me; but yet,
mayhaps, scarce full conscious that her heart did prompt her in this
thing.

And, in verity, I loved her very dear.

And surely, Naani showed me the where that I should lie upon my side;
and when I had obeyed, she kneeled, and kist me on the lips, very sober
and loving; and she lay down then upon the cloak beside me; and truly we
had both gone to sleep in one little minute, as I do think.

Now I did be waked twelve great hours after, by the fizzing of the
water; and lo! when I lookt, the Maid was not beside me; but did make
ready our simple eating and drinking. And she laughed at me, very sweet
and tender, because that she loved me so, and did be so glad to have me
awake to her; and she came over to me, and kist me, very bright and
loving upon the lips.

And after that she had kist me, she kneeled beside me, and lookt at me,
very dear and tender; so that I knew in a moment that she had waked a
while gone, and watched me, somewise motherlike, as I did sleep. But how
I knew this thing, I am not sure, save that my spirit did know, or that
her thoughts did have tongues unto mine.

And truly I needed that I be so loved, and all of you to say like with
me; and I put up mine arms to her, as I did yet lie; and she not to deny
me, but came into mine arms, and did snuggle there so sweet and happy
and gladly, and with so true a delight, that it did be plain how she did
love in all her body and spirit to be anigh to me, as I to her. Yet,
truly, as you do mind, the armour did be upon me; so that I feared to
take her very strong in mine arms, lest I hurt the dear Maid; and surely
the armour did be a stern matter for her to nestle unto; but yet,
mayhaps, did the sternness something please her womanheart, and yet,
again, mayhaps to lack.

And presently, she made that she would go from me, and I loosed mine
arms from her very ready, because that I did heed alway that she have
full sweet liberty of her dear Maidenhood; and I to be watchful
sufficient unto this end, yet always honest and wholesome and not
over-pondering even in this my care; and this proper intending you
shall ever perceive, if that your hearts do strive to hearken unto my
heart, which doth speak alway before you.

And the Maid went from me, over to where she had put the cup of the
water, and the tablets; and I to make to rise, that I look that the
boulder did be safe untouched in the mouth of the cave. But she called
unto me that I lie backward; for that she did mean gently to spoil me
that once; and that I have no heed to the boulder or whether there did
be any Monster or Beast anigh in the Gorge; for that the boulder did be
safe as I did balance it; and nowheres any Creature to sight in the
Gorge; for she had lookt oft, since waking, to this end.

And truly I obeyed, and lay back, and did like that I should be spoilt,
as we do say. And Naani brought the cup of the water, and the tablets
over to me; for she gat them from the scrip before I had it to my
pillow, in that while when I had gone downward for the boulder. And
surely, even when she brought the cup, she would not have me to rise;
but took my head upon her knees, and kist me once very dainty on the
lips, and I very happy to be so loved, and wishful no otherwise.

And she took a tablet and kist it and gave it to me; and afterward
touched another to my lips, and had that to be for her own. And so we
eat and were very glad and happy, someways as children are happy, and
our hearts all at ease.

And presently, we eat each our second tablet, in the same wise as the
first. And truly I did be kist more than once. And afterward, we drank
each of the water.

And when we had made an end, Naani told me that I move to stand; and
surely I wondered; and I stood up, and lo! I near cried out with the
pains of my bruisings; for I was all gone stiff in my sleep, and as that
I did be more sore than ever; and this to be because I had fought again,
as you do know, and surely had been hurt more by the Four-Armed Man than
I had known.

And I perceived then that Naani had supposed that I should be thus
pained, and had given dear thought to the matter; and truly she had the
pot of the ointment, ready, if that I did be very bad, that she rub me.

And she gave me aid with mine armour, and afterward eased me with my
garments; and surely I did be utter bruised in the body, by reason of
the violence of the Yellow Beast-Man. And the Maid had somewhat so
tender and sweet in her eyes as she looked upon the bruisings, that I
did be very happy and to glow with contentment.

And she had me to lie, and made me in comfort with the cloak, so loving
and grave, so that I was as a child that doth be cared of by his mother.
And she did rub me very skilful and gentle for a great hour, until I was
all refreshed. And in verity she was a lovely wise maid.

And as the Maid ministered unto me, I lay alway very restful, and
harked to the low sound of the muttering of the fire-hole that did be in
the bottom of the Gorge; and alway I did feel as an happy child that
doth be clothed in love and guided in wisdom.

And presently, when that the Maid had ended her dear care, she put by
the ointment, and gave me her hands very dainty, that she mean to aid me
to rise; and surely when I was come again to my feet, I was all eased,
and to have movement with no great pain; and truly this made me wondrous
pleased and to feel new couraged; for I had been troubled that I should
be so helpless, in that I did be the Protector of Mine Own.

And when I had tried my limbs, and found them to be in command and
ready, I lookt about for my garments. And lo, the Maid brought me my
spare body-vest, from the Pouch, and had it upon her arm, to give to me.
But surely she denied me a moment, of the vest, and stood before me, and
had an admiring and wonder, very sweet and honest, because that my arms
did be so great and hard with muscles.

And, indeed, I did be very strong, as you have perceived; for I did be
alway in affection of the Exercises that were taught in the Upbringing
of all the Peoples of the Mighty Pyramid; and by this explaining, you
shall understand that I was like to be strong; but indeed, I owed the
straightness and shaping of my body to the Mother that bore me. And
afterward, in all my life, had I taken pride of my body to be of health
and to have strength; and surely this is a matter very fit for pride;
and to be told bravely and with honesty.

And the admiring of the Maid was very sweet to me; and, in verity, I did
be to deceive, if that I said otherwise. And in a moment, she dropt my
body-vest, and put out her hands to me that I take her into mine arms.

And I took the Maid into mine arms with a great gladness and with
somewhat of humbleness that I was nowise good enough to hold her, for my
heart was young, and I loved her very dear and youthful. And she did lie
there very quiet and happy, a little; and surely I did find presently
that she kist the great muscling of my breast, very sweet and sly, where
her face did be press against it. And lo, in a moment, she came free of
mine arms, and gave me an aid with my garments, and afterward with mine
armour.

And when that this was done, she stood off from me; and she lookt at me,
half shy and half of sweetness and naughtiness. And she came then in a
moment, and put her hands upward to my shoulders, and so stood her
eyelids something down over her eyes; and did steal a little look up,
this time and that. And lo! in a sudden moment, before I did wot, she
was to her knees before me, and did weep; and I down very swift to kneel
with her.

And I askt not why she wept; for I perceived that she did have joy and
glad happiness and sweet trouble of her man; and that she did be a true
woman, and one part of the woman did worship, so that she did be
strangely humble and nigh to be shy; and another did love, and need that
she be anigh to me; and a third to have a calm wisdom. And all did now
be a-tremble, together in her heart; and I knew that I did be truly an
hero to her, though but usual to all others. And my heart was wondrous
proud and wondrous humble, so that I was in the same moment upraised and
to feel dreadly unworthy. But I made no pretending to discredit myself
to her, but only did resolve that I win alway her dear respect; and I
did be natural and truthful of my manner and without foolish denial of
her sweet worship, for she was utter Mine Own, and it did be a pitiful
thing if that I seem otherwise than an hero unto her.

But of you I ask kind understanding, and to call me not a thing of
conceit because that I did understand; for truly I knew my faults, even
so well as you, that do know all of my going. And you to look backward
upon the love-days, and to mind how that your maid did ever to make you
great in manhood with her dear belief and uplooking; and so shall you
conceive of all my feelings; for we do be all so human in this matter,
and to meet on a dear natural ground, as you will say.

And, truly, in a little time, Mine Own did be steadied, and wiped her
pretty eyes, and nestled to me a while, very husht and to need that she
be close. And I to have her gentle against mine armour, and to be in my
heart as that I did be her father and her lover in the one man, and
surely to be silent and joyful that I lived.

And presently I slipt her shoes from her little feet, with my right
hand, the while that she did rest within my left arm; and I condemned
myself that I had thought not more swift to this end; but indeed I had
thought upon it while that Naani rubbed me, and had intention thiswise;
but afterward forgat, as you shall understand, that have been with me
alway. And truly Mine Own did be hurt that I say aught to my blame; and
I to cease, but yet to feel reproached by my heart.

And when I had lookt to the Maid's feet, I tied on her shoes again; and
we gat together our gear. And afterward we came down from the cave, with
a great care, because that it did be so high up in the cliff of the
Gorge.

And afterward, we made downward of the Gorge, and had a good care to our
going, and so much of speed as we could make, that we come something off
from the Dark Land of the Lesser Redoubt, so quick as we might.

And in six hours we had gone very well, and we stopt then that we eat
and drink; and afterward, I lookt again to the feet of the Maid. And I
bathed them in a great rock basin of warm water that did be anigh to the
place of our eating; and afterward I put the ointment about them very
thorough and gentle and for a good while; and so she had some ease and
comfort.

And afterward, we made onward again; but now we did go pretty easy; for
I had considered the notings of mine outward journey, and so did
perceive that we should be but six or seven hours off that part of the
Gorge, where did be the Slugs.

And I was minded that we rest and sleep, ere that we make through that
dire and dreadful place; for that we should be twelve great hours, and
more, to go through, and to have no rest or pause, until that we did be
safe outward again, as you shall think. And so did we need to be strong
and well rested, and this to be wise also for the feet of the Maid.

Now surely the Maid did be in delight of the fires of that part of the
Gorge where we were come, and she had beside a rest of the soul, in that
she had feeling that there did be no Evil Force to trouble us to our
destruction; and I bothered her not yet awhile with tellings of the
horrid place that we should to journey through in a while, as you do
know.

And so we did go, and alway with a good caution, lest that some Beast or
Creature should come upon us; and alway with the fire-holes before and
behind, and in the air of the Gorge the little whistlings of steam that
did spirt out in this place and that; and a good warmth in many parts,
by reason of the fires; and odd whiles a smelling of sulphur; but not
greatly, nor to our trouble. And alway the low muttering of the
fire-holes and pits, and the red lights, and the dancing of the shadows
when that we did go by a fire-pit where the fire did frisk and burn
lively. And upon either side, the grim walls of the Gorge going up
measureless into the night.

And so we were gone presently, pretty comfortable, for six good hours,
since last that we eat; and we made halt, and eat and drank; and I
showed the Maid how that we should make a short journey that day, and
sleep, and so be ready to the horrid journey through the dark part of
the Gorge, where the Slugs did be.

And we made search then, that we have a safe place to our slumber; and
surely I perceived where we did be; for we came upon that same cave
where I did sleep after that I was come free of the Slugs; and that we
were come no farther, doth show how easy did be our present going, and
this you do know. And there did be the spring where I washed, and the
fire-hole anigh, and truly they were not like to be gone away, as you
shall say! Yet did we exclaim, very natural; for the Maid did be so deep
in interest of the matters of my coming, and to be at once that no other
place should serve for our rest and slumber.

And, indeed, this was a natural thing, and the place so good as any,
save that I did wish it had been upward unto a high place of the Gorge,
as you shall understand. But yet might we block the mouth-part of the
cave with boulders, somewise as I did before, and so to have a defence
against any thing that should make to enter upon our sleep; or at the
least to be waked by the falling of the boulders.

Now Mine Own went inward of the little cave, which did be very light
from the fire-pit that was to the front; but before that she did go, I
made a swift search of the place, that there should be no creeping
thing; and truly it was sweet and free. And the Maid did be strangely
taken that she should come to the veritable place where once I did lie
on mine outward way; and truly I do understand, and so shall many that
do have these feelings about matters. And afterward, we went unto the
hot spring that was in the hollow of the rock, anigh to the fire-pit.
And I saw that there did be no snakes, neither any of the rat-things
anigh; and so I had the Maid to sit very comfortable on the side of the
pool, and I freed her shoes, and bathed her feet, and afterward rubbed
them very steady with the ointment; and so for a good time, and alway to
keep a looking out upon the Gorge.

And presently, when that I had taken a loving care of her pretty feet, I
tied the shoes again upon the Maid, and so back to the cave; and the two
of us to carry boulders, according to our strength. And when we had a
sufficient, we builded a rough and clumsy wall, after that we were gone
into the cave; and the wall rose nigh to fill the mouth of the cave, and
made us to be somewise in darkness, but yet to feel in safety. And I had
a good heed to make the chinks of the wall very close in the bottom, so
that no small creeping thing should come through unto us whilst that we
slept.

And afterward, Naani set the scrip and the pouch to be for my pillow;
but had the bundle of her torn garments to be for her own purpose.

And I perceived that she had the water-powder and a pack of the tablets
to her hand for our waking, that she might prepare our food, and mayhap
to wake a little before me, so that she have all ready to greet me from
my sleep. But, indeed, I said naught to show that I knew; for I saw that
this thing did give her a dear pleasure, and truly it was very sweet to
have her to these gentle duties, that did be to her so sure and quiet a
delight.

And Mine Own bade me that I lie; and she put the Diskos upon the outward
side of me, to mine hand; and with a dainty and fearful touch; for the
weapon did be very dreadful unto her thoughts; but yet a comforting
thing to abide for our defence. And afterward, she covered me with the
cloak, and kist me very sedate upon the lips; and then to her own side,
and to come very nice and happy under the cloak, and so to her rest.

And presently she did sleep, as I perceived by her breathings; and
surely it did seem to my spirit that she had an utter and dear content
in this arranging of our slumber, so that she did be all at peace in all
her being, because that she did be nigh unto me, that did be her Own
Love.

But, indeed, I could not sleep for a time; and surely, in a while, Mine
Own did nestle unto me in her sleep, so sweet and dear as a child, and
likewise as that it did be her right to be so anigh unto me; and I to be
that I should put mine arms about her, but indeed I moved not, neither
did I kiss her, as I did wish; for truly I should be very manly with
mine own maid that did be so trustful and utter mine in her sleep.

And presently I was over unto slumber also, and stirred not for eight
good hours, and did wake then to the hissing of the water, so that I
knew Mine Own was awake before me, as she had planned, and was making
ready that we eat.

And when she saw me move in the half-light, she gave out a little word
of joy, that I did be again to knowledge of her; and she came over, and
put her arms about my neck, and kist me very loving, thrice upon the
lips. And, in verity, it came to me in that moment that I had been kist
a while gone in my dreams, but scarce to know it; yet I perceived now
that Mine Own had taken a naughty advantaging of my slumber, that she
kiss me to her own pleasure; yet did the Maid say no word of her
naughtiness; and I to be likewise; but to resolve that I waken, mayhaps,
on the next time, and so catch her in her sweet and secret delight of
me.

And, truly, this doth sound quaint; but to be true.

And I rose, and took down the half of the wall that did be across the
mouth of the cave, and afterward lookt out; but there was no sight of
any horrid thing in the Gorge, save that one of the rat-things did
slumber, very gorged-seeming, upon the side of the little fire hole.

And afterwards, we eat and drank; and the Maid then to rub me, as
before; for I was greatly stiff on my waking, as you shall think; but
she came not into mine arms presently, as I did hope; but only kist my
shoulders, when that she had finished, and so bid me to dress.

Yet, after that I was drest, and had mine armour full upon me, she must
come unto me, and she slipt her two small hands into the one of mine,
and so stood by me, very silent. And sudden she put up her lips very
quiet and passionate, that I should kiss her; and she kist me once, as
it did be as that her spirit kist mine, and all her being came unto me;
and she gave me but that one kiss, and afterward slipt her hands very
gentle from mine, and made to the gathering of our gear.

But truly, I that loved her so great, knew that a tumult of love did be
hid in her heart. And, indeed, she looked once at me in such wise, that
I grew near to a true humbleness of heart because of the honour and love
that did be in her eyes.

And surely, it is a very little thing to die for such an One as Mine Own
did be. And by this saying, shall you perceive my heart in that moment,
and that I did pant, as it were, that I do some deed of love to show my
love. And truly this is but a natural desiring and human, and the cause
proper to the uplifting of manhood. And surely you shall all mind you of
such feelings in the past love-days, that I do pray should be never
past.

And when we had our gear together, I left it in the cave, and took Mine
Own over unto the hot pool that was anigh to the fire-pit; and she to
exclaim upon the rat-thing that did be yet a-slumber upon the side of
the fire-pit; and I to say that the thing did be no cause for fear, but
rather, indeed, a good friend, in that it was a devourer of snakes, as
you shall mind.

And while that we talked, I bathed the little feet of Naani; and surely,
as I dried them upon my pocket-cloth, I was taken that I should kiss
them; and surely I kist them, and they did be very shapely and dainty,
and all eased of travel by the care that I did take to this end.

And afterward I rubbed them with the ointment for a good while, and so
had them again into the shoes, and the Maid very quiet, after that I had
kist her feet that did be so dainty, but yet with a sweet naughtiness in
her way, as my heart perceived, though she did nothing, neither said
anything, to this end; and was truly very obedient, and orderly to all
my wishes.

And we went back then to the cave, and the Maid put the pot of the
ointment back into the pouch, and she buckled the pouch and the scrip
upon me; and the Diskos I had upon my hip; for I went nowise anywhere,
without it, as you shall suppose. And she had the little bundle of her
clothing for her burden, and truly, I was ready that she should carry so
much; for we did be to act wisely, and she well able to carry so small a
thing, and I better to have my hands alway free to the Diskos and to the
needs of the way.

And we went downward of the Gorge at a strong speed, for there did be
somewise of fifteen hours good journey, ere that we come out upon the
far side of that place where the Monsters did be, and this did be three
hours to the upward beginning of that place, and twelve hours journey
then, in the least, that we should take to go through again into the
light of the Gorge below. And this I did reckon from my notings of mine
upward journey, as you do know.

And I made all clear to the Maid, of the thing that did be before us,
and made not to hide the danger and horror, but yet to make not overmuch
of the same. And she to walk close beside me, very sweet and trustful,
and to say that she feared naught, so that I should be there to have
care of her; but only that she did fear harm for me; and yet to have
confidence that I should slay all hurtful things that should be like to
trouble us. And, truly, I did kiss her for her dear belief and love.

Now, in the middle part of the third hour, the air of the Gorge did
begin that it was heavy, and to have a seeming of fumes that stang
something upon the throat, odd whiles. And there were presently less of
the fire-holes, and soon, as we did go the more downward, the beginnings
of a great gloom, and to have smoke therein that made us to feel husky.

And in the end of the fourth hour, we were come truly far downward
within the gloom; and to be as that we groped in a fog of distaste; and
to know not how we went with any surety; for oft there did be an utter
darkness about us; and awhile the shine of a dull-glowing fire-pit upon
our sight, that did show us the gloom and dread of that place.

And we went alway very husht, and the Maid to my back; but I did halt
now and this time, and make to know how she did be; and surely she
whispered very brave to me through the dimness, and once did slip her
hand into mine, and I to take off mine armoured glove for a little
moment, that I hold her hand, and give her nice assurance. But, in
verity, there was terror in mine heart, that did be a terror far beyond
the trouble of mine upward way; and surely I was shaken newly with every
danger, lest that I should lose Mine Own, or she to come to any hurt.
And, indeed, you shall perceive how I did be; for so should you be in a
like case, and, in truth, it doth be an utter anxiousness and suffering.

Now when we had been two hours in the dark part of the Gorge, I smelled
of the dread and horrid stink that you do wot of. And surely a great
fear came upon me; for I perceived that we did come among the Monsters,
or that one came anigh to us.

And I whispered unto the Maid that she halt; and we stood very husht a
while, and surely the stink did grow, and to be very dreadful in the
nostrils, so that I felt Mine Own Maid to shake somewhat with the fear
and disgust that this thing did make in us. And presently the stinking
did ease somewhat from about us; but whether there had gone past us a
monster Slug, I have no sure knowing; for there did be no fire-pit anigh
to that place; so that there was a great darkness all about.

And surely there was a great slowness and wetness of the air, and dismal
drippings that made desolation in the silence; and the feel of strange
growths upon the boulders, as you do know, and oft an horrid slime and
dankness; and the stink to be everywhere, so that we knew a constant
disgust and fear. And alway the fumings of sulphur, that did seem, in
verity, to beat down upon us, utter heavy and sore upon our lungs.

And so went we onward amid the smell that did be as of dead things; and
oft did we make pause and hark, and had a great care as we did go by the
dull fire-holes and fire-pits, that we should make no showing of
ourselves in the light.

And sudden, as we did go by a great pit that burned very deep and red, I
reached back and caught Mine Own by the arm, and I set her gaze unto
the right side of the Gorge, which was beyond the fire. And the Maid
went very still, as she did see the thing that was there; for in verity
it was utter monstrous, and did shine very wet-looking in the light of
the fire. And truly it moved a little with the head, this way and that,
stretching through the dark and the shadows, as you shall see a slug to
move, and with no speed or sound, and nowise seeming heedful of aught.
But yet did I fear that it smelled us, if this might be; and this, as
you shall think, to be a very natural fear.

And alway, as I do mind, it seemed to go blindly somewise, or to have
that slow and strange moving that doth make one to think of a blindness;
but whether it did be truly blind, how shall I say; only that it was an
utter Monstrous Brute, so great as the black hull of a ship, and very
dreadful unto our hearts.

And we moved not for a while, save that I pulled Mine Own down into the
hiding of the boulders of that part; and she to put her hand very
anxious unto me; yet not to be comforted, as I did half to think, but to
persuade me, lest that I go to some adventuring that should set me in a
surer danger. And this I perceived in a little moment, and loved her for
her care.

But, indeed, I had no mind to aught, save that we come clear of that
place; and I watched the Monster, through places between the boulders;
and surely, in a little while, it swayed the great head very slow and
quiet unto the cliff that did make that side of the Gorge; and the Brute
set unto the Cliff, and began that it went upward with a strange moving
of muscles that did go wavewise under the wet and horrid-gleaming hide.

And so, in a little time, it was gone quiet against the cliff, and the
head-part did be upward in the darkness above, so that it did be from
our sight. But the monster body did be plain for a great way, and was
seeming clung to the cliff, and to come downward out of the dark, as
that it did be a great black ridge of soft and dreadful life upon the
face of the cliff; and the tail was something less bulked, and to taper,
and did trail outward into the Gorge upon the boulders.

And surely the thing did seem as that it slept, but that odd whiles the
tail did lift a little off the boulders, and curl somewise, and
afterward come down again upon the boulders, mayhap in this place and
mayhap in that place, as we did watch, all hid.

And it was as that our sense and our Spirits did assure us that the
thing had no wotting of us; but surely our fears did nigh to equal the
comfort of this sweet reason, and to make us think otherwise.

Yet, in a time, I made that we go forward together through the spaces
that did be among the boulders. And I went creeping, and the Maid to
follow likewise.

And oft I did pause, and made a watching upon the monster; but truly it
moved not, save as I have told; and I kept a great heed upon the Maid,
that she follow alway close unto my feet.

And in the end we came safe from that place where the monster did be
clung unto the great cliff in the night.

And we went then for two great hours without adventure, save that once
the Maid touched me that we pause; for that something went by us where
we did be in an utter dark place of the Gorge, and no fire-hole anigh.

And I knew that the thing did be near, even as the Maid toucht me. And
caught I the Maid in the dark, and thrust her under the side of a
boulder; and I crouched then before her, with mine armour, that I should
protect her from any Brutish thing. And the Diskos in my hand, and
afterward an horrid time of waiting.

And the stink of that part of the Gorge grew very dreadful, so that it
did be as that we should not breathe, with the horror of the stink. And
there went past us some horrid and utter Monster, that made neither
sound nor anything, save that there seemed a strange noise that might be
the breathing of a great thing; but yet did be all uncertain, in that
the sides of the Gorge cast the sound this way and that, in an horrid
whispering of echoes; so that we did not know whether the sound be made
nigh to us, or afar upward in the eternity of the night, where I did
suppose the mountains to be joined over the Gorge in a monstrous roof in
that part.

And presently, the strange noisings died in the upward height, and all
about us; and the utter disgust of the stink went from us; so that we
knew that the Monster had gone past us, and did make downward through
the dark Gorge; and mayhap then to some lone and dreadful cavern of the
world, as I did think.

And, indeed, as I do mind, I had a sudden wonder at that time, and other
whiles, as it did chance, whether this way did be truly the olden way
that the Peoples of the Lesser Refuge did travel in the Olden Days. And
surely, as I did suppose, they had come some other way, or the Gorge to
be different and less dreadful in the far-off years. And this thing you
shall agree with me to be a reasonable thinking.

And after that the Monster had gone a good while we went onward again,
and with a great caution; and dreading alway lest that we come upon that
Monster, in the darkness; but yet did we know by smell, and by all our
consciousness, whether that we came nigh unto one of the monster Slugs.

Then, in the end of the fifth hour in the dark part of the Gorge, we
came by the mouth of that great cavern, upon our left; and you to
remember the same.

And I made pause in the darkness, and had the Maid very gentle by the
arm, that she should look with me. And I whispered how that I past this
place, to my right, upon mine upward way, and how that I did think
there to be a-plenty of monster caverns within the mountains that made
the sides of the Gorge, and that, mayhap, the Slug-Creatures had there
an home in such places, or came up, it might be, from some utter strange
deepness and mystery of the great world.

And the Maid did bide very close unto me, and silent, whilst that I
whispered; for the terror of the place did be on her, yet not to make
her lacking of courage, but yet to put a monstrous awe upon her and a
great and natural fear; and I likewise, as you do know.

And we stayed there, where we did be, a little moment, and looked
downward into the bowels of the monster cavern; and the shine of the
fire-hole beat over the cavern in the near part; but there did be an
utter mystery and deathly dark beyond the shining of the pit that did be
within, as you shall remember.

And, in verity, as we stayed but to glance, I perceived that there lay
humped things about the fire, and some to be black-seeming, and some to
have a seeming of whiteness, but with no sureness in the colour to mine
eyes.

And there came a moving in one of the humpt things, so that it did be as
that an hill did wake unto an horrid life. And immediately I knew that
the humps did be some utter monsters, mayhaps even the great Slugs,
a-slumber about the fire-pit that did burn in that strange deeply
cavern. And I saw that I did ill for our lives, that I should pause even
for a little moment to such staring.

And immediately I whispered to Mine Own that we go with all our speed;
for, indeed, I knew not whether that our nearness had waked that
Monster, or whether that it had but waked by chance. And truly, I was
utter eager that we be gone from that place, so swift as we might.

And we went on then through all of the sixth hour that we did be in the
Slug part of the Gorge, as I named it unto myself. And in all that hour,
there did nothing harmful come anigh; only, as I did know presently,
there came an unease upon our spirits, but yet to be very little at that
time, and we to be scarce knowing of it. And alway, as we went, there
did be darkness for the most, and odd-whiles a vague murmuring of the
night far above, as it did seem; and presently the dull glare of a
fire-pit to shine out far off below us in the Gorge, and to seem very
dim and unreal unto us, by reason of the smokes and the fumes that made
a haze and a distaste in the Gorge.

And presently, the murmuring of the night to grow somewhat, and,
afterward, the sound of the muttering of the fire-pit to come unto us;
and the murmuring to die unto our ears that did be hearing now only the
dull muttering, and so we to know that the murmuring of the night did be
truly the far-off muttering of the fire-holes, and our eyes to guide our
hearing, and our reason to explain and knit the sounds; and so we to
pass by the fire-hole with a great quiet and caution and ever with
watchfulness, as you shall suppose. And afterward again into the dark;
and presently again the murmuring, to tell that we came unto another of
the fire-pits, that was yet afar off in the Gorge, and made dim echoes
in the night.

And alway we went very watchful, and in grim fear; but with
steadfastness and good intention to win forth out of that desolation and
horror, and having alway so great a speed as the darkness and the
dangers and the trouble of the way did allow.

And in this place I will make explanation why that I speak somewhiles of
fire-pits and otherwhiles of fire-holes; for the holes did be those
fires that burned nigh to the brim of the holes; but the pits were those
places where the fire was deeply in the earth. And this thing I give for
your enlightenment, even on a small matter; so that you shall have a
clear knowledge to abide with me all the way; and you to agree of this
for wisdom, and I to be pleased that you so agree.

And here also, I should tell that there did not come a muttering from
all of the fire-holes and the fire-pits; but mayhap from this one, and
mayhap not from that one, according to the way of the fire therein. And
this shall be plain unto you.

And so shall you see us go, and the smoke and the bitterness of the
sulphur to be all about us; and oddwhiles the murmuring of a far-off
pit, and oft the utter silence; and to pass this time a lonesome
fire-hole; and afterward the utter dark, or the half-gloom, all as might
chance, according to the nearness of the fires. And upward in the
everlasting night, the grim mountains to make a roof over us, as I did
suppose.

And all this while did the unease, of which I have told, make upon us;
so that, presently, Mine Own whispered unto me the thing that already my
spirit did half to perceive, that there came after us through the night
some harmful thing, that did be surely no great way off, as I did feel
within me, and the Maid to have a likeways belief.

And, truly I thought at once upon that Brute that did wake downward in
the mighty Cavern, where did be the great inward fire-hole, as I have
told; but whether this did be true knowledge that we did be chased in
the dark by that thing, or whether there came after us some other
Monster, I could have no sureness; but only that we did be chased, and
of this I had assuredness.

And I set the Maid before me, that I have myself ready to the danger
that followed; and we made forward again then, so quick as we were
abled; and she went very wisely; for she had good wit and had noted the
ways of my leading.

And we went thus until the end of the seventh hour. And surely, in that
time, we heard the murmuring in the night which told of a fire-hole
somewise before us; and soon to have the red glare plain to our eyes,
and the noise of the murmuring to die away into the nearer mutter of
the fire; and so presently to be anigh; and we to make forward with a
good speed, because that we feared utterly the thing that made quiet
chase of us through the night.

And oft I did look backward, and smelt the air, that I know whether it
did be a monster Slug-beast that chased us; but there did be no
worseness of the smell, to tell me aught.

And alway, I did be fretted in the heart, that we could make no greater
speed; but, indeed, as you shall perceive, our going did be but a slow
thing in the dark places, and even thus we had many a sore tumbling and
bruising.

And by this, we were come almost unto the fire-hole; and immediately, I
saw that I knew the place, for there went upward beside the fire, a
great jaggedness of rock, that I had seen upon mine upward way.

And surely, I caught the Maid in an instant, and bent her, and she quick
to obey with her body. And we were both immediately hid downward among
the boulders. And this I did, because I minded how that there did be
many of the Monsters nigh to this same fire-hole, as I did go upon mine
upward way.

And we went forward then with an utter care; but yet to keep onward,
because that there did be somewhat in chase of us. And, in verity, when
that we were come opposite unto the fire-hole, I saw that there did be
seven of the monster Slugs against the far side of the Gorge, and did be
all set upon their bellies against the cliff, and their horrid heads to
be hid in the upward dark, and their tails to lie very great and
soft-seeming in the bottom of the gorge, upon the boulders.

And, lo! the Maid toucht me, and she drew me to look upon the near cliff
of the Gorge. And truly there did be three of the Brutish Things laid
upward there, and a fourth did be humped somewhat upon a great ledge
that did be upward of the Gorge, and just to be plain to our eyes.

And surely, it was as that we did be all surround by such Monsters, and
to make the heart sink, and fear to lie upon our hopefulness. But,
indeed, the Maid showed a good spirit, and I to have fierce determining
that we come free of that Gorge, and afterward, in time, unto our Mighty
Home.

And we made forward again, and did go creeping among the rocks and the
boulders; and so came presently past that place, and had not waked the
Monsters, if that indeed they did truly sleep.

And I made halt a moment upon the far border of the light from the
fire-hole, and I lookt backward up the Gorge, perchance that I should
see the thing that followed us. But, indeed, there came nothing out of
the dark of the upward Gorge, so that I knew that there did be some safe
space to our backs, which did be truly a comforting thing.

And here I should tell how that there was no great stinking in that
place where did be so many of the Slug-beasts, and this to puzzle me;
and in the end to make me think that some of those horrid things did
stench more great than others; but yet I to have no certainty in this
matter, as you do perceive. And, truly, this thing troubled me; for I
had been comforted that my nose should tell me when that the thing that
made chase of us should draw nigh in the darkness; and now, in verity, I
knew not what to have for assurance; for the awaredness of the spirit
was but a vague thing, and no more in such a matter, than a feeling as
of an inward warning.

And we went onward then for a great hour, and with an horrid unease upon
us; and thrice we did go by fire-pits in the darkness; and alway I made
pause upon the far side of the light, that I should look backward; but
did have no sight of aught; yet did my spirit or my fears warn me with
new fear, and a greater sense of nearness; and the Maid to confess also
to this thing.

Now, we saw not any of the Slugs for a long while, neither had there
been any about the three fire-holes; and the air of the Gorge was grown
something sweet and free somewhat of the stench of dead-seeming things;
but yet to be very bitter with fumings and smoke and sulphur stinks.

And lo! in the middle of the tenth hour, as we did go, painful and with
anxiousness in a very dark place of the Gorge, there came unto us again
the smell that told to us that one of the Monsters did be anigh. And
surely we had both a great fear, in that we had belief that it did be a
sign that the thing that made chase, did draw near upon us. But yet did
I to use my Reason also, and to know that the stink might be from some
Monster that we were come nigh to in the darkness of that place; and I
whispered this unto the Maid, and she to say, very husht, that it might
be so; but to have no belief; and I to be likewise, as you do see.

And we pusht forward at a new speed, and had many bitter falls, so that
we did be all bruised; but not to know it at that time, because that our
fear did be so keen. And oft we made a little pause and harkt; but there
did be only the dismal drip of water from on high; and presently the
murmur of the night, that told that we drew near unto a new firepit.

And surely this was a great easement to our spirits, in that we should
have light to perceive our danger, and mayhap to win free. But to be in
that utter dark, was a thing to break the courage, and to breed belief
that we did be utter helpless, and all wrapt in horror and despair.

And the stink grew ever, as we made forward; so that I knew not whether
there did be great Monsters beside the fire-pit that was to our front,
as I have told, or whether it made plain the advancing of the Pursuer.
And we only to be able to make our best speed, and to be weary with hope
that we rush not blind into death; and alway to be chilled in the back
with the belief that the thing that made chase did be very close in that
utter dark, and to gain upon us.

And we knew not whether to make our belief to be the tellings of the
spirit or the utterings of our fears; and so shall you perceive our
plight; and we but to be able to make forward. And, in verity, the
dreadfulness of that time doth shake me now to think upon, and you also,
if that you have gotten my tellings to your hearts, so that your human
sympathy doth be with me.

And there came presently to our ears the far mutter of the fire-pit, so
that very soon the murmuring was lost to us in the night, and only the
slow mutter to be plain. And the dull looming of the fire shone afar
off, through the night and the smoke and fumings; and we to a great
speed, and to pant with fear; but yet with a freshness of hope again to
sweeten us.

And we came nigh to the fire-pit, and lo! the smell did be grown very
drear and foul; but there did be no Slug-Beast near the fire. And by
this, we perceived that we did be truly in an utter danger, in that the
Pursuer did be upon us, and the stinking to tell this to be truth, and
our spirits to have warned us very strong and proper.

And I stopt near to the fire-pit, which did be great, and very
red-glowing; and I lookt upward of the Gorge, into the night of the
Gorge that we did come from; but the Monster was not yet upon us to work
our death. And I lookt to the sides of the Gorge, and the Maid to have
the same thought that did be mine, that we climb the mountains that made
the sides of the Gorge.

And I lookt very keen first to this side, and then did run overward,
that I look more close upon the other; and afterward back again; for it
did seem that we should have a greater ease upon the side that we did
be.

And I askt the Maid whether that she did be prepared; and she to be very
white and wearied, and all besmirched with the dankness and growths upon
the boulders and the hidden pools of the Gorge and the dripping of the
waters; but yet did she be sound in her courage, and to show that she
had all belief and abiding in me, and her judgement likewise to be with
mine, in that her own Reason did approve.

And I took the bundle of her torn clothing from her, for it did be at
her girdle, and like to trouble her movings; but she to refuse, very
determined, in that I did be already over-burdened. And I to be firm in
my deciding, and to make her to yield the bundle, the which I hookt unto
the "hold" of the Diskos, where it did be to mine hip.

And the Maid to be there, a little figure, and white in the face, and
strangely angered, and her anger mixt with hidden acknowledgement that I
did be her master, and half to be minded that she move not from where
she did stand, and part to be reasonable and fearful of the hidden
Beast; and in part also to thrill in her womanhood unto the man that did
be so masterful unto her. And all to pass in a little moment, and we to
be to the Gorge side, and busied very eager to the climb.

And the Maid to be first, as I did heed, and I to follow, and have
constant looking to the task and to her safety, and alway to be bitter
anxious for our speed to be good, and to be anxious the more then, lest
that Mine Own should slip; for there did be an horrid wetness upon the
sides of the Gorge, as you shall have guessed, and horrid growths that
blotched the great rocks mightily, and made an utter slipperiness, if
that they did be trod upon; and we to have to come so clear of all such
matters, as we might, and yet to be speedy for our lives, and likewise
to lack no care and thought to the setting of our hands and of our feet
in places fitted to the lifting of our weight.

And truly you shall see that we went very desperate, and I to give word
to the Maid that she look not downward, the which I was urgent upon,
lest that she come giddy in the heart. But I, as you shall think, could
scarce to keep from fearful peerings below, so that I learn speedy
whether the Pursuer did come yet into the light of the fire-hole,
beneath.

And presently, the Maid did gasp very weak and troubled with the
soreness of the climb; and I came higher, and set mine arm about her, as
we did be there upon the face of the cliff; and she stopt very still a
little while, and an ease did come to her, and an assurance of safety.
And surely, I kist her there where we did be in that upward place, and
her lips did tremble unto mine; and her courage and strength to come
back into her, so that in a minute she did make once more to the
climbing.

And we came presently to a place where a great ledge did be, that jutted
out from the mighty cliff, and was surely a huge way above the Gorge
bottom. And the ledge sloped, and there were on the ledge, great stones
and boulders that did make lodgement there through eternity.

And I lookt very careful to our way, and saw that we did be in the path
of a mighty rock that was over-nigh unto the edge of the shelf-place,
and did put fear upon me, in that it seemed that it should come down
with great thundering upon us, if that we but shook the place where it
did be.

And I caught the Maid very swift and gentle, and shaped our path unto
one side of that great rock, and did presently lose my fear, when that
we did come safe from under it.

And in a minute after, we were come upward upon the ledge, and a very
safe place it did seem, and surely as that no monster should be abled to
come upward upon us. And this I did try to make for comfort unto
ourselves; but that we both to know how that the great Slugs could lie
up against the sides of the Gorge, and surely it did be like that they
should be able to come upward clear of the Gorge, and so to the place
where we made to have safety. And I had no thought to deny this thing,
when that it was clear to my brain; but set rather that we should have
some way to fight the Monster, if that we did be discovered.

And I thought in a moment upon the stones that did be about; and the
Maid in the same moment cried out that we should push the big rock down
upon the Slug that we believed to have chase of us, and indeed, the rock
to be a great weapon, if we could but stir it, as you shall think.

And alway, as we talked, very hushed, we lookt downward into the
deepness of the Gorge, unto the upward end of the fire-light; but there
came no thing yet unto our knowledge, only that the stinking did rise up
to us through that great distance.

And the fire-pit to seem now a very small burning, and to give no great
light up to us; and we neither to be abled to see very clear of the
Gorge bottom, in that the haze of the fumes and the smoke was in the air
of the Gorge, and made uncertainty; and we to be nowise proper free of
the smoke, even where we did be.

And we watched, very set with anxiousness and fearful expecting of the
monster; and did be both yet lost of breath, and the Maid that she made
her words something broken for a little while.

And lo! in a moment, Naani cried out very low and sharp that the thing
did come; and I to see a moving of somewhat, in the same instant, in the
Gorge that lay upon the upward side of the fire-pit.

And immediately I saw the great and monster head of the Beast come
forward into the shine from the pit; and the head did be of a blotched
white, and to have the eyes upon great stalks that came from the forward
part of the head; and the stalks to be set downward, so that the eyes
lookt upon the bottom parts of the Gorge. And surely this doth be very
horrid-seeming to the mind of this age, but yet to have a less
strangeness unto the two of us that had seen many horrid sights, as you
do know.

And as the Monster came forward the more into the light, I saw that the
great and utter mighty bulk did be all of that same whiteness, that did
be so set over with blotchings and a seeming of unhealth. But, truly the
colour was proper to a creature that did abide in so great a darkness,
as you shall say, yet had those Slugs that we did see, been black and
shining, for the most, as I have told; and this to be as I saw, and I
not to heed here that I try unto explainings in this place; else should
I be never eased of my task, as you do see.

And the Monster Slug came onward, and as it did go, it set the stalks of
the eyes in among the boulders, as that it did search; swayed now this
way and now that way, from side to side of the Gorge, and alway it
pushed the stalks of the eyes inward among the boulders; and so to go
forward, searching. And truly it was very dreadful to see the thing make
search for us, and to go so steadfast to so dread a purpose.

And, indeed, I saw it not so plain as might be, because of the haze of
the fumes and the smoke that did lie in the air of the Gorge, as I have
told, and made something vague the sight at this time and that; but yet
we did both see a strange thing; for when that the great white body did
be come half into the light, the Slug-Beast set out a big tongue among
the boulders, after that it did peer thereunder; and the tongue did be
very long, and white, and something thin-seeming; and the Monster lapped
inward in a moment a great snake from among the boulders, and the tongue
did hold upon the snake, as that there did be surely teeth or roughness
upon the tongue; but yet the distance to be too great for any surety of
the sight, as you do know; and moreover, there did be the uncertainty of
the haze within the air.

And the Slug took the snake inward, all as it did lash and wriggle, and
swallowed it in a moment; and, in verity, that snake did be a big and
horrid creature, else had it been not so plain to our sight; but it did
be as a worm unto the monster, and gone instant.

And immediately, the Slug-Beast went again to searching, and the head to
sway from this side unto that side of the Gorge; and by the wideness and
ease of this swaying shall you perceive the utter greatness of the
Beast.

And alway, as it did come downward of the Gorge, it thrust the stalks of
the eyes inward among the boulders, looking all ways; and oft the breath
did come from it, as a cloud; and the stink to rise up unto us, very
plain and an abomination. And again, we saw the Beast set the tongue in
among the boulders of the Gorge bottom; and it lickt forth a snake that
did seem so thick as a man in the body, and the snake to thrash in the
great white tongue, and to be immediately drawn inward, and gone utter.

And surely, as the thought did stir in me, there did be a great Mercy
over us, in that we did not die by such a serpent in some dark and
horrid place of the Gorge. But yet, as it is like to be, mayhap the
snakes did be only anigh to the fire-holes; yet doth it be anywise a
wondrous thing that we had come so free of them alway; and truly to
learn, was to be given a new terror.

Now the Monster was come fully into the shining of the fire-pit, and was
upon this side; and the fire to make a shining against the side of the
Slug, so that odd whiles I did perceive very plain the huge wrinklings
and musclings of the skin, as the Beast made onward. And alway it did
search, thrusting in the eye-stalks among the boulders.

And sudden, it made pause, and did begin that it brought all the mighty
body together, and humpt itself, and brought the head-part round unto
the bottom of the cliff that made this side of the Gorge. And it
gathered itself, and afterward did lengthen upward against the cliff,
and begin to climb. And lo! I saw that the Beast did scent of us, and
made to come upward to destroy us.

And as the mighty hill of the body did come into length against the
great cliff-side, the Beast set the eye-stalks into this cave and that,
as it did go, and into all crannies; and so lengthened upward very
straight and monstrous and dreadful unto us, and did be as a white and
mildewed hill, that had an horrid life. And the stink to come up, so
that we did be like to lose our breath with the dreadfulness of it, as
you shall think.

And surely, for a moment, I looked unto the rocks upon the ledge, and
this way and that way, and upward unto the everlasting darkness that did
be above us, and again unto the great rock that did seem to quiver upon
the edge, as I have told. And I was grown utter desperate in a moment;
for, truly, it did seem in that instant that there did be no power in
the world that should slay so utter mighty a Monster.

And immediately, even as I did despair, I had run very swift unto the
great rock, and the Maid with me, both very strained and shaken with the
horror of the thing that did make upward unto us so sure and intent.

And I set my strength unto the rock, and heaved; but indeed the rock
gave not from the place where it did be; so that I had a dreadful
despair; for I saw that it did be more secure than had seemed. And the
Maid lent her strength unto mine, and we heaved together, with sore
pantings, and little cries to guide our endeavours and because we could
not be contained in that moment.

And surely it seemed that the great rock moved, and lo! as we strove
together to the task, there came a vast and sudden grinding, and the
rock to cease from our shoulders, and to be gone from us, or scarce we
did wot of the happening. And the rock went over, and rushed downward
upon the Monster, and with mighty crashings, as it did grind and crush
the face of the cliff-side with a quick and constant thundering. And I
caught the Maid, as she did stagger upon that dire upward edge because
that she had set her strength so utter to the endeavour, and the rock to
be gone so sudden, as you do see, and she to be like to follow after.
And she clung unto me, and I to hold her very safe as I lookt down upon
the falling of the Rock. And behold! the Great Rock smote the Monster in
the humpt part of the back, below of the head, and did enter into the
Monster, even as a bullet doth strike, and was gone instant from my
sight into the Vitals.

And there came a mighty sound of anguish from the Monster; and the
Monster did loosen from the cliff, and to crumple, as it did seem, and
sink backward. And a great steam of dread breathing to go upward from
the Beast, and a reek; and it made again the strange and horrid noise of
pain, and the Gorge to be yet full of the echoes of the Rock thundering,
and with the noise of the rock there was now mingled the horrid sounding
of the death-crying of the Beast. And the Gorge to be filled with dull
and dreadful echoings, as that an hundred Monsters died in this place
and that of the darkness in the Gorge, and all to be bred of the noise
of that mildewed hill a-dying.

And the echoes ceased not for a while, even after that the Monster did
be utter quiet; for truly they came presently from far upward and
downward of the Gorge, out of all the eternity of the night, and to be
as that they came backward very faint out of lonesome miles, and out of
the strange deepness of unknown caverns of the world. And so in the end
to silence; and the far bottom of the Gorge to be filled with a white
and horrid hill, very dreadful, and that did yet quiver to show the
slowness of Death. And alway a dreadful reek and stinking to fill all
the air, even unto the height, as of the grave.

And I stood upward in that far, high place, and held the Maid very
strong and tender; and she to have covered her ears from that dreadful
crying; and to be yet shaken with the greatness and horror of the dying
of the Monster, and the nearness that she did come unto falling, as you
have seen.

And presently she came less to tremble, and did weep very easeful, even
as a babe doth weep; and I, mayhap, to be not over-steady, as you shall
think; but yet to have a great gladness set in my heart, and a triumph,
and an utter grace of thankfulness.

And I held Mine Own, very tender and sure, as I did say; and she very
soon to be eased of her trouble, and the shock to be something gone from
her. And she lookt up at me, and slipt her arms upward about my neck,
and pulled me downward unto her, that she might kiss me.

And we to talk then, of the going down; and surely this did seem a great
and dangerous task; for, truly, we had come upward pretty easy in the
excess of our fear; but how we might go down, with our blood cool, I did
be all in doubt.

Yet, before that we did aught else, I led the Maid upward on to the safe
part of the ledge; and we sat there, very quiet and weary, and she did
be leaned against me. And we eat, each of us, two of the tablets, and I
to scold and coax Mine Own to this end, and she to obey and to be better
afterward, because that she had eat. And we drank some of the water, and
did rest a time longer.

And presently, our courage and strength was come back into us; and we
packt the scrip again, and the Maid set it fast to my back; and we went
then to the edge of the shelf, and lookt downward, this way and that;
and surely, there did be no way to go, save the way we came; only that
we might shape our downward climbing to bring us a little below that
place where the dead Monster did be.

And I saw by mine own heart and by the paleness of the Maid, that we
should do well that we consider the thing no more; but make to the task.

And I went immediately over the edge of the shelf, upon my belly, and I
bade Naani to follow. And we began then that we go downward; and, in
verity, we went downward for, mayhap, a great hour; and I gave help
alway unto Mine Own, as I could; and she to come after me very brave,
and made that she hold back her fear, and come downward of that cliff,
that did be oft like to a mighty wall. And surely, even as we came down,
I marvelled how we did ever go upward, even though fear did aid us; but,
indeed, I do think it doth be easier to climb safely, than to come
backward; for this is how I have found.

And we made rest thrice upon ledges of the cliff. And afterward came
downward again; and alway very slow and with exceeding heed where our
hands and our feet did go, that we slip not suddenly to our death.

And once, as I did see, the Maid was lost of all her strength, and did
be going to fall, because that she did be all gone into a sudden
weakness of the head in an instant. And she did be silent, even in that
moment, the which doth be marvellous unto me, and to give me a strong
pride of her, as you shall understand, if that ever you have loved. And
surely, I came upward, in a moment, that little space that was between,
and had mine arm about Mine Own very swift, and held her hard and fierce
against the cliff; and this I did that she should feel how that she
could never fall; and immediately, her strength and her dear courage
came back into her; and I kist her, there against the mighty cliff; and
afterward she did have power again to come downward safe.

And presently we were come to the Gorge bottom, and maybe an hundred
paces down the Gorge from that place where did be the dead Monster, all
sunk into an ugly and horrid heap, so great as a small hill.

And a dreadful stinking did hang in all that part of the Gorge, by
reason of the Slug; and signs of disgust, as you shall think; and the
great and mildewed body of the thing yet to settle and twitch, as I did
look, as it did come properly unto death in all that mighty bulk. And
everywhere, the skin of the Beast did be set into great wrinklings, and
horrid blotchings to be upon the improper whiteness thereof; and truly I
did be in haste that I turn the Maid away from that thing, and that we
haste downward of the Gorge.

And we went then for two good hours, and alway I did hearten the Maid,
and she to go very husht and trustful by me; but truly I did be in an
anguish of heart, because that I was newly aware that there did be such
great and dreadful serpents in that part of the Gorge, as you do also
know. And I was not over-feared for myself, but for the Maid that did
have no armour to protect her dear body. And because that I was so set
with this trouble, I took the Maid presently into mine arms, that I
carry her, and so to have her clear of aught that should lie among the
boulders.

And, in verity, Mine Own did show an anger very surprising and
determined; for I said not why I should carry her--fearing to give her a
greater unease--but only that she did be weary, and I very strong and
willing.

And, indeed, I could not bring her to reason, without I told her, which
was not mine intent; for she did refuse me to carry her; and said that
truly I had need of no added burden unto my labours.

And when she saw that I would not be moved by her reasonings, she made
to win upon me by her loving ways; but, indeed, I only kist her; and
went forward with her in mine arms. And she half naughty, that I did be
so heedless of her wishings, and somewise hurt also; and so to be silent
in mine arms; yet mayhap to be something stirred in her nature, that I
did be steadfast to mine intention, despite that her will did be
contrary.

And this I do believe to be truth, because that, afterward, I do think
that she lay there in mine arms, only as a woman that doth be in the
hands of her Master that hath all her love.

And in thiswise we went forward.

And in the end of the two hours that we did go, there was come the end
of the dark part of the Gorge; and we to be outward of that mighty roof
of the mountains, as I do think it to have been; and the air to be free
of the stink of the Monsters, and the fire-holes to be very plenty, and
their smokings to go upward very proper; so that we had no more the
bitterness of their fumings in our throats.

And there did be a pretty good light, to go by the contrast of the past
hours; and I set Mine Own again to her feet, and made that she keep to
my rearward, so that if there did be any serpents to our path, they
should come first under my feet, and thiswise to work no harm to me,
because of mine armour, neither to Naani, Mine Own Maid.

Now by this time, it was somewhat of nineteen great hours since we did
sleep; for we had been a long while making that we come safe from the
Slug; and, indeed, we had come downward with a less speed than I did go
through upon mine upward way, as you shall mind; and this to be that
Mine Own did not have the hard strength that was in my body to the
enduring of great labour and stress; and this surely all to be plain
unto you that have been with me in all my journey. And, moreover, there
must be kept to mind the three hours that we had gone, ere we were come
proper into the dark part of the Gorge; and so all to be remembered unto
you; and also you to mind that we did be wakeful a time, ere that we set
forward upon that day's journeying.

And we did go almost in joyous-wise, because that we were come safe out
of that dreadful place; and surely, odd whiles I did feel the hands of
Mine Own Naughty One to be hookt very pretty and sly into the backward
part of my belt, as that she did make a pretending that she drive me
before her; and surely this doth be a strange thing to tell upon; for
there did be no knowledge of the olden horse in all the eternity of that
dark world; but yet, maybe, some dear olden memory-dream did set her
hands unconscious to this pretty work.

And, in verity, once I turned very sudden, and had her swift into mine
arms, as she did pretend to drive me; and she to laugh with a sweet and
joyous gurgle against mine armour; and I to heed that I hurt her not,
because I did be like an iron man that should put arms about a tender
maid.

And we lookt alway now for a place that should be proper to our rest and
to our sleep; and when it did be close upon the end of the twentieth
hour of that journey, the Maid showed me a cave that was, mayhap, fifty
good feet upward in the right side of the Gorge.

And I lookt about, and saw that there did be two fire-holes anigh, and a
warm spring to make a basin of water, that did lie between the fires;
and all very well set to our need, as I did perceive; for, indeed, we
did be utter besmirched with the filth of the Slug part of the Gorge,
and to need that we be nice and fitly washed, before that we have any
comfort of our selves.

And I bade Naani to wait a little minute; and I lookt well up the Gorge
and well down the Gorge; and lo! there did be no thing to set me in
unease; and I told Mine Own that she keep a sharp and steadfast
watching, and not to heed me; and this I said, because I knew she did be
like otherwise to look at me and be over-anxious, as I go upward to the
cave; and, indeed, she to be better anyway in watch of the Gorge, and to
cry out to me, if that anything came anigh, whilst that I went upward.

And I made upward to the cave; and was come there pretty quick; and
truly it did be good for our purpose, and fresh-seeming and dry, and to
have no holes that I could see for the hiding of creeping things.

And I called down gently to the Maid that the cave did be proper; and
she to show her gladness, and to be looking upward at me, instead of the
way of the Gorge, as I set her; and truly she did be a dear and human
little Maid, and utter Mine; so that I did find a new joy in each small
lack of wisdom, and this just so much as that she had done a wondrous
proper thing. And truly, you shall say, there was some properness to her
heart, in that she could abide not but to watch me.

And I went quickly down to Mine Own; for there was alway an unease upon
me, save when I did be nigh to her, in chance of trouble.

And when I was come down to her, the Maid did be seeming a little in
thought; and afterward showed me how that she did be all in a pitiful
disgust of the dirt and slime and the drippings of the Gorge, that did
be on her, and had made her garment utter wet and bemired, so that she
did feel that her very body was a repulse unto her.

And I saw how it did be with Naani; and I went to the warm pool, and
felt that it did be not over-hot, and afterward found the deepness, by
the handle of the Diskos, and this to be scarce of three feet, and the
water very clear to show me the bottom, so that it was surely a nice
and proper place to be for such a purpose as I did think. And I set some
of the water to my mouth, using my hand; and truly there did seem no
hurtful chemical in the water; and therefore was I eased that the Maid
should have the desire that I did see to be in her mind.

And I saw that I should be helpful to Mine Own, if that I make the
arranging of things to be in mine own hands. And I went back unto the
Maid, and told her that the pool was very nice to be for a bath-place;
and that she to haste to wash herself, whilst the Gorge did be free of
any Creature or Monster.

Now I saw that Naani was troubled, and feared that I did be going to
leave her, and yet did be paused a little in her words, to show me all
that she did wish.

And surely, I stoopt and kist her, as she did look so wistful in her
little puzzlement; and immediately I removed her trouble very natural,
and told that I should stand guard anigh to her, the while that she
bathed. And, truly she did be at ease on the moment, and mayhap
something surprised to know wherefore she had been something a-lack to
ask me. But, in truth, it did be very natural.

And I told her to be so quick as she might, which was a needless thing
to say, yet to start her; and she to go quietly to obey me; but first to
take the cloak out of the hold upon my shoulders, and to unfold it, and
so to the pool. And I to stand with my back thatwards, and to lean,
ready, upon the Diskos.

And presently she did be in the water, as I knew; and I to be her man,
very sure and gentle to her and sedate. And truly, as you shall think, I
did love that I be to stand guard to her in her dear maidenhood; and
she, after that she was cheered and warmed by the delight of the water,
to sing very low and happy to herself, where she did be to my back.

And, sudden, the singing to cease, and the Maid screamed; and I to have
no thought of improper modesty but turned instant to the Maid. And in a
moment, I saw what did trouble her; for there came a serpent out of the
water; and the Maid to be all adrift with natural modesty, and with her
fear of the serpent. And I was come into the pool in a moment, in mine
armour, and did lift the Maid, naked and wet into mine arms, and had her
instant from the water, and upon the side of the pool; and there I wrapt
the cloak about her; and ran very quick and killed the serpent, as it
did go offwards among the boulders. And surely it did be so thick as
mine arm, and to have come from some hole that did be hid in the bottom
of the pool.

And I came back then to Mine Own, and took her into mine arms, and set
the cloak well about her; and she to cry and to tremble with the shock
and disturbance of the thing; but soon to be eased, and ready to laugh
with me.

And so she was come proper to her happiness again, and I very gentle
and joyous with her, for truly my heart had been sick that she had come
so nigh to that horrid danger.

And I eased the scrip from me, and opened it, and made her to take two
of the tablets, and she to refuse to eat, save I company her also; and
indeed I did be very willing, for truly my belly was alway empty. And
she to be very glad to eat, because she did be clean now, and to have no
more disgust of herself. And afterward, we drank some of the water. And
soon we did be finished, and she to ask for her girdle that I did give
her with the knife, as I have surely told. And she belted the cloak very
graceful about her; and lookt very dear and pretty with her little bare
feet; and her hair very lovely upon her shoulders, for she did wear
alway in the Gorge the lining of my head-piece, and so had her hair dry
and sweet.

And, in verity, I did mind now, how that she did look very beautiful in
her bath, as I had gone to succour her from the snake; and I to be
nicely wholesome in this remembering, because of my love, but yet to be
knowing that I was sweetly stirred to new things; and did not know
before that a maid lookt in the same moment so holy and so human. And
afterward, in odd whiles, I remembered; but never to think overmuch,
because that I did feel inwardly that I should be gently wise in such
things; and you to understand my heart in this, if that ever you have
loved.

And surely, the Maid brought me from my dreamings very sensible, in that
she had me to stand; and she was gone about me very swift and natty with
her pretty fingers, that she ease me of mine armour.

And afterward, she bade me to strip and wash, whilst that she keep watch
for me of the Gorge. And she took the Diskos, and leaned upon it, very
brave and proper; but yet, as I do think, with somewhat of roguishness
within her, very deep hid, and scarce known unto herself.

And I warned her to be very wise with the great weapon; for it did fit
only to fight in my hands, and did be like to cause harm to any that
should meddle with it or make to use it, save me.

And Naani to nod that she did hear me, and to be half in fear of the
thing, and half to feel that it did be friendly to her; and so to stand
guard for me; and truly to seem a very sweet and slender maid, despite
the bigness of the cloak; and the great weapon to seem more great in her
small hands; and to mind me how strong I did be. And surely you shall
think me in conceit; but truly I did be glad to be so strong; and a
proper thing for pride, if that there be no scorn for others therein.
And you to agree with me in this thing, or to be lacking of sympathy and
good human understanding.

Now I washt me, not by going down into the pool; for indeed I did not
wot whether there be any more snakes hid there in some other hole. And
the way I washt, was that I dipt my head-piece into the hot pool, and
poured the water over me, and rubbed my body very strong with my hands;
and there to be, surely, some certain chemical in the water that aided
mine efforts; for the water went very smooth under my hands.

And when I was done, I washt my pocket-cloth very speedy in the pool,
and wrung it, and did then wipe my body so dry as I should; and
afterward I wrung the cloth again, and set it about my loins, and so to
be as proper as I might.

And I did call to the Maid that I was proper, and she to come then and
kiss me; and she gave back to me the Diskos, and set me that I stand
anigh to the nearer fire-hole, and so to be that I should guard her, and
in the same time be come free of the chill of the Gorge, which was not
great in that place.

And surely I did mean that I help her; but she would have no help in her
work that she did say to be her glad right; but bade me that I to mine
own work to be her dear protector, as she did call me. And I to lift
that Wilful One into mine arms, a moment, and to give her a very loving
hug, and for that time to have no fear that I harm her, because that I
was freed of the hardness of the armour about me, as you do know.

And surely she to feel very dear and pretty in mine arms, and she kist
me the once with a little passion of love; and immediately to want to go
from me; so that I freed her in a moment, as was ever my way. And she
then to pause a small space off from me, and lookt at me with a light in
her eyes, and half to put out her arms that she be taken again into
mine; but so to cease, ere she yield to her heart; and turned from me
immediately to the task of the washing.

And she took first my body-vest, and washt it very quick and clever in
the pool, and afterward came over by me, and spread it upon the hot flat
rock anigh to the fire-hole.

And she got then my change body-vest from the bundle of her torn
garments, where she did put it to be washt on opportunity, even as now;
and mayhap to like that it should lie in her bundle with her own
garments, for so, as I do mind, the thought came to me very natural; but
she to say naught to lead me thus; yet to be a very honest and dear
Maid, and to have little secret ways of love, as I did perceive, that I
did not be told of.

And she washt the second body-vest, and set it to dry by the first; and
afterward did likewise with all my garments, and came then to the
washing of her own.

And lo! as she spread it also to the drying, there came to mine heart
that the Maid did have only this one rough and thick garment, that did
be the armour-suit, as I have told. And surely it did be dreadful that
she have the hardness of that strong knitted and fibrous garment to be
next to her dear body, and I to be in comfort with the softness of my
body-vest.

And I was all angered in a moment, that she had gone thiswise, while
that I had been gentled, as it might be. And I bade Naani take the
second vest to her own use when it did be dry. And she to look upward
from where she did turn the garments upon the hot rock; and to mean in
the first to deny me. But indeed she was quick to see that I did be
truly in anger; and mine anger to come because that I was hurt that this
did be, and because that I was shamed that she had gone so rough-clad,
the while that I had no thought to the matter. And moreover because that
she had known her lack, and did not tell me of the thing.

But yet I did have a great tenderness in the backward part of mine
anger, because that I perceived all the unselfishness and delight of her
love that did be about this little matter, as you shall see, if you have
gone alway with me.

But mine anger yet to be something hard, because I did see that I have
need to watch the Maid, that she put not her dear body to pain, that I
might come unknowing to some little pleasuring or ease, as did be now as
I have shown. And truly it did be sweetly done in love; but to be
somewise lacking of judgement; and so shall you know somewhat of the way
that I did be angered, and to have understanding with me; but if you
have not, you shall think it to be naught, and that the Maid did need
only that she be kist, and to be shaken a little in playfulness, and
warned to heed that I did be earnest; and mayhap you to be somewise
right, and not to guess far off from the inward deepness of my heart.
But yet it doth be verity that I was truly angered, and fit to shake
Mine Own, and in the same moment to be utter tender unto her. And surely
this doth be all a contradiction, and the human heart to be a wayward
thing, whether it doth be of a man or of a woman.

And Naani, as I do think, to have loved the chafe of that rough garment
for love's sake, and to go very humble and loving, as I lookt at her;
but in verity to be never gone from the sweet naughtiness that did be
alway in her heart, and to plan even in that moment some new and secret
service unto me, that should be for her quiet joy, and to be hid from
me, until that my wit should come upon it to uncover it. And in verity a
young man doth want that he whip his maid and kiss her, and all in the
one moment. And, indeed, he to have delight in both.

And she obeyed me that time, as alway when I did be earnest, without
more word. And surely that Naughty One did know how I loved her.

And the Maid washt then her torn garments that did be in the bundle, and
had gotten soiled by the slime of the dark part of the Gorge. And she
put these to dry, and afterward washed mine armour and the scrip and the
pouch and the cloak-hold, and all such matters of our gear; and so to be
presently done.

And she was heedful then that she turned the garments upon the hot
rock; and afterward did attend to my bruisings. And when she did rest, I
lookt to her pretty feet, and rubbed them very gentle and constant with
the ointment; and surely they did be pretty well; but I to _like_ that I
should tend them, and to have joy to feel their littleness within my
palms, and surely she did know how it did be with me; for presently she
took her feet inward under the cloak; and I, maybe, to look something
woeful; for she put one out presently, when that I did the least expect,
and slipt it very cosy into my hand; and surely I kist her naughty toes;
and she then to be very sedate.

Now, presently, when Naani found the garments to be proper dry, she gave
those to me that were mine, and bid me to turn my back and be drest very
speedy. And lo! in a little time, when I was nigh done, she came over
and stood before me, and was drest again in the armour-suit, and to look
very slender and dainty. And she lookt at me, so that I put out my
hands, that I kiss her; but she went from me, very proper, and brought
mine armour, and gave me help with it, and alway very grave and quiet;
but yet to have naughtiness underneath, as I did believe.

And when I was full armed, she took my hand, and set mine arm about her
waist, and she leaned her head against my breast, and put up her lips to
be kist, as that she did be a child maiden; yet when I kist her, she did
be a woman, and to kiss me very dear and loving, and to look at me then
from under her eye-lids; and sudden to make a dainty growling, and to
pretend that she did be a fierce thing that should be like to eat me;
and I to be utter feared, as you shall think, and to be scarce able that
I kiss Mine Own Pretty Fierce One, because that I did laugh so hearty,
and to be so taken with a surprise that the Maid did show this new
playfulness; and in the same moment to be stirred and waked anew that
she did be so lovely and graceful in mine arms, and to make her naughty
growling so pretty that I did be eager that she make it again; but she
to do this playing only as her mood did stir her.

And she made then that she would go from me, and I to loose her, as
ever; and she bade me that I guard her the while that she washt the
outward part of the cloak; for the inward did be clean, and the cloak
proof to water; but the outward part to be something needful of washing.

And surely, when this was made clean, it dried very quick, because that
the water went not into it; and whilst that it dried, I gave Mine Own an
aid upward unto the cave, and afterward I passed up the gear, and the
cloak when it did be dry; and so came upward also myself, and brought
with me a boulder, that I balanced very light in the mouth of the cave,
so that it should fall, if that anything toucht it; and this plan you do
know of; for I used it before, as I have told.

And truly we did be utter wearied, and the time to be something beyond
three and twenty hours, since last we had slumber. And the Maid had the
scrip and the pouch set to be for my pillow, and the bundle of her torn
garment to be for her own. And she to have me to my pillow, and to tuck
the cloak about me, and the Diskos to my hand; and afterward to kiss me
very sedate upon the lips, and then to come in under the cloak, with a
quiet and lovely happiness, as I did know; and to be gone to slumber
very content and sweet.

And I waked eight good hours after, with the fizzing of the water in
mine ears; and lo! Mine Own did be waked and to make ready our
breakfast; and I came upward upon mine elbow, to see whether that the
boulder did be unmoved; and indeed it was not touched.

And Mine Own saw that I was come awake; and she ran to me, very dear and
glad, and kist my lips very eager and loving. And surely, as she kist
me, I did feel that she had taken again a naughty advantaging of my
slumber, and had kist me as I did sleep; but truly I said no word of my
thoughts; for I did mind that I should wake sudden one time, and so to
catch her in this, and to call her then Mine Own, and that she did be a
rogue; and all as you shall know, that have loved.

And I scolded the Maid a little, in that she had not waked me; but I
said not that I would attend to the duties that she did heed to; for I
knew that she had joy of these things, in that she did love to do aught
that should be done unto me. And when I scolded her, she to make but a
little mouth at me, as we do say, and to put her tablets to my lips,
that I kiss them, and she to kiss mine; and so to our breakfast.

And when we were done, we gat together our gear, and went downward from
the cave, and began again to journey. And we went eighteen hours that
day, and eat and drunk at every sixth hour, as ever.

And in the fourteenth hour, I perceived that I did be like to overtravel
the Maid, though I made alway to have a less speed than did be natural
unto me. And surely then, I took her up into mine arms; and she to
refuse, and to be troubled that I should so carry her; for she did think
that I was like to be wearied by the task.

And I to take no heed to her pretestings; but to laugh gently with her,
and to carry her, even as a babe in mine arms; and she to love that she
be in mine arms, if but she be able to have assuredness that I come not
to weariness through her. And truly it did be a dear love task, and to
be set unto the needing of mine especial heart.

And I carried Mine Own then for four hours; and in the eighteenth hour
we were come to that part of the Gorge where did be the ledge where I
killed the spider, ere I slept, as you shall mayhap to mind. And here I
aided the Maid to climb, and we had the same ledge that night to be our
refuge; and did sleep very happy and unharmed, and alway with our
spirits set to warn us, if that harm did make to come nigh to us.

And we went then through three days of eighteen hours' journey each;
and alway I did carry Mine Own, from the twelfth unto the eighteenth
hour of each journeying; and this to be very dear unto me, and to give
me a new rejoicing that I did be strong and easy to carry Mine Own; and
she to lie in mine arms very content, when that she perceived how that I
did be so glad to go thiswise and that I had no weariness by the
carrying.

And thus I did rest her feet, and wore not her dear and slender body
overmuch with the vigour of my going; and was abled to make a very good
speed.

And Mine Own, this time and that, to make sayings of impudence unto me,
and to hide her naughty lips, when that I should kiss them; and to have
quaint nestlings unto me, and odd whiles to kiss me very dainty when
that I did be going thoughtful of the way. And surely never did there be
so dear a maid as Mine Own; so that I did go many a mile, and to be
scarce that I knew that I was gone any way, because of the stirrings of
my heart and the content of my spirit.

And oft as we did go, there were great scorpions in the path, and odd
whiles they to have no heed to go from my way; but to be so great as my
head, and very fat and lazy, so that surely I kickt a good number, from
my path, even as you shall kick a ball with the foot; and three I burst
in this way. And truly it did be well that I had on me mine armour, else
had they been like to sting me very quick unto death; for they were so
great.

And likewise, in this place and that, there were snakes; but none to
come anigh to me; and I to choose alway the open goings; for I did think
there to be many hid snakes and lesser monsters in the dark places
between the great boulders. And alway, when the Maid did walk, I to go
before, that I see clear her way, and this thing to be but a matter of
wiseness, as you shall think.

And odd whiles, as I did carry Mine Own, she to talk a little with me of
her memory-dreams of the olden days; and mayhap you to think it strange
that we said not overmuch on this wise; but the way of our journey to
have been so utter bitter, as you have seen; and we to be more of that
far age, than we did be of this present age; and this present life to
seem but a dream of Memory, and we to be set then with the realness of
that life. And this telling, indeed, to be a plain thing to your
understanding. Yet did we have a greater talk to these ends, when that
we were come free of the Gorge; but yet, oft there to be an odd saying
and a sweet memory, like to an olden and forgot fragrance of dreams, to
pass between Mine Own and me. And do you to set your sympathy of
understanding with me in this thing, and to know how holy these things
did be, and far off, and to hold memory, as a mist that doth shine with
golden lights, that did make an holy pain upon the eyes of the spirit,
even as a quiet dawn of this day doth set a pleasure of vague pain upon
the heart.

And once, as I did carry the Maid, I saw that she wept a little, very
husht unto herself; and I to say naught; for I saw that it did be a
natural sorrow for her father, and for the dead Peoples of the Lesser
Redoubt; that did be left for ever unto the desolation of Eternity. And
so, because I did be wise to leave her be, she to be eased presently,
and to wipe her eyes, quiet and secret, and mayhap to think that I did
not perceive; and then to nestle unto me; and so to be the more Mine
Own.

And about the middle part of the second day, we came past the cave where
I did sleep on the upward journey; and I to tell Naani, and she to look
upward to the cave, and to wish that she might come a moment into it;
only that it did be twenty good feet upward, and I to desire that she
run no risk of her dear life, when that there did be no need.

And so to go onward; and odd whiles to see strange things a-lurk among
the boulders; but none to come anigh to us; yet did I keep the Diskos
very ready in my hand, as you shall think; and had mine eyes alway to
look upon every side, and mine ears to be wary; and to use my spirit
alway to mine aid.

And surely, as we did come lower in the Gorge, the Maid was all
a-wondered at the warmness that did grow, and something disturbed in the
first, by the new thickness, as it did seem, of the air. And she to
waste some of the water, because that it did fizz up so quick, even as
I, until that she was come used to this newness. And all this to be very
plain unto you.

And in the end of every journey, we slept eight good hours in a safe
place; and so to go onward again; and the Maid to grow very eager as I
did tell her this thing and that of the Country that we did come
downward unto.

And she askt me questions, time and oft, and much I told her, and she to
think upon it with a growing wonder and desire, even as a gladsome child
that hath never seen the sea, and doth be told that it shall presently
be there. And this to be but to shadow the way that Naani did be; for
truly she did be a very live and eager maid, in all things.

And we to be still within the Gorge, and to go constant by the
fire-holes and the fire-pits, and to see the flames leap upward in this
place and that, so that the mighty walls of the Gorge would show very
plain in an instant; and immediately to come the shadows again, and
afterward the leaping of the flames. And so did it be forever. And oft
the muttering of the fire-pits; and oft the utter quiet and the shadows.

And this time and that there did be a snake to go by us, and the
scuttling of the monster scorpions; and mayhap a moving in the shadows
of the great boulders, that did tell me there went maybe some peculiar
monster in that place; so that I did be very wary, and to have the
Diskos alway ready.

And when the fourth day was come, I showed the Maid, in the sixth hour,
the ledge that did be my first sleeping place, when that I was entered
into the Gorge.

Now presently, in the eleventh hour, after that we had gone five hours
in a gloom, there did show afar off a shining; and I caught the Maid,
and I pointed; and she also to perceive that it did be surely the
shining of the light of that great Country that I did tell upon.

And immediately we did begin to run downward, and with sore stumblings
in this place and that; but not to halt us; for we did be so mad as two
children for the gladsome light.

And we came down presently in the twelfth hour of that journey into the
warm light and wonder of the Country of the Seas.




XIII

HOMEWARD BY THE SHORE


Now we came presently out of that sad and dreary place that did go
inward of the great mountains, and which I have named the Upward Gorge;
and we to halt soon between the feet of the mountains, beyond the
mouth-part of the Gorge.

And Naani alway to look every way about her, and to breathe very quick,
and her eyes to be gone bright with wonder and the seeing of new things,
and the coming of freedom from so great a dread.

And she turned, now, and did look upward into the dark of the Gorge, and
to spy upon the great mouth thereof, and to be feared then, and must run
a greater way downward into the lightness of the Country of the Seas;
and to come once more to pause, and to look backward, and with an awe
and a relieved soul; and so again to the wonder of the spreaded Country
and the great Sea; and did near to laugh and cry in the same moment,
with the amazement and gladness and great astonishment that did be upon
her. And she to turn constant this way and that, and to be never ceased
of looking, and of deep breathings of the wide air; for never in that
life had she been in a broad place of light, as you shall have
perceived.

And we to feel, both, that there did be no more need to talk husht, as
we did alway in the gloom and narrow dark of the gorge. And surely she
to shout, as a child that doth try an echo; and her voice to go very
pretty into the distance, and to be lost afar off in that Country.

And lo! in a moment, an echo to come out of the dark mountains to our
backs; so that we lookt round very sudden; but whether the echo did be
truly an echo, or some strangeness, or some unnatural call to come
downward out of the gloom and horror of the Gorge, we did be all unsure;
and indeed must run downward a while more, until that we did be all
breathed, and to halt presently where we did feel to be utter free of
the Gorge and of the strangeness that did seem to our minds, in that
moment, to lie upward in the darkness of the great mountains.

And surely we did took about for a flat rock to be for our use, and we
came presently to a place nice to our purpose, that did be yet upward
over the Land; and we climbed up on to the rock and sat thereon to have
our food and drink.

And as we eat and drank, we did sit very close and happy; but yet to
have a wise looking about anigh to us, so that we be caught by no danger
of the Humpt Men, or by any other danger that might be.

And alway, the Maid did question, and did stare afar over the Country,
and to have a shining wonder and joy of the sea, and to be stirred in
all her being, so that she was pained with vague and sudden memories,
that did be as strange dreams, and all mixt with pleasure and pain. And,
indeed, she sudden to weeping, and to need that she be in mine arms,
until that she know herself once again; and so to her dear natural joy
and way.

And oft did Mine Own speak upon the clear wonder of the air, as it did
seem to her; and to me it did seem likewise, that had lived my life also
in a Dark Land, as you do know.

And she to break sudden from her rapture, and to set back her speech an
Eternity with vague words, and memories so olden and englamoured that
they did be as moonlight that once hath shone. And in a moment she to be
forward again into that far future time and speech, and all her being to
be close unto me, and oft in a solemn silence of the heart.

And the greatness of the sea to call unto her with an olden voice, and
to half waken her; and I with her to be thus half-wakened, yet had I
been not thus as I did come mine outward way; but truly I did stir to
the stirring of the Maid, and all mine olden thoughts that did be my
memory-dreams, to come afresh upon my spirit.

And so we two to sit there all shaken with dreamings that did concern
happenings of the olden world that did lie upward in that dreadful night
which made a mighty and deeply roof over that Country. And surely I am
dumb, in that I have no speech to make known to you all the troublings
and stirrings of our spirits that we did know in that moment.

And far off, by miles, beyond the feet of the mountain, where went the
shore of the sea, upon our left, there was a great mist and steam; and
this to be that mist and steam that I did come through on mine outward
way; and Naani to ask concerning it, and I to tell her so much as I
knew, and how that we must indeed come presently through it, upon our
journey.

And she to be in wonder of the volcanoes that did burn in the sea, and
in this place and that of the wide Country, and the height and grandness
to exalt her, and in the same time to give her a strange humbleness of
her mind; so that presently I did take her into mine arms, for I must
kiss her, because that she did be so utter a sweet maiden, and lovely
with interest and naturalness. And truly she to kiss me in turn; and to
make her questionings between her kissings; and this to be because she
did yearn for a greater knowing of the Country; but also, as I do half
to think, because she did be sweetly impudent unto me; and this to be of
her joy.

And presently, she to kiss me thrice very passionate and warm upon the
mouth; and immediately to take my shoulders, with her small hands, that
did seem so pretty upon my broadness and upon the metal of the armour.
And she to strive thus that she shake me to a speedier answering; and
she, all that while, to be full of a dear naughtiness, and to need that
she be kist very hard.

And I to answer her; but after mine own fashion which did be a word
between each kiss that I gave to her. And she very quick and naughty to
put her hand between our lips; and I then to kiss the palm, that did be
in my way, and did be very small and pretty. And she, when I had no
thought, to open her fingers very quick, and kiss me through between the
fingers, and immediately to shut the fingers, so that I did be stopt
from the same.

And afterward, I made her to stand upon the rock, and I set free her
hair over her shoulders; and I took then the boots from her, so that her
little feet did show bare and pretty. And she, at the first, half to
refuse me; but afterward to stand very dear and obedient that I should
have my way with her; and to be a little shy, and the more pretty
because of her sweet blushings.

And surely, when that I had her to my likings, I stept back a little
pace, and lookt at her. And she to look again at me, very quaint and
naughty; and then to turn her about, very grave; and to make pretend
that she did be a dummy figure. And, surely, when she did be come right
round, and to face me again, and had a very sedate look, she stretched
out her pretty foot, all in a moment, and put her pink toes sudden upon
my lips; and I to be so in surprise, that I had not wit to do aught, ere
she had them back swift from me. And she then to make one glad spring
into mine arms, and to want that she be hugged, and to be loved very
great. And I to laugh, all tender; for I loved her so utter, as you do
know; and I to tell her, as you sure likewise to have told your maid,
that I wanted a pocket sufficient, that I might have her therein alway
anigh to my heart; and this thing I to say to her, as a man that doth
love, shall say it; and you to know the way of it so well as I. And she
to laugh very mischievous, and to tell me that she should truly tickle
me, if that I carried her thatwise; aye and to pinch me, too. And I to
have no answer, save that I shake her, very gentle, but indeed she to
kiss me very naughty on the mouth, in the midst of my shaking; and
truly, what shall a man do with such an one.

And she then to want to be more sedate and to be set down upon the rock;
and she to make me to turn around, so that she should come at the pouch,
which did be upon my back.

And she gat thence the comb that was a fitment, and did comb her pretty
hair, and I to sit and talk with her, and to jest, with a heart that did
be so light as it had not been for a great while; for though I did dread
the Humpt Men and the monstrous animals of the Country of Seas, I had
not any abiding horror of aught that I had seen in that Country; for
there seemed a naturalness in all things, so that I did have no
loathing; neither any fear of an Evil Force.

And presently, when that the Maid had combed her hair, she to bind it
upon her head; but I to ask that she leave it upon her shoulders,
because that it did be so pretty; and she to smile at me, and to be
happy to my pleasuring.

Now we did be truly sedate, and to set our gear together; and I to put
the boots upon the Maid; and afterward we to begin again to journey
downward into the Country of the Seas.

And we went at a good pace; but not to bring us to any great weariness;
for it was mine intent that we rest for our slumber upon this side of
the place where did be the steam of the boilings, that was anigh to the
shore of the sea, as you shall mind.

And we at this time to be passing along the feet of the mountains, unto
the place of the steam; and to go thiswise for six good hours, and still
to be a great hour off that part; for we went not so fierce as did be
the speed of mine outward way, which was utter strong, as you do mind,
that have gone with me in all my journey.

And so, when we had walkt six hours, we did be gone something beyond the
eighteenth hour of that day's journeying; and to be very ready to our
slumber.

Now, presently we found a tall rock, very hard to climb, that had a flat
top so great as may be twice my length everyways; and this to be very
good to our purpose. And when we were come safe to the top, we to eat
and drink, and presently to sleep, and to have the cloak under us, as
did be the will of the Maid; for the Country did be utter warm and nice,
so that we had no occasion for covering.

And surely, we waked, both of us when that we had slept seven good
hours; and we sat upward, and lookt newly each at the other; and to be
as that we did each see the other anew in that good light, and to have a
fresh joy each in the look of the other. And she to come into mine arms,
and to kiss and to need that she be kist; and truly, we both to have our
need; but yet to be something the more hungry of the other, for the
having.

And Mine Own then to make our breakfast; and the water to fizz very
strong and surprising; and we to eat and drink, and to be utter happy
each with the other, and to talk on this thing and that, and the Maid to
look about, as we eat; and she to look afar off at the wonders and the
newness of the Country to her knowledge; but I to look near, lest there
be any danger that might be anigh.

And in a while, Mine Own to draw my gaze to the Mountains that the Gorge
came through. And, in verity, now that I did look in ease, I to see with
her how that they did be truly monstrous, even as a monstrous wall that
did go upward for ever until that they were gone out of the light of
that Country, into the dark night of the deathly Upper World, that did
be lost an eternity. And I to mind that I had some vague thoughts
thiswise, on the outward way; but now I to have ease, and the Maid to
speak with, and so to perceive odd matters the more. And I to tell you
this little thing, so that you shall perceive the way that restfulness
did be upon me, by compare with the Outward Going.

And, truly, we had no great speed with our talk and with our eating; but
in the end did make somewhat to hurry, because that we did be conscious
that we leaned to slackness. And indeed, we came down then pretty speedy
from the rock where we did sleep; and had forward to our way at a good
pace.

And when we had gone a while, we to begin to hear the far hissing of the
steam and the noise of the upward burstings of waters that did boil; and
the sound to be very strange; but I to have heard it before, as you do
know; so that it to trouble me the less than the Maid. And I to assure
her; and she to come nigh to me, and thiswise we to enter presently into
the steam.

And we went then for more than three hours; and I had the Maid to my
back, that I should be the first; and this I did, that she have no
danger to walk into a boiling pool in the mazingness of the steam, which
was everywhere. And I to be something guided in my path by the shore of
the sea which did be unto our left alway; only that we could see neither
the sea nor otherwise, except that we go so close that we near into the
water.

And, truly, the sea to seem to boil in parts, and there to be hot pools
in all places; so that who should say with ease whether we did go by one
of the great hot pools or by the true sea. And this, our constant
puzzle, shall be likewise to you; and you to perceive how that we did go
utter wary.

And about us from every part there did come the strange burstings and
shriekings and whistlings of the boil of the waters breaking upward from
the deep world. And odd whiles the sounds to be as of great monsters;
and the earth to shake under us; and other-whiles there to be a hush and
only the steam about us, and somewhere in the distance and uncertainness
a low piping of some steam cranny, very strange and lonesome-sounding.

And when it did be somewheres nigh upon the fourth hour, we came out of
the thick steam; and the pipings and the roarings to be to our rearward;
and soon the steam to be gone thin, as but a mist, and the noises to be
very far-seeming; and presently we to be come clear out into the air of
that Country.

And the Maid now to perceive the trees, which did be in great forests
unto our right hand, while that the shore of the sea did go alway upon
our left. And she to be utter in wonder of the trees; and to need that
she pluck branches, and smell of them and look at each leaf; and so to
be all stirred; for never in that life did she to have seen such a
matter as those great trees did be; but yet to be all stirred by vague
memories that did seem no more than dreams. And you to think but a
moment, and to perceive how the thing did be with her; and you to have
been likewise stirred, if that you did be so strangely waked in a corner
part of the heart; though but a little matter to wake you.

Now when the sixth hour did be full come, we made a halt in a wise
place, and had there our tablets and the water; and afterward, the Maid
bid me that I take her unto a warm pool that did be near by, and to ask
that I turn from her, but yet to be anigh for her Protector, as I did be
ever.

And so she to wash and to make herself happy with a sweet cleanness that
did be proper to her; and afterward, when she did be done, she to act
watch whilst I to mine; and to help me in all matters, that she was
able; and truly, I to be happy indeed that she did so have delight to
attend upon me and to treat me mother-wise; yet truly with her
maid-heart not all hid, as you have perceived, this time and that.

And surely thus did we go alway in these matters; and oft that I have
not space to have told; and oft that you shall remember, if that I do be
too full of other happenings to give heed to tell upon.

And afterward we to our journeying again; and to talk upon this thing
and that thing; and I to be watchful as we talked, and to tell the Maid
that she keep her eyes wary, but yet not to be of unease.

And when we did go thiswise for seven good hours, we were come nigh
opposed to the bright-burning fire-hill that did be offward in the sea,
and had made me a warm light in that time when I did sleep in the tree,
as you do remember. And truly, as I shall here mind you, we did be past
seven hours coming to this place, from the part where the steam did be;
yet had I gone that space upon the outward way at a speed that was
greater; but truly I might not set so great a pace to the Maid, save,
mayhap, odd whiles; and this thing I beg that you have alway in your
mind, and so to understand why that we did be oft long upon this part of
the journey and that, by compare with mine outward going.

And, in verity, I had set off our hour for food, because that I saw we
did come nigh to the place where the tree did be; and I to know that the
Maid should like to eat and drink anigh to that place, and to know that
I did sleep there.

And surely I took her to the tree, and when that I told her, she to beg
me that I indulge her and that we go upward to that branch where I did
sleep, and there to eat our tablets.

And I to be willing, and to enter into her wishing; for, indeed, there
was no danger in the climb, and I to go alway below her, so that I could
be surety for her safeness. And we came up to the great branch; and she
to make how we should sit, and I to have to show just where I did lie,
and she to look very close, and to see that my weight had surely marked
the hardness of the armour upon the bark; and she then to be upon that
branch alone, as she did eat and drink; and to look outward at the light
from the fire-hill, and to be very husht, and to think, and I not to
disturb her with speech.

And when she did be done, she gat from the branch, and kist the place
where I did lie; and lo! in a moment a thought came into her, and she
drew her knife, and cut out a piece of the bark, and put it into her
breast to be for a keepsake; and so to seem somewise contented.

And truly, I told her about the great beast, when we were come down
again to the earth; and she to cry out and to show me that there did be
yet the mark where the belly of the monstrous beast did brush upon the
earth, as it ran, and moreover the broken places of the foot-marks; and
she by this to see how great a beast it did be; but yet did it be a
little thing beside the Slug; only that it did be a thing of horn and
hardness of skin, as you have perceived.

And truly, I do mind how that the observings of the Maid did bring very
keen to me how that there had past but seventeen days since that I did
go onward from this place; and this to seem very strange and scarce
credible unto me; for I had thought it, somewise, as a great time; and
truly this to be because it was so marked by stress of the mind and
great happenings; and you to agree in this thing. But yet, also, we
shall truly mind that those times that I have called days, did hold oft
the hours of two days, and mayhap three, as you do remember. Now we
went onward then to our journeying; and I to make to carry the Maid, as
ever, after that she had walked twelve hours, though she did walk
thirteen hours this time as you have seen. And she to say that she go
now upon her own feet through the next six hours, and so to ease me from
the labour that did be needful to carry her.

But I to know how that she did be like to be all gone of her strength
thiswise, in but a day or two, and we to make the better speed, if that
I keep to my way, and to have her to walk twelve hours of every journey,
and afterward to come into mine arms; for, truly, she did be bred less
hardy than I, as you shall think from all that I have told concerning
the Peoples of the Lesser Pyramid; and moreover she was yet something
weakened, as I did think, by the dreadful month of her lonesomeness and
escapings, before that I was come to succour her.

And truly, as I did carry her, the Maid did make remark of her
wonderment concerning me, in that I did be so hard of my body and set in
the determination of my mind. And, in verity, I did be exceeding strong
and of great hardness of body; and mayhap my will did be somewhat this
way also, else do I think I had never borne to come unto Mine Own
through so much desolation. And I to smile very happy upon her; for I
did love that I was so strong, and very truly in delight that Mine Own
Maid did take gladness in this thing. And you to mind how you did be
also in the love-days; and so to have nice understanding of my
naturalness and human pride.

And surely the Maid did nestle unto me, as she did talk; even, somewise,
as a Child shall come nigh to the Mother, but yet also as a Maid doth
love to be nigh unto her Man, if that she doth truly love. And I to lift
her more nigh to my lips; but she to refuse to kiss me, and to be a
Sweet Impertinence that did lie in mine arms; yet when I did make to
lower her again to the way that had her easy to carry, she to slip her
pretty face very snug under my chin, and to kiss me there, after her own
fashion; and afterward to be willing that she be as usual into mine
arms.

Now, as I set the Maid again comfortable, it seemed to me that she was
something tender; and sudden it came to me that mayhap the armour to be
very hard and painful unto her; and I to ask this thing of her, in a
moment; and she to see that I would not be put off; and so to tell me.
And, truly, I was utter angered with myself; and somewise also with her,
in that she did not waken mine unthinkingness to this thing.

And I set her instant to the earth, and made her to bare her shoulders
to me; and truly they did be much bruised where that she had lain so oft
in mine arms, against the hardness of mine armour.

And I to be so angered that I near shook her, and she to see how I did
be, and that she did be nigh to be shaken, because that I was grown so
angry that she should let herself come to this foolish hurt, that yet I
did know was very dear unto her secret heart. And, in truth, she put up
her lips to me, very sudden, and with a strange naughtiness, that she
have her own way with me to tempt me from mine anger, that yet she did
half to like. And, in verity, I near slapt her then upon her pretty
shoulders, but that she ceased from her tempting of me; and instead she
turned her shoulders to me, even as a child, that I button her garment
for her.

And surely, when I had buttoned her garment, she came round unto me, and
closed her hand, so that it did be a little fist, even as I did love her
to do, because that it was so small beside my great hand.

And she slipt her shut hand into mine; and surely I let it stay within,
very quiet, and made not to close upon it, as I did wont. And the Maid
did move her hand around in mine, that she make me to take notice upon
her, and to grasp her little fist. Yet I did be very stern, for I was
truly angered; and neither did I put her hand from mine, nor made to
hold it; but only to let it bide; yet, truly, I to be something stirred
in the heart-part by her pretty ways.

And in a little while, she took her hand from out of mine, and did have
daring to be cold unto me. And mine anger then to be quaintly renewed,
and to think that she did well need to be whipt. And she made a naughty
and foolish impudence upon that which I said to her; so that presently I
did say that she did need such as should make her to heed her manners;
but yet, as you shall conceive, I to know inwardly all that time how
that even this true naughtiness did not stir me to proper anger; but
more that it made me masterful and to lack not that I make her to know
truly that I did be her Master; and in the same time to be strangely
touched in a very deep and secret place of my heart. And truly love doth
have strange actings upon the heart.

And the Maid to ask me in a very saucy fashion that did be intentioned
to anger me, what I did mean that she to need. And truly I said that she
did go the way to earn that she be flogged like any boy, and I to mean
actual all that I did say, which doth something amaze me now; but, as I
do know, I yet to be constant stirred inwardly by her beloved quaintness
that did be alway so dainty, even when that she did mean her naughtiness
to be truly to anger me.

And lo! when I told the Maid this thing, that she did well go to earn a
sharp reproof, she turned in a quick instant, and came close to me, all
tender and small and to need to be nigh to me. And she slipt both her
closed hands into the one of mine, and truly they did be little fists.
And because I could be no more stern with Mine Own, I put mine arm about
her, and she did nestle to me, so that all my being did want to be a
shield about her.

And she to hark very quiet and humble to my counsellings; and in the
end did be so strangely husht that I lookt down to where her pretty face
did be hid against mine armour, as she did love to do, when that I did
be those odd whiles a little stern with her. And I held her face away
from mine armour; and surely she did be smiling, very quiet and naughty;
so that I perceived that she did be good only for that time, and did be
like to show again this wrongful and impudent spirit. Yet I not then to
be in trouble of the future; but to hope only that I do wisely, if that
she show again this waywardness. And, truly, I to perceive now that I
did be very young; but, anywise, as you do know, I to act alway from the
natural telling of my heart.

And I shook Naani a little, for this naughty spirit which did not be
gone from her. For I perceived that my manhood had but stirred the woman
in her to that strange quick humbleness that had seemed to be a
quenching of her wayward unwisdom; and truly it had not been stilled,
but only sunken for a little moment in the uprising of her dear nature,
which had responded unto me.

And the Maid to look at me from under her lids, as I did shake her with
gentleness; and I to know that Mine Own did be a wondrous maiden, full
of all life and spirit, and to be held wisely and to be loosed wisely,
all as did be for the best to bring out the uttermost of her goodness
which did be in all her being, and to be very lovely; and to make me
feel as that I did be a giant that held a white flower very tender; but
I to feel also that I did be her Master. And this mayhap you to
understand, if that you look into your hearts.

And by all my telling, you to know that I did be very dainty with Mine
Own Maid that did be all of daintiness; but yet I to be masterful, as
did be my nature, and a very proper way it did be with the Maid, so that
she did be alway reasonable in the main; and this to come out of her
love, which did have pleasure to know that I did be Master unto her, all
in the same while that she did fight to show that I did be otherwise.
And truly, and in part by this same showing, you shall perceive that her
naughtiness to come likewise from her love, and the way that my nature
did work upon her.

Now I to shake the Maid very gentle, as I have said, and with much that
did be of play, but in the same wise there to be also somewhat of tender
reproof. And surely, that naughty maid to spring very light upon her
toes, and had kist me sudden and dainty upon the mouth, before that I
did wot.

And I to put mine arm about her, and to give her a little hug; and
immediately then to matters that did be practical; for I was eager to
have come across that stony part of the journey, that did be before us,
as you do know, before that we look for a place for our slumber. And
this eagerness of haste to be, because of the great bird things which I
had seen to go bounding over that waste, when that I was upon mine
outward way.

And, surely, after that I had thought a little moment, I bid the Maid
that she dress in her torn garments, so that these should be over the
top of the armour-suit, and thiswise to make a soft thickness upon the
top of the armour-suit, that should act for a cushion between mine
armour and her dear body.

But indeed, the Maid would nowise to do this thing; and I not to make
her, because that my heart perceived how it did be with her. And her
reasons to be someways mixt, as doth be proper in all humans, and the
more so when that it doth be a maid that hath reasons, as you to know,
if that you have ever held such dear perverseness in your arms.

And she, as I could know, to be strangely in love that her gentle body
be bruised by the hardness of mine armour; and if this might not be, she
to be not wishful that she wear her torn clothing upon her neat suit and
so to seem careless and to lack to be dainty in mine eyes; for, indeed,
she did be alway to wash herself and to make tidiness; and she to have a
way now that she did set the armour-suit upon her, that had it to seem
different, and she to have set a little sprig from the trees upon her
breast, and in her girdle, and so to seem the more of a maid; and surely
a man doth know and love these things; but not alway to have full
knowing how that they be done. And, indeed, you to be likewise with me
in this thing. And we all to think we know, but somewise to be just
a-lack when that it doth come to the proof.

And, in verity, the Maid to find a way that she be eased of the hardness
of the armour; and I to have come to the same thing in the same moment;
but truly I do think she had been able to think upon it a long while, if
that she had been so desired.

And truly, this was but that I fold the cloak very thick across mine
arms and breast, and to take her then into the little nest that did be
prepared.

And, surely, now that the Maid might no more have her secret wish that
she lie close against mine armour, she to be helpful, and to have the
cloak folded so in a very quick while; and so to be into mine arms
again; and we to be once more upon the journey, and she to nestle to me,
as that she did hunger to be nigh to me; and she to talk with me, odd
whiles, and odd whiles to be silent.

And once, I to think that she wept a little; and to know that she did be
like to think upon her father and her own Peoples; but she to have her
face turned to me, so that I could but guess upon this thing; and she
very soon to be husht again of this sorrow, and to lie content in mine
arms.

And once, when that I had carried her for three hours, she to ask me
that I kiss her; and truly I did kiss her, very gentle and with
reverence, because that my heart did understand the holiness that did be
in her heart in that moment.

And, surely, as I kist her, she to kiss me very tender; and I to know
that some olden memory did be like to stir in her. And in a moment, she
to take her lips from mine, where she had let them to nestle very light,
and did whisper mine olden love-name; and I then to look at her, and her
eyes to shine as the olden stars that did shine in the olden summers.

And I to be too shaken even that I kiss her. But she to put her arms
about my neck, and to look steadfast into mine eyes. And immediately,
after that she had lookt awhile, and I to have ceased from walking, she
to put her hands upon each side of my face, within the metal of mine
head-gear, where the guards did come down at the sides; and she to kiss
me very sober upon the lips; but yet to mean utter by that kiss. And I
not to return the kiss; for I saw that it did not be her need.

Now, in the beginning of the fourth hour, as I did go with the Maid, I
to see afar off one of the half-bird monsters, that I did see before
upon this place where there did be naught save great stones and boulders
for a great way that did be many miles.

And truly, I to hide very swift with the Maid, where two great boulders
did come together; and surely the bird-creature to go past at no great
way, and to go with a great bounding, that did be half of flight and
half of leaping, as that it did be too weighty in the body to make to
fly proper.

And, indeed, I to have a sudden memory how that there did be a picture
in some book that I did read in the Mighty Pyramid, where it did show
such a bird-thing as this; and to make remark in the book that these
things had been seen no more in the Night Land for a score thousand of
years, or more; and to be extinct, as we do say.

But, indeed, now I do think that they did be come downward to that warm
Country, a great while gone, and so to have new life and to breed
through a great age, and this way to have set a pattern unto the Humans.
And, in verity, it might be that in some age that did be far after that
time, the Humans to find some way to journey from the Pyramid, and to
build a new Refuge in that deep Country; and mayhap the Humans thiswise
to have a new space of life, after that all the Night Land did be dead
and lost in the bitter frost of Eternity. But this, indeed, to be no
more than an odd thought; for how might any great multitude pass the
Monsters; and I to ask that you take it for nothing of fact, but only as
of my suppositions; and thiswise to come back again to happenings.

Now, when the bird-thing did be gone a long way off, I to go forward
again with Mine Own, and to have a new care, and to look very swift and
frequent everyway.

And, truly, it did be as that the creatures did inhabit that part of the
Country; for in an hour after that, I to see a good score. And, I to
free the Diskos from my hip, and to have it ready in mine arms beside
the Maid; and so to journey.

And many times I to have to hide with Mine Own, and to crouch low among
the rocks and the boulders; and this way to escape free of all for a
great while.

Yet, when that the fifth hour did be nigh gone, I heard a noise sudden
to my back, as we did go over a clear space. And, in verity, there did
be one of the monsters that came upward over certain rocks that were to
my rearward; and surely it to have been stayed hid there, or resting,
and to have heard us or to have smelled us; but anywise then to have
knowledge of us, and to come with low and brutish heavy boundings, very
lumbersome, after us.

And I lookt everyway in a moment; but there was nowhere any shelter
anigh. And the Maid to leap sudden from mine arms, that I be free with
the Diskos; and I to look swift to her, and to see that she have her
knife ready in her hand, that she might chance to aid me. But surely I
might not fight in ease of mind, if that Mine Own did be needless in
danger; and I caught her very quick by the waist, and set her upon the
ground between my feet. And she to make half to refuse; but I to have no
time for explaining, and to be sharp that I have her safe; so that I
gave her a little shake that did sudden to make her feel the strength in
me; and she then to be instant quiet in my hands, and to let me that I
set her upon her face, and to cast the thick cloak above her; and in a
moment to be stood over her, and to set down the visor of mine
head-gear, lest that the bird-monster strike me in the face.

And surely, the bird-thing did be scarce an hundred good paces off; and
to make two lumbering and monstrous bounds, and to come at me.

Yet, truly, it made sudden a pause, because that the Diskos did roar and
send out fire, as I made it to spin; but in an instant the great thing
to come in at me upon the left side, and to strike me very hard with the
bill, that did be so long as mine arm, and had surely gone through my
body, if that I had been naked. And the bill of the monster rang upon
mine armour; and it smote me twice thiswise, so that I staggered very
sick and shaken. But in a moment, as it made to draw off, that it should
come the more hard upon me, I swung the Diskos very sure and quick, and
I smote the Bird-thing above the place where the great seeming-leathern
wing did join upon the right side, as it should be the shoulder of the
Bird-monster. And, in verity, the monster gave out a mighty squarking,
and went backward this way and that, and beat all about upon the stones,
and did strike with the great bill at the place where it did be hurt.
And I heeded that I end it swiftly; and I ran in upon it, and the
creature to strike at me with the great bill, very savage. But I jumpt
speedy to this side, and again to that, and so in a moment to have
chance to come in surely. And truly I split the skull of the
Bird-thing, so that it died very quick and was gone from pain.

And the Bird-creature lay all spread upon the stones and the rock of
that place; and surely it did be as that it were leathern, and made
somewise as a bat doth be of this age, in that it did have no feathers.

And, truly, it lookt mighty, where it did be spread; and indeed the body
to be full so big as the body of a young horse; and the bill to be very
deadly and sharp and cumbrous, as you to have guessed. And I to be all
and utter thankful that it did be there, dead, in the stead of mine own
body. And the thing yet to twitch and stir a little, as the life did go
from it.

And surely I was back then very speedy to the Maid, and she to be
kneeled upward to watch me. And I took her into mine arms, and lookt
well about; and made then forward again.

And about the middle part of the sixth hour of crossing that rocky land,
I saw that we did draw near unto the shallow river, that you shall mind
I came over, after that I had done with the olden flying ship. And in
all that time, since the Bird-monster to come after us, I had seen but
two more, and they a great way off, so that I guessed that I was come
beyond that part where they did go very frequent.

And I to wade over the river, and to carry Mine Own upon one arm, the
while that I did sound my way with the staff of the Diskos; and truly I
came across very easy, save that I did have to go around somewhat, where
that the river did seem to have a deep place.

And when that we had crost the river, it did be full one and twenty
hours since that we slumbered, as you shall know, if that you but count
a little; for you do mind that we spent a certain time within the tree,
as I have told; and this not to have been proper counted into the time
of our journeying.

And surely, the Maid to have been very quiet, since that I did show my
strength a little to her, when that I made her to lie, that she be safe
from the bill of the Bird-monster. But she not to be anywise in anger
upon me; but only, as I do think, that the woman in her did be something
fresh waked unto me; and she to be very content that she be quiet in
mine arms.

Now the place that we were come to, was much spread with boulders; but
yet to have the beginnings again of the forests, as you to remember; for
I to have made some small remark of the land in this part, upon mine
outward way. And we lookt about for a fire-hole, that I should dry my
lower garments; and truly, we had not past many in a great while; but we
to be in fortune, that we came soon upon a little fire-hill that did be
no more than so high as a man, and to have the rock all hot about; so
that this did be a good place to our purpose.

And I kist the Maid, and set her down out of mine arms; and when that I
had lookt well about, and seen that there did be naught to our sight to
give us to fear, the Maid to help me with mine armour; and afterward
with my garments, and to ease me all ways that she could think of with
helpfulness. And she set the garments of my lower parts to dry, and
whilst that they did be drying, she to make ready the water and the
tablets, and to have me to sit beside her, in my body-vest and gear, and
we to eat and drink very comfortable in the warm hollow that was
something anigh to the small fire-hill.

Now, truly, I did be very hungry that time, and indeed to be alway so,
for the tablets did be very unfilling to the belly, as you do well know
from my tellings. And when that I did be finished, I saw that the Maid
lookt at me somewise oddways, and sudden she to come into laughter, and
askt me whether that I did be very empty; and in the same moment there
to be a wondrous dear look within her eyes; so that I perceived that
there went a mother-note under her impudence.

And she to yearn, as I could know, that she have some way to feed me;
but truly there did be no way, for we thought not to make to slay aught
for our purpose, and we did be feared that we eat any root or plant,
lest that we be ill. And this to seem strange to my spirit of this our
age, but to be natural unto that; so that I do think I did be so long
bred from the primal obtaining of food, that I did be all lost to that
which should seem natural unto the peoples of this early age of the
world; though we truly to think that the world doth even now be old; and
this to have seemed a true thing unto every age that ever did live.

Now, beside that we did lack somewise to think serious that we slay
something to eat, in that the tablets did actually suffice to our
strength, I to believe that there did be some other reason that I do
forget, and mayhap never to have thought plain upon; but which to be set
within me as an instinct, as we do say; and this to mean, if that I try
to set it in other words, that the tablets did keep the body and the
spirit in such condition that the Forces of Evil did have the less power
to act upon us.

Yet, have I no remembering that I was taught in the preparation that I
eat naught, save the tablets; and this mayhap never to have been set
upon me; but to have been as a thing that doth never need to have been
told; even as you shall not tell a grown man in this Age that he shall
refrain from dung, and eat only wholesome matter.

And truly, I to hope that I have made this thing somewise clear unto
you; for, indeed, it doth be something hard to set out; for every Age
hath the subtleties peculiar to that Age; and these to be hard to the
understanding of other Ages, but yet to seem plain and utter natural,
even without thought, unto the Peoples of the Age.

And surely all this to be plain to you, and to be over-plain; for, in
verity, I tell to you, and over-tell, until that I should be weary; and
mayhap you to be the more so. And, indeed, I not to blame you; but only
to hope that your understanding, which doth mean also in general your
hearts, doth be with me all along my way. And, indeed, this my tale to
be not easy told.

And, in verity, I to be back now unto the Maid a-laugh upon me, and in
the same moment deeply loving and a-lack that she could not feed me, and
I to laugh with her, and to have understanding with her, as you to know;
and, indeed, I to have an heart that doth be made someways natural unto
understanding; so that even though I be dead when you read this, my
tale, you to feel that we be friends, and to know that could I meet with
you in pitiful trouble, I to have understanding and love to you, if that
you be not utter brutish; and even-so, I to be sorrowful that you should
be brutish, and to have understanding, in that I to know that by
developement you to become wise unto sweetness and charity, and in love
with all dear things, and kind pity of the rest. And thiswise you to be
in human sympathy with me, because that you do feel that I be honest
with you, and somewise even now to your elbow, as you read. And this to
be writ now, and you mayhap not to be born a great while yet; but in the
end to read and to have understanding with me, and to know how I did
love Mine Own. And so we to go forward again, the closer, in that we do
be the more knit in dear human sympathy.

And surely the Maid kist me very nice on the lips, and did promise again
how that she should make me a great meal when that we did come to our
Mighty Home; and, indeed, as she to say, she to join with me, and we
both to be naughty gluttons for that once. And, surely, I laughed gently
at the Maid, because that she should be so dainty a glutton; but for my
part, I to feel that I could eat an horse, as we do say in this Age.

And by that we had eat and drunk and talked awhile, and lookt oft about,
so that we know that no brutish thing came near, to our hurt, the Maid
to tell me that my garments did be dry; and she then to give me aid that
I dress very quick; and afterward she to help me with mine armour, the
which she did wipe after that we had eat and drunk; and she to have had
joy that she do this thing, and all things for me; and to have used a
part of her torn garments to this end.

And so, truly, I to be clothed and armed very speedy, and to feel eased
and the more sure in my mind; for in verity, I was alway in unease, when
that I did not be ready that I be able to meet any horrid Brute that
should be like to come upon us.

Now, when that I did be into mine armour again, the Maid to set the
scrip and the pouch upon me, and all the while I scarce to be loosed of
the Diskos, as ever. And we then to our way, which did be that we find a
place proper to our slumber.

And when that we did be gone all-ways, and no cave proper to our sight,
we found a great tree, that did be set off alone, and had a plenty of
branches; but none that did be near to the bottom-part.

And surely, I gave the Maid a lift, and held her up so far as mine arms
did go, so that she might stand upon the palms of my hands, and be
steady against the trunk of the tree; and she thiswise to have a hold
upon a branch, and so to go upward.

And, truly, when that she was safe, I loosed one of the straps from the
pouch and the scrip, and I cast this up to the Maid, and she set it
strong about the branch. And when I had caught the downward end, I went
upward very easy; and afterward took loose the strap; and this way we
did be something safe, as you shall see.

And we climbed upward then, and so came to a part of the tree where the
branches did be very thick together; and we made here a place for our
slumber, and the Maid set the cloak over the branches that did be so
close, and afterward we lay down; but first I set the strap about her
waist, and thence to a branch, and she to refuse sleep until that I be
likewise; so that we did be both very safe from any fall.

And she kist me, and we then to our slumber, and very weary; for it did
be two and twenty hours, by this, since that we had sleep.

Now we had eight hours in which we slept utter; and we both to awake, as
it did seem in the same moment; but truly, I to think that Mine Own did
be wakeful before that time; for, indeed, as she put her arms very
dainty about my neck, that she kiss me, I did have a quick and sudden
knowledge that I had been kist oft in my sleep, and this to have been
but a little while gone. And surely, it did seem to me that Mine Own did
have a sweet and contented Mischief inward of her eyes; but yet she to
be very sedate outward, and to kiss me loving and dear, and then we to
our breakfast, upon the cloak.

And afterward, I climbed to the topmost branches of the tree, and lookt
well over the Country all about; but there was no brutish thing to my
sight in any place, neither near nor far.

And I came down then to the Maid, and told her how that there was
quietness of life all about. And we had our gear together, and went
downward to the earth, and I to help Mine Own, and this way she to be
safe.

Now, as we went forward upon our journeying, I perceived that the Maid
had a wayward air; and truly, I thought that she did have her heart all
set toward naughtiness and mischief; and in the same moment that I was
in this belief, I did know in mine understanding that this did spring
from the workings of my nature upon the nature of Mine Own Maiden.

And Naani to walk, in the first, beside me, and to have no word for me,
because that she did be so filled with the stirrings of her naughtiness,
that did be in the same moment very sweet unto me, and yet to waken all
that did be masterful within me. And she to be that she did know, and
to delight, in her secret heart that she waken that which did be
masterful in me; but yet in the same moment to be strong determined that
she be not mastered by me. And surely this to seem contrarywise in the
words; but to be clear to the heart, if indeed you have ever been loved
by a dear maid of an high spirit.

And above all this, the Maid did be filled with a love for me, that did
beat and dance in all her being; and this in truth to overweigh all; but
yet from this same thing her dainty naughtiness to be born, because, as
I did say, my manhood to stir all her nature up-wise in sweet trouble
that did be half of rebellion, and half that she did ache that she be
close unto me in mine arms.

And, in verity, you to be with me in all these things, if that you have
had the love-days beside a dear and dainty maid, of an high and pure and
natural spirit; so that if you be old these days, even but the light
merriment of a passing maiden to bring a pain of wonderings and golden
memories upon your heart.

And presently, I saw that Mine Own put a little space between us, as the
naughtiness did work in her, as my heart to know; and she to be offward
from me a little. And she still to have no speech with me; but in a
little to begin that she sing in a low voice; and to have her pretty
body very upright and lithesome, and to go forward with a wondrous
dainty swing, so that my heart told me that she did all be stirred with
small thrillings of defiance unto me, and with thrillings of love; and
she to have the triumph of her Maidenhood and of her Womanhood, as it
were both to contend in her and to thrill upon her tongue, and to show
out the lilting and pretty warfare of her spirit that did go dancing and
dearly naughty in her breast.

And surely I went, very lifted in my heart, and astir; for it did be
wondrous to me that this lovely Maid did be so utter mine. And to see
but the way that she set her feet to the earth, and the way that she did
lift them sure and dainty; and the way that her body did be poised, and
the way of her head; and the way of her naughtiness and the sweetness
and the love that did be wrapt in with all, did make me want that I have
her in mine arms.

But yet, I not to do this, because that in the same time that she did so
stir me to love and admirings, she to set somewhat else in me at
variance, so that I did half to feel stern with her, for I perceived
that she had that naughtiness then within her, that she did be like to
have a real intent of impertinence unto me, so that she should be
naughtily outrageous, and to have no heed to my advisings, neither unto
my desires, unless that I set my hand upon her, to _make_ her to obey.

And truly, you that have had dear maids, shall follow mine explainings;
but unto others, I know not whether they shall understand, until they
too have been possessed of One that shall set all their heart adrift,
even as this One that did be Mine Own.

And sudden, I to know that Naani did change from her low singing unto an
olden air that had surely not been heard in all that eternity. And in
verity, for a little while, I not to know why that it did so shake all
my heart; nor what it did be; nor whether that I had truly heard it
before, or only to think so.

And, surely, it did be as that the silence of the olden moonlit world
did steal all about me; and sudden, I to know that the Maid did sing an
olden love-song of the olden world, and to go halting a little as she
sang, because that the words did steal something odd-wise through the
far veils of her memory, even as a song doth come backward out of
dreams.

And I to feel all my blood to seem to tremble in my veins, and my throat
to be troubled, as with vague sobs that did be the ghosts of forgotten
tears. And the dim sorrow that had come so swift and strange upon me, to
be likewise steeped in golden mists of the love that I once did love;
and the glamour to be come all fresh upon me, and I to know in that
moment how much we do forget, even when that we do believe that we have
all memory and all sorrow within our hearts.

And I lookt unto the Maid, something dimly, because of the way that I
did be; and I perceived in a moment that Mine Own did weep as she
walked; but the less with pain than with the strange anguish of Memory,
that doth have in it Tenderness and Sorrow and Love and all that Hath
Been and all that Did Never Be, and all to make a Vale unto the Spirit,
where doth be both a dim greyness and a warm and everlasting light, and
an utter speechlessness, and the low and far music of forgotten songs,
that do come downward over the shadowy mountains that do be builded of
Years and Forgetfulness, and yet made to be seen with the light of that
our Memory, which doth cast so many husht shadows.

And surely, as I did say, the Maid did weep as she went; but not to be
cast down; but rather that she held her head upwise, as that she did
walk in a glory. And the song to come oft-broke, and oddly, and to set
her voice to little human quiverings, as her memory did shake her sweet
spirit unto tears afresh; and she to walk with her pretty head upheld
and as that she did go in a Triumph; and the tears to come down
strangely upon her face, and all her soul to be there, pure and
wondrous, and in the same time both troubled and glad.

And this thing to be very dear and amazing; and she to be as that she
not to know then that she sang; but as that she did be lost in her
thoughts, as we do say, and this to have come sudden upon her, out of
all her upliftedness of spirit, that had been like to make her very open
unto all subtile and subtle powers of thought and inward stirrings, as
you shall think.

And again the song to come full-remembered, and fresh, as that this
Eternity did be but the yesterday of that moment. And Mine Own to be
all in a sweet madness with those half-dreamed memories, and the wonder
and pain of all that no man hath ever said, and that shall be never
said; and of the utter lost years, and all that hath been lost, and all
forgotten greatness and splendour, and the dreadfulness of parting, and
the loveliness of beautiful things that do be hid in the abyss of the
years.

And it did be sudden to my quickened fancy, that there did be low echoes
all about us, of the voices of dear beautiful ones that have died; for
so did memory set a strange and lovely mystery about my spirit in that
moment, that I did be all shaken so much as Mine Own. And I to be as
that I drew my breath anigh to tears, and did be there with Naani amid
the quiet spareness of the trees and the rock of that part of the land;
but yet did be to see half dimly that I stood within a light, even as
the light that doth be the wonder of olden sunsets; and I to be, in the
same time, both _that_ man and _this_ man that now doth write; and to
have beside my spirit but one maid, that I did lack to know whether I
say to her Naani or Mirdath; for though the two that have been Mine Own
did be different-seeming to the eye, there to be but the spirit of one
maid beside me in that moment.

And surely, I did be there, all shaken unto the seeing of visions, as it
did seem; so that the Land about me to have grown half as that it did
lack that it be real unto my sight, because that I lookt inward unto
Lands that did be of Memory. And lo! in a moment this to go; and I to be
in that Country of the Seas, and to look newly unto Naani, and she to go
as I have told; and there to be the lonesome trees and the rocks in all
parts for a great way about.

And sudden, as I lookt at Mine Own, she to come round unto me, and she
held out her arms, and did gaze at me with such a love, as that she were
transfigured, and to need strangely that she be in mine arms; and
surely, I to an holy need that I have her unto me, because that, after
all, there did be no wonder so great as that wonder, that when all did
be said I did have Mine Own, after that all Eternity had nigh past.

And, in verity, we ran each to the other, and did be silent, because
that there was no speech of words by which we could say aught of all
that did be in our hearts. And truly you to be with me in understanding;
for you too, mayhap, to have suffered thiswise of dumbness; even if that
it hath not been so great. But yet to make you to know.

And presently, we grew quiet in the spirit; and Mine Own to come back
again to her joyousness, and to go beside by me, as we made forward.

And presently, Naani to begin that she look at me with dear impudences
again, that did be very sweet unto me; but yet to be like to lead unto
defyings.

And truly, by these things shall you know the spirit of Mine Own Maid;
and there to be none to me that ever did be like her. But, indeed, you
to think thatwise of the maid that you did love; and all the world to be
thinking each these thoughts of one dear maiden that doth be the one
maid in all the round world.

And this to be the lovely niceness of the human heart; and I not to have
any grumble thereat; but yet, surely, you shall say that this Maid that
did be Mine Own, did be very dear and lovely. And, in verity, I to show
my human heart in this thing; for you likewise to want that I think your
Maid to have been just so dear, and the more so. And indeed we ever to
be going these ways; and to have good comradeship of understanding,
because that we have all loved and suffered joy and had utter belief in
a dear One.

And surely a defyingness to come presently into the way that the Maid
did go, and she to walk a little offward from me; and truly I lookt at
her, both with love and yet with somewhat that did be to reprove her
gently, and all in the same moment that she to make my heart stirred
with her sweet naughtiness.

And she to look sudden at me; and to be that she half to intend to run
to kiss me; but also that she be minded in the same moment that she set
herself up impertinently against me. And, in verity, she made me to
harden my nature a little, as manhood doth make a man to do; and this
because of the rebellion that I knew to be in her; and she likewise to
know. But she hid her eyes, when that I shook my head, half with play
and half with earnest; and was then impudent unto me; and gone from that
in a moment to her pretty singing, and her naughty walking apart. But
she no more to sing an olden love-song.

Now, in a while, we past a basin of rock, in a place among the trees;
and there was a warm spring bubbling in the rock, and the basin to be
full of water, very warm and with some smelling of chemistry.

And the Maid told me that she would wash, and I to think it a good place
for that end. And when I had tasted the water, I found that it did seem
smooth and proper for our intent, as that there did be a verity of an
alkali in it.

And truly we washed, and after that I was done, the Maid bid me that I
turn my back; and I to do this, and she to mock me very naughty whilst
that I could not see her, and to seem very quiet; for indeed, I heard no
splashings of water, though I stood off from her a long while, and she
alway to say naughty things unto me, as that she did mind truly to have
me angered; for, indeed, she did have a plain intent that she mock at
me, and to ease not her wit. And surely, after that I had stood a great
while, I askt the Maid when that she did be like to be done; but she to
say that she was nowise ended of her toilets. And I knew very sudden
that she made foolishness upon me also in this matter; and I turned
upon her, and lo! she did be sitting upon a little rock, very sedate,
even as when she had bid me turn from her; and to have made no more
forward, but only to have been there at ease, that she keep me turned
away to please her naughty mood, and all the while have a double liberty
to have impudence upon me.

And, in verity, I did be a little angered; but scarce that I did know
it; for I did love her very great, and was stirred inwardly with her
dearness and that she did look just that-wise that I knew not whether I
to need to kiss her, or to shake her; and truly, how should I know; for
my heart did ache that I have her to mine arms; but my brain to say that
she did go over-far in the joke; and truly you to see that I did not be
unreasonable, neither to be lacking of grace; for indeed I do think that
I was swayed all-ways, because that I saw all the dear way that her
pretty nature did work; and to conceive of her mood and to understand
and be stirred; but yet to shape a little in my manhood unto hardening,
and in my judgement unto sternness.

Yet, truly, I scolded Mine Own with no more than a little jesting, and
did be nice and gentle with her, because she did be so dear, and I to
know just-wise her mood and the cause and working of it.

And I told her that I did love her, and that she hasten now and let us
again to the journey. But, indeed, she only to make a face at me, so
that I did be near like to shake her unto sedateness. And she then to be
both merry, and a rogue, as we do say, and to stop her ears and again to
sing very gleeful; and all so that she might not hear aught that I said.
And surely she lookt a very dainty Rebellious One.

And I went then straightway to her, and took her hands from her ears;
and I kist her pretty ears very gentle that I not to deafen her. And I
kist her lips as she did sing; and afterward shook her, that she be not
such a sweet Torment. But this to have no success that way; for she only
to put out her toes to be kist; for her foot-gear was off from her feet.
And, indeed, I laughed, even as I made to frown; and truly I kist her
pretty toes, and tried then to coax her to go forward something speedy
with her hair, and to be ready to the journey. But she only to sing, and
to refuse to be sedate.

And, in verity, in the end, I caught her up in mine arms, and had her
bundle in my hand, and so went off with her very sudden, with her hair
all loose upon me in a lovely and soft shining, and her feet bare as
they did be.

And this action I made, because that I was grown truly a little stern
with Mine Own; for, indeed, she did half to need that she be whipt unto
properness, as you shall think, that have seen how she did be thiswise
only because that her nature did be stirred strangely, and her Womanhood
and her Maidenhood to be all unto war, and in part to make a rebellion
against me that she did know glad to be her true Master; but yet she to
be thus, even though she did be so glad.

And this to act so that she did be in the same moment both sweet and
wise and yet to show a dainty foolishness and a true naughtiness that
did make me to feel somewhat of a real anger; but yet did have me to
know that all my being did be stirred by her; so that I did think with
one thought that she did be very foolish, and with another that she did
be lovely wayward.

Now, when that I took the Maid up so quick, and made off with her, she
to give a little gasp and to submit to me with a quick humbleness; but
immediately, she to regain her courage, and to be outraged of me. But,
indeed, I took no heed, only that I was like to shake her; and did know
also that her hair did be wondrous pretty upon mine armour. And she soon
to lie very quiet and easy in mine arms, and to be demure.

And I to have a half knowledge of somewhat amiss; but yet to have no
sureness, neither to think much upon this vague feeling.

And when that I had gone a good mile, she to put up her lips to be kist;
and I to kiss her very loving, for she was so dear. And she then to say,
very ordinary like, that I should do wisely now if that I went back for
her foot-gear, which truly I had lacked thought to notice, when that I
did pick up the Maid.

And I saw that she had known this thing all that while, and had made
that mile of carrying all a waste and a foolishness, because of the
naughty rebellion which did be in her. And lo! I set her instant to the
ground; and she gave out a little cry as she saw that I did be gone
somewise hard and stern with her.

And indeed I pulled a small branch from a tree that did be near, to be
for a switch as you shall whip a boy with; and I held her with my left
hand, and in verity I laid the switch thrice very sharp across her
pretty shoulders, that she know all that she did need to know. And she
seeming to be ceased in a moment from her perverseness, and did nestle
very quick unto me, that had whipt her; and did need that she be
wondrous nigh unto me. And, truly, how shall even a young man flog such
an one.

And the Maid to be very husht against mine armour, and to resist that I
look into her face that did be prest so anigh me. But presently, I used
a little and gentle force, and so to look into her face something
sudden. And truly, that One did be smiling very naughty and dainty to
herself; so that I perceived that I had not truly whipt her enough; but
yet I could harden my heart no more at that time; for, in verity, there
doth be a strange half-pain in the bosom, if that you have to flog a
maid that doth be utter thine, and this to the despite that there hath
been--as then--no properness of anger to have for an after
self-reproach.

And surely, I to have done this thing only of a stern intent and
steadfastness, that I steady Mine Own Maid unto wisdom; but yet to have
been helpt by a little anger, because of the thing that she had done.
Yet, alway, my love did be so strong, that mine anger never to have
aught of bitterness, as you shall have seen, and to understand.

And we went back then for the foot-gear of the Maid; and she to be very
husht in mine arms; but yet, as I perceived, not to be quiet, of an
humble little heart, but only of the chance that her nature did be
stirred that way for the while.

And truly, when we were gone back, the foot-gear did be there to the
side of the pool, and the Maid gat shod very speedy, and would have no
aid; and afterward did up her hair very tight upon her head, to have it
utter from my sight; and this to be for a perverseness; for she knew
that I did love to see it pretty upon her shoulders, or if that she must
do it, that she do it up very loose and nice; and truly you to know how
I mean; only that I have no skill of such matters; but yet a good taste
to admirings, if that the thing be aright.

And I to say nothing, as I looked at her; and she presently to make a
quick glance unto me, to see why I did say naught. And I shook my head,
smiling at her waywardness; but she to look away from me, and to seem to
be set to fresh naughtiness.

Now we went forward then upon our journey; and alway the Maid to walk
onward from me; but yet to have no other impudence, neither to sing.

And I to go kindly with her; but yet to think that she did lack somewhat
to know that I did be truly her Master; and I to wonder a little whether
she did know proper that my gentleness with her did be not of weakness,
but born of understanding and love, and the more proof that I did be fit
to possess and to guide her.

And truly this was the thought of a young man, yet lacking not of Reason
in the bottom part, though mayhap to be something clumsy-seeming unto
the mind of a maid; and to be very human to my years; and you to have
been likewise, if that you have tried all-ways with a dear One, and she
to be yet over-wilful, so that you to wonder whether she did truly know
how you did understand.

And surely a maid doth know much that doth be in the heart of a man, if
that she be true woman in her own secret heart. And oft she doth know
more of her man than her man doth wot of himself, and to go her own
diverse ways that she search out and bring forth and waken all that is
the inward being of the man that she doth love.

Yet, when that she have stirred you in the deeps that you scarce to
know, she to be all fearful, and in the same moment to have no fear; and
to be in rebellion, and in the same moment to be most strange humble.
And all to be born of love, and nature in action upon nature.

And more than this how shall I have learning of the heart to tell you;
for, in verity, there doth be much in these few lines, if that you know
to read. And surely you to know, or to learn; but if neither, then have
you gone short of joy and the true inwardness of life.

Now this way I did be, as I have told; and the Maid to be quietly
naughty in perverseness, as also I have set out; yet to have a strict
mind to her duties, and to go now wondrous sedate upon the journey; yet
alway apart. And likewise, when that the sixth hour did come, and we to
our halt, as ever, she to be very speedy and nice that the water and the
tablets be ready for me; but yet to have no word; neither to eat by me;
but again a little apart, and not to share the water, but to make a
brewing to herself, when that I had done.

And likewise, the Maid held not up her tablets to be kist, as alway; but
eat them, quiet and meditative, and with little nibblings, as that she
did ponder upon other matters, or mayhap to be not hungry.

And these things I saw, as we eat and drank in a silence; and I to look
at the Maid, somewise sad in the heart, and something stirred; and I to
say to myself wisely, yet as a young man, that she did not yet be taught
sufficient that I was her master. And this you to perceive.

And she never to seem to look at me; but to be quiet and demure, and to
have her eyelids something down upon her eyes.

Now, presently, as I thought upon the matter, I saw that I do well that
I take no heed of Mine Own; but to let her to come to a natural end of
this naughtiness, that did be, in the same time, both pretty and a
little foolish; so that in half I condemned it and in half I was
stirred; and alway I loved the Maid very dear, and had a good
understanding; and there to be also an interest in my heart at this new
side that she did be showing. And also, she to stir me odd whiles unto
masterfulness; and so you to know pretty well how it did be with me in
the matter.

Now, surely, I found this plan, that I attend not to the Maid, to have
something of success; for I knew presently that she did look upward at
me, slyly, from under her pretty eyelashes; and after, to be demure in a
moment; and this to go forward for a while; yet I to show no heed.

And in a while, I saw that she gave attention to her garments, in the
way of nattiness; and afterward, she took down her hair, and made it up
then very loose and pretty upon her head; so that she did be very
lovely, and to tempt mine eyes that they look alway at her. But, indeed,
I did make as that I had no heed that the Maid did shape her hair
different upon her head.

And she very soon then to speak, and to have the lesser gear together,
and to make that she attract me. But truly, I was very nice with her;
yet to keep her now a little off from me in the spirit; and so to teach
her that-wise, that she was somewhat of a dear naughty maid; but also,
as I do think, I was this way, because that in part I would tease her,
in great love of her prettiness and her makings up to me; and so maybe
even that I make her to be the more defying of me. And this to be as
that I also lacked somewhat of reason; for I did strangely that I think
that she need to be whipt, and in the same time that I go to make her
the more deserving of the same.

Yet, this to be the truth, as I know it; and surely to be the natural
waywardness of love. But yet, there did be also in the backward part of
my wisdom, an intent that I be wise and careful with Mine Own; and I
surely to have no full realisings that I did be like to set her further
unto perverseness than yet she did be.

Now, after that I had shown well that I lacked to heed the Maid, I found
that I did be looking oft at her; and she to be so dear and pretty, and
to be all husht, that truly I could not bear that I be longer silent to
her advancements.

And I ceased then from pretending, and would have had her into mine
arms; but she to be now in sweet dignity, and to keep me off with very
sober graces. And because of this, I to feel someway that I did be
someway in blame; and surely, now that I consider it, I can see that I
was something acted upon, even as had been the Maid; and so we two to
be; and a most human pair, as you to say; and somewhat both a-lack; but
indeed, we did be very wholesome, and in utter love each of the other;
and mayhap both then to perceive something of the sweet foolishness
within us that did be as yeast a-work in us; for I thought that Naani
did smile a little to herself. But, surely, this clear-seeing, to be but
for an odd time; and afterward we each again to earnestness in our way
with the other; but alway, even when we did make to show indifference,
we to be something troubled inwardly with sweet flashings of our
bewildered natures.

Now, though I have shown you that I to know that I did be not utter free
of this most strange and natural foolishness; yet you to perceive that I
tell this only that I have utter truth of all things that did happen;
for, in verity, because that I was something subtly touched this way at
whiles, yet was this no full excusing of the Maid; though, in the same
moment, you to perceive, that there did be only the half of me to think
that she did need to be excused; for, in truth, mine understanding went
alway, in the main, with the workings of her nature; and had a natural
sympathy with her dear whimsies; but also, as you to know, I to be
stirred constant in my manhood by her naughty defyings; and to be
troubled in my Natural Sense, when that her whimsies made her to act
that she be likely to come unto aught of harm.

And surely now you to see all the way of my heart, and to have
understanding in things that do follow. And alway you shall mind that I
did love her utter, and to crave alway that I be a shield unto her;
though truly, there doth be, mayhap, somewhat in me that doth act to
make me a little stern seeming in my love; but yet not oft so; as you do
know, that have gone with me in all my tellings.

Now, we went then upon our journey; and the Maid to be somewhat before
me, and offward to the side, upon my right; and to have no speech with
me, but to make a good pace, and to be very dear and graceful as she
went.

And now we did pass this thing of strangeness, and now that; and these I
did point out to her, and made some telling concerning the same, having
the memory of mine outward way, and how that I did see these things
then, when that I was all in suffering of so lonesome a doubt.

And she to hark alway very intent, and to move her head nice and
intelligent, to show that she heard me; and once I saw that she lookt
sudden at me with a dear light in her eyes; but this to be done in a
moment, and she to be again silent-seeming and in her new perversity of
dignity.

And surely she did seem so utter sweet in this new way of naughtiness;
but yet I did think, odd whiles, that I should like to shake her unto
dear humbleness and her usual way.

And in the twelfth hour, we made halt again, and had our food and our
drink; and the Maid to serve me very clever and quiet, as that I did be
her Lord, and she an husht slave. And I saw that she made a constant and
naughty mock upon me; and truly, as I did half think, she to need that
she be in care that I not treat her sternly, as shall a slave-master,
and to give her that which she did ask for so mute and impudent. But
alway she did stir me mightily to have her to mine arms, and to love her
very dear.

And presently, we did be again to our way; and to be yet silent; so that
I scarce knew whether to have patience with Mine Own, or whether that I
take her and speak seriously with her to cease this play, which did
begin a little to dispirit me somewhat strangely.

And in the end I went over to her, as we did walk, and I put mine arm
about her, and she to yield to me without word, and to hark very quiet
to my speech of reasoning and gentle sayings, and to hide whether she
did be stirred inwardly, or not; though, indeed, my spirit to know that
her spirit did never be afar off from mine in all deep matters; but only
this thing to be to the top, and to set somewhat between us that did be
both a sweetness and a trouble.

And alway, as I talked with the Maid, I saw that she did make naughtily
to act as that I did be a slave-master, and she but a chattel to me; for
she to be husht before me, and neither to yield her slender body willing
to mine arm, nor to resist me; but only to be still, as that she had no
saying in this matter; and as that I was like to beat her at my
pleasure, or to withhold my hand, all as might chance to be my desire.
And this I perceived was the shaping of her actions, so that all her
dumbness and her quiet obedience did be but a way to say this thing to
me; and all to have come from her love of me and that she did be shaken
in her nature by my manhood, and so to be but a new form of her
naughtiness, that did have this change when that I whipt her.

And all this, you to perceive, that have gone with me.

And I saw that she would not cease from this perverseness, but made a
dumb and naughty and hidden mock upon me, very dainty and constant, and
scarce to be truly perceived, save by the inward sense. And truly, I
grew something angered afresh, and to feel that she did need that she be
shaken so stern that she come unto the reality that I did be her man and
natural master; yet alway in love.

And surely I loosed her then, and went off a pace to her side; and we
again to go forward thiswise; yet she soon to have a greater distance
between us, which she made very quiet and natural; but, indeed, I saw
what she did.

Now, about the fourteenth hour of that journeying, I saw before us, in
the far distance, the rock upon which did be the olden flying ship, that
you shall remember. And presently, as we came more nigh, I lookt oft to
Mine Own; and I saw that she did be staring that way, and to be in
wonder; but yet to say naught to me.

And soon, as we came very close, I did want that I tell her about the
ship, and of mine adventuring there, and of the wonder of that olden
ship, set there through Eternity.

But in the first, I hesitated, as you shall think, because of her way;
but truly, my heart knew that her heart did be proper unto me; and,
moreover, I should be small in my nature, if that I let any pettiness
put a silence upon me; though, in verity, if that the Maid had not been
inwardly loving to me, I had been that I had told her no word; and this
to be very natural, whether it be of smallness or not.

And when that we were come beside the great uprising rock, I made halt,
and the Maid to halt with me; and I showed her how that the thing upon
the rock did be an olden flying ship from the Mighty Pyramid. And in the
first, she askt no questions; but did be quiet and but to show with
little noddings that she did be greatly interest.

And I to show to her how that this olden ship did be there mayhap an
hundred thousand years; and to have been there, as it did seem to us
(that were of that age) since the beginnings of the world; though, in
verity, our two spirits did know that the beginnings of That Age, did be
truly the ending of This, as you also to know.

And much I told Mine Own, and afterward concerning the two Humpt Men
that did come after me; and she alway to be silent, until that I spoke
of the fight; but then to come round upon me very swift, and with a dear
light in her eyes; and had askt, before she did wot, whether they did
hurt me.

And surely, this to have been the first thing of her olden sweet
naturalness that she did say for a great while, and I to be so in
delight, that I had her into mine arms, and kist her very loving, all
in a moment, and she to submit with a nice gladness, and to nestle unto
me, and all unwitting that she did be gone from her waywardness.

Yet, in verity, she did be a naughty Maid; for she minded in an instant
that she did forget her pose unto me; and lo, her lips did be no more to
search unto mine, but to be as that they did be kist only of my will,
and she to have no more live nestling unto me, but only to be quiet in
mine arms. And I lookt into her face, and her lids to be down somewhat
over her pretty eyes, and she did look very husht and demure; so that
truly, I knew not whether to shake her or again to kiss her.

But in the end I loost her, and made then that we go forward; yet,
indeed, she did rather stay awhile, to hark further concerning the olden
ship and of mine adventurings; but she did then to mind that she obey as
a slave shall obey; and truly, I did punish her, in that I told her no
more; but went forward at a good pace, and had some natural wonder how
that I deal with such a Maid, if that I spare to shake her.

And surely, I thought then again that I leave her be, and so to have her
presently again to her old and natural way.

Now, in a while, I lifted the Maid into mine arms, that I carry her, as
ever, through the last part of each journey, and so to have her never
over-tired for the morrow. And she for a moment to resist; but instantly
to give unto me, and to lie quiet in mine arms, as that she had no
saying in aught that did be done, but must alway obey. And, indeed, you
to see how dearly perverse she did be.

And I went on then through four hours from that time, and lookt oft upon
every side, and walkt quietly; for truly we were come now into a part of
the Country where I did feel that there might be near some of the Humpt
Men.

But I saw nowhere anything to put me in dread.

And alway as we journeyed, there did seem a great stillness in all the
Country near about; and afar off the low mutter of the Great Fire-Hills,
in this place and that, and a drowse as of life and warmth about us, and
everywhere the air very rich and plentiful.

And presently, when that we did be come down from that high place where
did be set the rock and the olden ship, we came in among the trees that
came very nigh to the shore for a great way; and oft as we did go, there
were clumpings of small fire-hills that did cast fire and noise; and oft
the roaring of monstrous springs a-boil; and then again the smell of the
woods about us, and oft still in odd places the low near sound of a
little fire-hill, that did burn, lonesome, in some clear space of the
woods, in this place and that; and afterward we to be gone onward again
into the dull low mutter that did be in all the air of that Country, and
that did but make a seeming of silence, because that it did be so far
and constant.

Now, about the eighteenth hour I to note that the noise of the Great
Fire-Hills grew more loud; and I saw presently over the trees, afar
upward in the great night and gloom that did lie above, those two mighty
Fire-Hills that I did feel to make the earth tremble, in that part, upon
mine outward way. And surely I have told something of this before; and
you to remember, if that you but think a little moment.

Now, it may appear strange that I speak thiswise of seeing the two Hills
of fire; as that I had perceived them sudden. But, indeed, I had been
long abled to see them both, yet to have had no attention to them,
because that they did be a great way off, and because they did be but
two Hills of fire, in a Country that did be plentiful with such.

And, truly, I not to have said aught about them, only that our path did
take us now by their feet, and I to see them, as it were, newly; and to
have nice ease of heart to perceive how that they did be a wonder unto
the spirit and the brain for all time.

For it did be as that the earth had a constant shaking within miles of
them, and that a monstrous force of nature did be in that place. But yet
there to be no desolation around, as you should think; but in all parts
a wondrous growing of trees and great plants in abundance.

And the trees to grow upward upon the shoulders of the mountain; and
there to be no falling of hot rocks and ash, as you to think; but all
very sweet and wholesome, as that the mighty valley made a chimney to
the mountain, and mayhap to others, so that their waste, if that they
had such, did go free. But, indeed, you shall take no heed of this
explaining, save as an odd thinking that hath come to me, and to be
without foundation. And there to be no surety of the reason to this;
only that there did be no falling of ash in that part, as I do know. Yet
in other parts of that Country the Fire-Hills did make new mountains of
the matter that did come from them; but this not to be alway so; and
there to seem to my knowledge no cause to order why this did not be
constant; save that my guessings to be right, or naught to be blown from
some. But, indeed, I to be sure only of that which did be plain to mine
eyes. And mayhap there to be no mystery in the thing; but a score of
natural explainings, if that I did know, or had patience to think long
enough upon such.

Now when that the eighteenth hour did be proper come, we to be anigh to
the great Hills, and there to seem nowise any danger of falling fire, so
that I sought about for a place for our slumber.

And I found a cave in the side of a big rock; and the cave was dry and
comfortable, and had the mouth about a score feet above the earth. And
when that I had climbed and lookt well into the cave, I gave the Maid an
help, and had her safe into that place; and she then to prepare the
tablets and the water, the while that I brought up a boulder from below,
to set very light balanced in the mouth of the cave. And this I meant
for a signal to fall, if that any creature should climb upward into the
cave, while that we did sleep. And surely, you to know this plan; for I
did it before, as you to have learned.

And the Maid sat near to me, and eat her tablets very quiet and with a
demure naughtiness; but yet to be also in wonder, and to gaze outward at
the Great Fire-Hills, and to be in awe, as I did know.

And I put my half-anger and my play from me, and told her of mine
outward journeying, and how I did go by these same mighty Fire-Hills,
that did seem as mighty torches to light me in my search, and to have
held a new strangeness and wonder over my path.

And she still to be silent, but yet to look at me twice or thrice with a
very dear and loving way; though she did hide her eyes in a moment, when
that she saw that I perceived her.

And soon the Maid spread the cloak for our sleep; and while that she did
this, I lookt well about for any creature that might be anigh; and I had
an especial thought unto the Humpt Men; but, indeed, there was naught
living, unto my sight, and nowhere did I see anything to put me in fear
for our lives.

And truly I had a great viewing from that place; for we did be in an
upward rock that stood in a high part, and the cave to be twenty good
feet aloft, as I have told; so that all made to set us in a lofty place.

And the cave to look toward the two Mountains that did rise upward no
more than twelve good miles off from us, as I do think; and the Country
between to be somewise as a mighty park; for it was spread much about
the feet of the Great Fire-Hills, and did be bare in this place and
that, as that rock did make the earth naked there, or the falling of
some later fire to have wrought thus. And between the bare parts, there
went strange and romantic woods, seen mistily, and in parts the gleaming
of waters, as that hot lakes did be half shown among the broken forests.

And presently the Land did go upward with a monstrous sweep, and was
then in great terraces in the height, and trees to grow very plentiful
upon the mountains, in sundry parts; and so those two Mighty Hills to go
upward to meet the everlasting night; and presently to show strange
uplands that did be seen very wondrous and queer in the light that did
glow from the vast glowing of the fire that did be a crown upon the
hills, that did seem in verity to be that they burned halfway between
that known world, and the lost olden world, that was mayhap two hundred
great miles above in the everlasting night and eternity of darkness.

And I lookt upward for awhile, and was much held by the mighty uplands
that did be on high; yet did lie utter far below the burning crests of
the Mountains, and showed vague and sombre and dreadful seeming, because
that they did be so lost upward, and to have the mystery of the red
shining and of the shadows upon them, and to seem to slope far under the
great fires, but yet to be a place where no life should ever come,
because that they did be so monstrous a way upward beyond the great
shoulders of the Hills, the which did be themselves a huge way up. And
truly, I should give you somewhat of the affecting of those grim and
unknown Uplands, if that I said they did seem to my fancy to be a place
where a sorrowful thing might wander lost forever. But why I to think
this thing, how shall I say; and do tell it to you, only because that it
doth seem to hold in the thought the grimness and utter desolation of
those high and lonesome lands.

And by this, I was done looking, and turned me about, and so did find
that Mine Own did stand silent, and waited that I come to my slumber.
And surely, I lookt at her; but she did have her lids something
downward, when that she saw me turn; and so in the end, I said naught,
but went to my sleep, and had the Diskos very handy, as ever, beside me.

And I then to know that Mine Own did lie down beside me, to my back, as
alway, and this to gladden me, as you shall think; for I perceived
afresh how thin did be the crust of her naughtiness; and I to be alway
stirred and touched in the heart by her loving naturalness, that did
need alway that she be near to me, save when she did play this
naughtiness upon me along the way.

And I saw that she had no mind to be perverse whilst that I did slumber;
but must now be nigh unto me, and quietly loving; though nowise truly
ceased from her naughty acting that I did be as an hard slave master,
because that I had whipt her; yet she to have somewhat a truce with me,
as my heart did know. But, indeed, she not to kiss me good-night upon
the mouth, in her dear usual and sober fashion.

And surely I did lie awhile, and pondered upon the Maid and upon all her
ways; and I perceived that she kist me not, only because that she did
not be able to break utter from her perverseness, that did come from the
stirring of her nature. And truly, I did love her, and was half minded
that I turn about to her, and take her a moment into mine arms; but yet
to abide from this, because that I was set that I wait awhile, and to
bring her to me thiswise, mayhaps.

And presently, I knew that the Maid kist mine armour, very quiet and
shy, because that she must kiss me; yet to be intent that I have no
knowledge of this pretty act. But, indeed, I did know in all my being,
and did be newly tender unto her; yet to say naught, and to wait.

And thus I knew presently that her breathing did go easy, so that I
perceived that she was all content and gone over unto slumber, somewise
as a little child that doth be weary, and doth sleep without care, and
with happy assurance.

And, in verity, did a man ever to have so sweet and gentle a maid, that
did be in the same time so troublous and perverse.

And I to lie yet awhile, and to note the constant tremble and shake of
the rock that did be under us; and this to be alway thus as I did lie,
and to be the more plain, because that I did be quiet in thought. And
this, as I conceived, did come from the earth-shaking that was made by
the inward fire of the world, the which did make a vague trouble in all
that part of the Land.

And then in a little, I was gone over into sleep, and waked not for
seven good hours; and then to hear the fizzing of the water, very brisk
and cheerful, and so to have mine eyes open in a moment, and to know by
my time-keeper or dial, that was somewhat like to a watch of this age,
that I had slumbered through seven good hours. But this to be learned
after that I had lookt to see whether Mine Own did be well, and whether
that the boulder did balance in the mouth-part of the cave.

And surely, there did be nothing in harm; for the boulder was there, as
I did put it; and the Maid a little off from me, and did make ready the
water and the tablets, that we eat before our journeying.

And I rose then, and in the same moment I did know that my mouth had
been kist whilst that I slept; and the knowing to come to me vague, as
that I had been kist in my dreams.

And I lookt over toward the Maid; but she to have her lids something
down upon her eyes, and to seem very demure; so that I saw her
naughtiness was come again upon her. Yet, truly, I could not bear that I
not to have her into mine arms; for, indeed, her perverseness did seem
as that she did the more tempt me unto her. And thus I came to her in a
moment; but she neither to resist me, nor to give herself unto me; but
only to be still in mine arms, and to do no more than submit very quiet.

And because of this, I loost her unkist, and was silent, and a little to
be angered, even whilst that my heart perceived the way of the working
of her heart. Yet truly I ached now that she come back to her dear
natural fashion.

And I eat my tablets and drank some of the water; and the Maid to do
likewise.

And afterward, I lookt well from the mouth of the cave; but did nowhere
see aught to put me in trouble for our safety, though, truly, as
presently I saw, there went an herd of strange creatures afar off in the
Northwestward part, which did be that way of the Country, beyond the
feet of the mountains, toward the In-Land.

Now, when that I was something assured of the safeness of the way, I gat
the Diskos to my hip, and the Maid to have the scrip and the pouch ready
to my back, and her bundle to her hand; and so all to be ready.

And I went downward from the cave, when that I was girt, and gave aid to
Mine Own; and so to be soon upon the journey.

And surely, as we went onward, and I to look about me with
different-seeing eyes from my looking on mine outward way, I to see how
wondrous this part of the Land did be; and how that it did be truly like
a great and wondrous park, that did be made of the skill and labour of
godlike things; and truly this to show my feeling, as I lookt all-ways.
And all that part did be bred of the inward forces of the world, and did
be burned clear in this place, and upheaved in that, and made to an hot
lake in another part; and odd whiles there to go a great steam fountain,
that did whistle a lonely song forever. And anon there to be a small
wood, and again a wood; and oft the quietness of great and strange
trees, that did stand alone. And here, and in that part, a little
fire-hill, that did be surely no greater than an house, and we to pass
seven of these in but three hours. And two to glow very steadfast, and
to make no vigour of burning; but the five others did burn very strong,
and sent out a smoke and ash, and made a small desolation all about
them; and of these five, there did be one that cast stones oft and
again, so that they went upward with a strange loud noise, and fell in
this place and that, all about, so that we came downward more nigh to
the shore, that we be a good way off.

And here, as I do mind, there was a strangeness, in that there did be
many trees that had stones set in the branches; and this to be plainly
the work of the little fire-hill; and I to think it but something new
come, else surely there had been no trees within all that space that it
did throw; but yet, mayhap, I am wrong in this; for all things did seem
that they grew very easy in that Country; and indeed this to be for
surprise to me, only that I saw it with mine own eyes, as we do say.

And alway as we did go, there were signs of inward life and forces; so
that we but to stand quiet to feel that the earth did tremble gently in
many parts.

And presently there sounded for a great while a low and dull booming
sound; and this we found to be from a place amid certain great rocks
toward the mountains; for there came thence a mighty up-spouting of
boiling water, that went so high as an hundred feet, and oft to be
thrice so high, and belched a great steam; and there went up in the jet
of the water, a great rock, that was so big as an house, and did dance
and play in the might of the water, as that it had been no more than a
thing very light and easy. And when that the water fell, as it did oft,
the rock to go downward with the dull booming that we did hear.

And I minded how that I had heard the booming upon mine outward way; but
had been then something more to the shore, so that it had been less
plain to mine ears, as you shall suppose; neither had it been then to my
sight, as now it did be to us because that we were come mayhap the half
of a mile more toward the In-Land of the Country.

And truly, we lookt awhile at this huge great fountain and up-boiling,
and came nearer unto it; but yet to be a large space off, because of
the way that it did throw out a spattering of small stones odd whiles.
And surely the thing did cough and roar in the deep earth, and anon to
gruntle gently and to sob and gurgle; and lo! to come forth in a moment
with a bellow, very hollow and strange, and the great rock to go
spinning upward, and all a-shine in the light from the volcanoes, and
was so round as a monstrous ball, and polished by the fret of the
waters, so that I saw it had surely danced in the great jet through a
weary time.

And anon the jet to cease and to go downward with a great soughing and
thundering of waters, and the dancing rock to fall downward from that
height which did show very huge, now that we did be come so near. And
the rock surely to fall backward into some deep pit, whence came the
waters, and as it fell, there was again the dull booming. But why the
rock brake not, I could not perceive, save that it did alway fall into a
boiling up of waters, and had no hurt from the rock of the place whence
it was come.

And the Maid and I both to have stood a while, that we stare at this
thing; for it did be more strange than I have made you to know; but now
I did make to our journey again, and did think the Maid followed; but
lo! in a moment, when that I lookt, she was to my back, and went toward
the great boiling fountain. Then I stopt very swift, and called to her;
but she did take no heed of me, and went onward very naughty, unto the
danger of the great boil of the Jet, and the constant flying out of the
stones, that you do know.

Now, even as I stood and lookt, the Maid drew nigh to the place where
the water did thunder; and the Jet in that moment to bellow, so that I
knew it came upward again. And I ran then after the Maid, and she to see
me, and began likewise to run from me toward the monstrous fountain; and
surely I did think that I had done well if that I had whipt or beat her
proper before this time; for truly it did be as that her naughtiness had
gone nigh unto somewhat that did be near to a wayward madness, so that
as I did perceive all her nature did surely work in her toward some deed
that should be for regret; and this to come, because that she did be
something pusht from her dear balance by her loving, and by the acting
of my manhood upon her, so that her nature both to be in rebellion
against me and to need me, and all in the same time. And this-way, she
to be in an inward turmoil, and to be ready foolishly that she put in
danger her beloved life, if only thereby she to make me something
adrift, and in the same moment to have some ease of her perverseness.
And, in verity, you to know all this, because that I have shown the
working of her heart to you before this time.

Now, I caught the Maid among the great rocks, which did stand all about;
and before her there did be a monstrous pit whence came the upbursting
of the water; and the water to go upward before our faces in a mighty
column, so that it did be as that a sea shot up on end, into a pillar of
living water, and went upward forever, as it did seem in that moment.
And how we should be saved, I knew not, for the water did be as that it
overhung us, and should come down upon us and smother us in one moment,
forever. And the roar was in our ears and shook all the air of that
place with sound, as of an harsh and dreadful thunder; and there was a
scalding of beaten water, as fine as an haze, all about us.

And I had the Maid in one instant into mine arms, and I ran very swift,
with a fierce running, that I have her away speedy, and so made forlorn
trial that I save her life. And lo! as I went from under that huge and
dreadful overhang of the great waters, there came downward from the
height a great stone that had been cast by the Jet, and it burst upon
the rock to my back, and certain of the flinders did strike and ring
upon mine armour, and made me to stagger as I ran. But I held the Maid
crowded safe against my breast, and she did not be hurt; and truly I was
yet able to run, and did save Mine Own, and brought her out from under
that grim Spouting.

And I put the Maid down then to her feet; and she not to know how near
that she had given us to death, neither of the way that the fragments
did strike me; for she laughed very naughty and gleeful. But truly I
laughed not; for my heart had been nigh husht with terror for her; so
that I did be yet sick in my spirit, and mayhap also something shaken by
the blows that I gat from the broken stone.

And, in verity, I to have meant that I flog her, very sharp, if that
there be no other way that I might bring her to reason; for, in surety,
as you to see, she to be acting so wild as a child, and so unreasoning
as only a Maid-in-love; and I to know that she did have to be brought
back from this way of spirit, even though I have to hurt her pretty
body, that I bring her again to her dear natural wiseness.

Yet, indeed, I could not whip her then, because that she did laugh so
joyous, though with a naughty heart, and did look so wondrous dainty, so
that even her defyings did but seem that which my heart desired. And
you, mayhap, to have been something likewise in the love-days. Yet I
pled and reasoned with her to be a wise maid; but, indeed, she only to
make a gleeful mock of all that I did say.

Now I went forward again, for I was not harmed by the stone, only that I
did be shaked, as you shall think. And the Maid to go offward from me,
and to sing, and did oft dance naughtily as she went. But truly, I did
be silent with her, for I was but human, and did lack that she come to
mine arms, and love me, because that I had pluckt her safe from that
place. And, indeed, this to be but a natural desiring; and you to have
understanding with me, and to know that you also to have this lack and
need, if that you to have done aught for love of your maid, and she to
deny you a word of loving tenderness.

Yet, in verity, I to be even then able to perceive with mine inward
senses, how that the Maid did have a wondrous up-pouring of love for me,
but yet did be so perverse, and the more so, mayhap, because that her
love did so urge her unto loving admittings that I did be her Man. And
she, maybe, to have meant that she be the more humble presently, but yet
to go naughtily awhile more, and not, indeed, to have had the power
within her at that time, to have come unto me, and cast off her
waywardness, and askt that she be in mine arms, as all my heart did
desire.

And so, as I have told, I went silently, and mayhap with a little
dullness, that did be part of anger and part of hurt and part of that
same strange love-foolishness from which the Maid did suffer. And truly,
this doth be very contrary-seeming, only that you have seen my heart;
and all indeed the more human, that it doth be so contrariwise to the
brain-reason; and all to be desired, else did a man be no better than an
ant or a weariful machine.

And this to be truth and wholesomeness as you shall perceive, if that
you look deep enough, and do modify Reason with heart-understanding;
for, in verity, how shall that which we call Reason, bring any to the
full and the great knowledge. And this doth be a power of holy things,
and doth be a child that is born of Love and Reason, and in the one to
hold the two, and to know all things is the gift of this power; so that
no man may walk truly that hath only the first, neither any man do utter
wise that hath only the second.

And surely, I to cease from these thoughts, and to my tellings; and you
to your harkings and dear sympathy.

Now, when the sixth hour did be come, we made a halt and eat and drank,
and afterward went onward again, and so came presently clear of the two
monstrous fire-hills; and their great noise to be presently to our rear,
and likewise that quiet country that did be round their feet, and did
seem so utter husht and strange and doubly so, because of the upward
noise of the mountains, and because of the slow and subtle earth-shaking
that did be so constant, and because of all those things that I have
told.

Now, when we had made halt, the Maid had done her hair very uncomely
upon her head, and had lookt slyly to see whether I did note; but truly,
I took no heed; so that in the end she had it again in a pretty fashion,
and did sing naughtily and with an heart of mischief, as she did shape
it loose and wondrous nice about her head.

And I still to have no word for her; neither to show that I did watch
her with love and somewise a quaint pleasure of her perverseness, even
whilst that I did strive by silence and an aloofness that I bring her to
my side, as she did be in the first days; for truly I did ache that she
be near unto me, and to cease from her waywardness that did put a
distance of spirit between us, as you to perceive.

And so we did go forward again, as I have told, and the Maid did strive
that she make me to give attention to her naughtiness, for she did walk
alway offward from me, and did sing aloud, and truly they did be songs
strange unto me, but yet to be of love, and much as the songs of this
Age; for, truly, there doth be but one song upon all the earth, and she
but to sing it in diverse ways.

And she did oft to make little glancing toward me, and did pout very
pretty; and in a moment come something toward me, as that she did be
humble, and would be forgiven; but all to be in a naughty mockery; so
that, in verity, I lookt not at her, save odd whiles; but did go forward
alway, and made as that I had no heed of her doings.

And surely this did presently to stir her to a new defying and to a
pretty anger; for she did sing other songs of impudence, that she did
fit very clever about me; and this way to have a constant impertinence.

And so we did go, and I never to speak with the Maid, but to wonder when
that she cease, or how long it should be ere that I did run swift to her
and have her into mine arms, that I shake her and kiss her, all as my
heart did desire.

And when that the twelfth hour did be come, we made halt again and eat
and drank; and the Maid to serve me very intent, and hand me the water,
the while that she went down upon her knee, as a slave; but when I would
have laughed gently at her mockings, and taken her into mine arms, she
went from me very sudden and cold, and was afterward silent and did sit
apart from me.

Now I also did be silent, and in the first because that I was a little
pained, and also because that I did be new touched with the
love-foolishness that did trouble Mine Own.

But afterward, I ceased from these feelings, and did be intent to
another matter; for it did seem to my spirit that there was some danger
anigh to us; and I had a thought of the Humpt Men, and lookt well about,
and did beckon the Maid to come nigh, because that the trees did be
plentiful thereabout, to hide any creature.

But Mine Own came not over to me, so that I loosed the Diskos from mine
hip, and went that I be nigh to her. And she made that she saw me not;
but did set the gear together, and had it presently a-ready for the
journey, the while that I did look all-ways among the trees; but indeed
I saw naught.

And when that I had the gear upon me, and the Maid her bundle, we went
forward again; and I to be very wary, and bid the Maid keep close to my
side; but indeed, she would not obey, and went offward among the trees,
so that I was all an-haunted with dread for her, and ran and caught her,
and talkt wisely with her; but indeed she did not hark to me; but did
run off in the moment that I loost her.

And I caught her again, and I took one of the straps from around the
Scrip and the Pouch, and set it about her pretty waist, and the end I
held in my hand, and so had her to obey me in this thing which did be
needful to her safety.

And the Maid to go with me very husht for two great hours, and I alway
to look well about. And in the end of that time, the Maid did begin to
sing impudently, and I did ask her that she be a quiet maid, lest that
she bring danger upon us; but she to be the more impudent.

And lo! as I did strive that I look all-ways, lest any harm did come
upon us, and in the same moment to reason Mine Own from her pretty
folly, she did grow very husht, so that I lookt round upon her in an
instant. And truly, she had cut the strap with her belt-knife, and did
run away very swift among the trees. And surely my heart did slow a
little in my breast, because that there did seem something a-move in the
dark of the shadows, where the trees did grow thick, and the Maid did
run that way in her foolishness and waywardness.

And I ran hard after the Maid, and did call her, not over-loud, lest I
bring somewhat upon her; but she to have no heed, and to run very light
and swift, so that I caught her not for the half of a minute, as it
might be; for she was gone ahead, and I did be a little cumbered with
mine armour.

And lo! when I caught her, I shook her, and pointed inward among the
trees, for it did seem even then to me that something moved there; but
she to struggle in my hand a moment, and afterward to be still, and to
ask with an insolence and a defiance whether that I did mean to flog my
chattel, the which she did call herself in her naughtiness.

And, in verity, ere I did know, she had twist from me, and did run with
a true wickedness straight toward that place where somewhat had seemed
to be a-move. And I ran then with all my strength, and with a fearful
and an anxious heart. And because I put all my strength to the matter, I
caught the Maid in a moment, ere she did be gone any way; and she again
to fight to be gone from me. But I took her into mine arms, very strong,
and I ran outward from that place where the trees made a darkness.

And surely, when I was come again to where the trees did be more spare,
I saw that I was come nigh to that river which I crost on the raft, as
you shall mind; and truly I did be glad, and to feel safe in a moment.
Yet I was firm now to my purpose; for I set the Maid to the earth upon
her feet, and kept my hold very sure upon her; for I did mean that I
whip her, before that her love-foolishness bring her needless unto
death.

And I took the belt from her pretty waist, for it did be but a light
strap, and I whipt her very sharp over her shoulders with the belt. And,
truly, she did make to nestle unto me in a moment, as that other time
when that I whipt her; but I stayed her from this, and I set the belt
thrice more across her shoulders, very sharp, so that she to learn
wisdom at once, and I to be free for ever of this need to pain her,
which did hurt me very strange.

And the Maid to stand very quiet, now that I did keep her from coming
unto me; and her head did be something bent, so that I knew not whether
I did mayhap have flogged her over-hard; for I did be something lacking
in knowledge whether that a maid be very easy hurt.

And I stooped and lookt into her face; and lo! she did be smiling
naughtily, and kist me in a moment very saucy upon the mouth, ere I did
be aware; and afterward, she laughed and made try to make a bitter mock
upon me, and askt when that I should be pleased to cease from whipping
my chattel; for that then she should run away immediately into the wood,
and to trust the Humpt Men that they protect her from me.

And surely, I lookt at her very grave; for I perceived that she did not
truly jest, but made to anger me, and did be half in a strange anger
herself, and something adrift; for she had not been whipt enough, but
only to stir her rebellion utterly. And I saw that if she be not set
right then, ere she leave my hand, she to be like to have some new
foolishness that should take her unto her death, even as she had come
overnear already, as you to know. And this to be because that her nature
did be stirred so that her natural wiseness was all overset, and she to
be that she do aught of unwisdom that should come to her, because of her
pretty love-foolishness, which did now be made the more strong, by
reason of the half-rising of her anger.

And this way, as I have known, I perceived that, for her dear sake, I
should not let my lovingness weaken me in that moment. And, in verity, I
shifted my hand and loosed the fastenings of her garment, so that her
pretty shoulders did be bared. And her face to change sudden, and she
lookt up at me an instant, with a little gasp; so that I knew she did be
all unbroken, as was mine intent; but she did not yet have learned
deeply in her heart, all that I was minded that she to learn; for even
in that moment, she made a sound that showed she did try to mock me; but
truly, she did not know in that instant whether to mock or to weep;
though she did try to suppose that she had yet an heart for mockery.

And I set the belt thrice across her pretty shoulders, where they did be
bared; and surely the blows did be very stern and sharp. And lo! in one
moment Mine Own broke into an utter weeping, so that I took her instant
into mine arms, and did hold her strong and gentle against mine armour.
And she to be as a child in mine arms, and did sob very strange and
bitter, as that she did be all undone in the heart.

And presently she did be quiet in mine arms; though I to feel how she
did yet tremble; and she did cling tight unto me, and her face to be
against mine armour.

And afterward, when that she had ceased to tremble, I kist her, and
surely her mouth did be very humble, and her lids to be downward, and
she to be something pale. And she then to be awhile more in mine arms,
very quiet; and so to come unto her dear self. And lo! presently, she to
want to kiss me of her own accord; and she put up her lips, very sweet
and as a loving maid, that I kiss her. And surely I kist her, with an
humble and a masterful love; and a strange pain to be about my heart, as
you shall suppose; but yet my heart and my reason both to approve mine
action; and the Maid to be but the more mine own, and to have come again
to her dear natural wisdom.

Yet, as you shall know, there to be for a long while a strange and mixed
pain, in my bosom, both dreadful and tender, because that I had been so
stern with Mine Own Maid; so that even while that my heart and my reason
did approve me, my heart to make somewhat of reproach. And this to have
been someways of foolishness; but yet human of our Nature, and an
wholesome trouble to the spirit, if that this troubling be not allowed
to shape our actions to any harmful weakness.

Now, in a while, the Maid did come to composedness, and to be very
gentle and sweetly natural. And she made presently that she would have
me to loose her; and afterward, she turned her back to me, even as a
dear child, that I fasten her garment again upon the shoulders. And she
did be both shy and glad, and humble, and in dainty pride of submission,
and utter Mine Own. And surely, as I did this thing for her, I perceived
that she lookt with a great shyness at the belt which did be yet in my
hand. And when that I had made an end of fastening her garment, she did
nestle unto me for a while, and afterward stood away and made shyly to
show me that I put her belt again about her pretty waist. And I saw that
she did be somewhat a-lack yet that she touch the belt, because that I
had whipt her with it.

And truly you to perceive how her heart did be in this matter; but if
you not to know, then how shall I to tell you; and do but bid you ask
your own maid; though, in verity, she to be like that she but laugh at
you, and leave you so wise as you be now; for the way of the heart of a
maid doth be most hid to the maid, and she but to know the desire, and
to lack the ending. But truly she doth know when that a man shall set
the truth of her heart before her.

Now, when I had buckled the belt very nice again about Mine Own, we went
backward a space, until that we found the bundle, which she had dropt,
when that she ran off from me. And I saw also the portion of the strap,
which she cut; and so all to be found.

And we went then at a good speed toward the river; for I was still
minded regarding the seeming of movement which there had been among the
trees; and very wishful that we have a raft made with haste, so that we
might come to the little island, where I did sleep before, upon the
outward way, as you shall remember. And I thought to have our slumber
again in that place, and to make that day's journeying something short,
because that the island was near, and a good and safe place for our
sleeping.

And I told the Maid concerning the island; and she to be in great
delight and interest, because that it did be one of those halts of mine
outward going, and did be all eager as a child, when that I said we
should truly have need of a raft to come to the island.

And we came downward to the shore of the river, and, indeed, there did
be those two same trees, that had been my raft, there upon the shore of
that place. And I showed these to Mine Own, and truly she did nigh to
weep upon them, because of her dear emotions and love, and did cut a
small branch therefrom, with her belt-knife, and put the branch where
she did put the piece of bark; and this to be for a remembrance and an
after-delight and pondering.

Now we lookt well in all parts, that we find some other small tree that
should be fallen; and the Maid did climb a rock that did be near, with a
flat top, so that she might search out around.

And presently she cried out to me that there did be a tree to our
purpose, and but an hundred paces away; and she to go with me to show
me, and to aid, if need be; but, indeed I carried the tree very easy,
and had it with the others; and afterward, we went about again for
branches, and these I cut from live trees, using the Diskos with care
and wiseness.

And with these branches to be for cross-pieces, and our belts and the
straps for binders, I set the trees together into a raft, and made it
pretty good for our need, and so that no monstrous thing in the river
should have chance to snap upward between the trees at my dear One.

And when the raft was done, I gat it to the water, and the Maid did lend
her strength; for the thing was heavy, as you shall think. And when this
was done, I pushed a sharp branch downward into the shore, and I hookt a
branch of the raft about this mooring, and so did be nigh ready for the
voyage.

But first I did need a pole to push the raft, and did wonder now where
the other did be gone, that I cut upon the outward way; for I had set
the pole with the two trees, as I did mind, having some vague thought
that mayhap I should live to come that way again.

And I had a little strange unease that the pole did be gone; but scarce
to know that I did be troubled, yet to set me to a new haste. And I bid
the Maid put the scrip and the pouch and her bundle secure upon the
raft; and in that time I lookt well about for a sapling tree that should
do my purpose. And I saw that there grew an odd one a little to the side
of the flat-topt rock that the Maid had lookt from; and whilst that I
cut it, the Maid did come to watch, and made pretty chatter in the time
that I trimmed the branches away.

And lo! whilst that I did be part divided in mine attention between her
dear talk and my work and an haste that did be born of that little
unease that was come upon me, my spirit to seem to be aware that there
came a danger anigh to us; and the Maid to have this same knowing; for
she ceased her speech, and lookt at me with somewhat of trouble. And lo!
in that moment, as I balanced the pole in my hands, there came the noise
of a sudden bounding to our backward part, where the trees did grow
something anigh.

And I turned, instant, and lookt; and behold! there did be upon us an
Humpt Man, very lumpish and mighty; and he stretched out his hands, and
ran at me. And I had no time to the Diskos, which did be upon the earth
to my feet; and I smote the Humpt Man with the point of the pole that
did be in my hands, and the point took him very strong and horrid in the
breast, and entered in, so that the Humpt Man gave out a strange
howling, that did be half seeming of an animal and half of an human. And
he clutched at the pole that did so hurt him, and I stoopt very swift
for the Diskos, and had it in a moment. And the Humpt Man tore the pole
out of his breast, and in the same instant I ript him from the head
downward, so that he did be nigh in two halves; for I had no mercy in
mine act, even though my heart did be something sorry.

Now, even as the man died, there did be a sound of running in the wood
before me; and lo! I turned very speedy to the Maid, and she was there
to my back, and had her belt-knife drawn in her hand; for she had it in
her bosom, where she had put it when that I took her belt for the raft.

And I caught the Maid about the waist with my left arm, and was come
with her to the top of the rock in two great houndings. And I set her
there upon the rock, and turned again to the way I came and swung the
Diskos free; for indeed, I had seen that there did come a number of the
Humpt Men among the trees.

And there came running from the wood, mayhaps a great score of the Humpt
Men; so that it did seem to me that we did be going to die; for how
should one stand against so many, and they so quick and strong, as you
shall mind.

Yet, in verity, I had no despair; but did be mixt in the heart with a
great fear for Mine Own, and a strange and exulting gladness that I
should do that day some deed for Mine Own Maid; and truly this to be the
pomp of love and the heart-cry of the barbarian, as you shall say. And
this maybe; but truly I did be proper human, and to make no excuse
because that I was natural; neither have I hid anywheres aught that I
did think and feel.

And whether that you approve or not, if that you condemn me, you to
condemn all Humanity, and to have vain words and vain regrettings; for
these things that be named for faults, do but be the complement of our
virtues, and if that you slay the first, you may chance to wither the
last; for now I speak of things as they be now, and as they did be then;
and nowise of lovely ideals that do live chief in the mind, and so much
in mine as any, as you to know, if that you have gone with me all along
my way.

And surely, I must cease from my thinkings, and go forward with my
telling; for the Humpt Men did come forward at a wondrous quick run, and
did swarm upward on to the rock, as that they did be panthers; and they
made no outcry; but came silent to the killing; and I saw that they did
be something smaller than he that I had but then slain. And, in verity,
I did be all knit in that moment with speed and cleverness; for I split
the heads of three, with but quick turns of my wrist, as I did wield the
Diskos. And I kicked the face of another, in the same time, with my
metal boot, so that he died; for there did be all my strength and all my
skill working then for our salvation.

Now all this to have been done in but a few beats of the heart, as I
might say; and these men to have been in the front of the attacking. Yet
there did be no space to have breath; for there leaped three more of the
Men upon the rock; and one smote me with a great piece of rock that he
carried, so that mine armour did seem as that it crackt, and I to be
driven backward upon the Maid; yet had slain one of the Humpt Men, even
in that moment.

And surely, my dear One caught me in her arms, behind, and steadied me,
so that I fell not; and I slew the Humpt Man with the rock, even in that
moment whilst Mine Own held me, as he came again to strike me. And I
then to be firm again upon my feet, and did spring at the third of the
Humpt Men; and surely there was no room that he should be able to avoid
me, even did that be his intent; and he came at me with a great leap.
And I stood strong, looking clearly to my work; and I swung the Diskos
with both my hands, and the blow took the Humpt Man in the middle part,
and split him, whilst that he did be yet leaping. And in that instant
there reached over the edge of the rock, two of the Humpt Men, and gat
me by the feet; so that I was pulled sudden to my back very hard and
bitter; and this to be done, even whilst that the body of the Humpt Man
did be yet in the air. And the body came forward over me, and did be
utter dead already, and fell down upon the rock beyond me, and rolled
horridly and went over the edge of the rock.

And I did be all shaken and something bemused by the hardness of my
fall; and the hands of the two Humpt Men pluckt me sharp to the edge of
the rock, the while that I did strike vaguely to wound them; but did
only chip the rock, and fortunate that I harmed not the weapon.

And lo! in the moment that they had been like to have me downward to
the earth into their midst, I to make a good stroke, for I cut the
shoulder of one very dreadful, so that he loosed me; and immediately, I
kicked very fierce with my freed foot, and surely I nigh crushed the
hand of that other with my metal boot; and he likewise to cease from
dragging upon me.

And immediately, I knew that Mine Own did be helping me that I get
instant to my feet again; for I was yet something dazed.

And there came then a rush of the Humpt Men up the rock; and truly it
did be a glad thing for our lives that they might come up only upon but
one side; for the other sides did be utter steep and smooth worn; and
this to have been unto our saving, as you shall think.

And I stood up to the rush of the Humpt Men, and did smite hard at them,
with a quick circling of the Diskos, so that the great weapon did glow
and roar. And they gave back from the blaze and the sound of the Diskos;
and surely then I ran in upon them, whilst that they did be something
bewildered; and I gat the foremost man full upon the head, so that he
did be dead before he did know what thing happened. Yet, in verity, this
did be a dread moment to me; for the Humpt Men leaped in at me upon
every side in an instant of time; and I did be struck upon my head-piece
and upon my back and breast with the stones that certain of them did
carry, so that I rockt as I stood, and did near to swoon, and mine
armour to be all dint and bent upon me, and I truly to seem that I had
come to the time of my dying.

And lo! in that moment of time, there did come to my dazed sense a low
and bitter cry of anguish from the Maid; and this to set all my life
aglow in me. And, in verity, there went a strange greyness of fury
before mine eyes, and I then to fight as I did never fight before; and I
did smite as it did seem forever. And the greyness did ease from mine
eyes, and the Maid did have her arms about me as I stood, and the dead
Men to lie heapt upon the rock, and Mine Own to steady me, for I did be
near slain and the blood did go from me, and mine armour was all broke
upon me by the smitings of the sharp stones.

And I lookt something slowly upon Mine Own; and she to know that I would
ask whether that she did be harmed anywise; and she to be very brave
with me, and to tell me that she did be well; and she to be all slain in
the heart, because that I did be so hurt; but truly I had fought a good
fight, and did lack only to know that she come to no harm. Now my wits
did come back into me very soon; but I did be utter weak, and scarce to
stand; so that I did mind only that I get Mine Own safe unto the raft,
and to put off then from the shore.

And I walkt slow to the edge of the rock, and lookt well about, that I
learn whether the Humpt Men did be all gone away; and the Maid did
steady me.

And lo! there came up in that instant the last of the Humpt Men, and
they were five and did creep very stealthy, that they have me in
surprise. And I loost from the Maid, for I saw that I must come upon
them whilst that I had any strength left in my body; and they now to
leap upward unto me, so that I gat the first upon the head, and he to go
backward dead; but truly I did be more weak than I knew; for I swayed
upon the edge of the rock, and sudden I went downward to the earth; and
did be there upon my knees, and my back to the rock.

And, in verity, the Humpt Men did come in upon me very swift; yet did
they give back from the Diskos, which I swung to and fro, so speedy as I
might, for my weakness, which did be so utter that I could nowise come
to my feet to stand.

And Mine Own came down swiftly from the rock, and ran past the Humpt
Men, and I to make that I shout to her to go to the raft; but truly I
had no voice in my body, and did be dumb and weak, and did know that I
should be gone forever from Mine Own in a little moment, and she to have
none to protect her, neither to know the way of our journey, save by
reason.

And behold! Mine Own did shout to the Humpt Men, and I perceived that
she made to draw them after her; for she ran to and fore and did shout
continually. But, indeed, the Humpt Men had no heed of her; but did make
alway to come at me; and surely, in that moment, one of the Humpt Men
reached me, and smote me so shrewd that sure he nigh crackt his
monstrous hand upon mine armour, and did drive me backward upon the
rock, and to make me bleed afresh, so that I was all in a daze and near
swooned away. And the Humpt Man caught at the Diskos; yet, in verity, he
loost it on the instant, for it did burn and shake him very sore; and
immediately, he smote me again, and so made to end me.

And lo! in that moment, the Maid ran right in among the Humpt Men, and
she struck the man that strove with me, and drove her belt-knife once
and again through his arm, very savage and determined. And surely, the
man turned upon her, and he caught her by her garments, and he ript her
two garments utter from her, so that they came away and she did be free.
And behold, mine utter despair for her did give me a new strength, so
that I shouted to her that she run instant to the raft; and I cut the
Humpt Man in twain, and did fall back then into a part swoon against the
rock. And lo! the Maid ran out from the Humpt Men; but they neither to
know whether that they follow her or that they come in upon me; and as
they did pause, she to call to them, and to try that she tempt them from
me toward the wood; for she had no thought of her life, but only that
she free me and save me; and I too weak even to have power to command
her to the raft; and she, truly, to have no heed to such command, even
did I thus to call again. And there I did be, half-gone out from this
life, and lookt at her with eyes that did scarce wot, save as in a
dream.

And lo! the Humpt Men ceased sudden that they heed her; and the three
that did be left came very sly unto me, and with slowness and cunning;
for they wotted not whether I did be dead, or but a-wait for them. And
the Maid perceived that they came not after her; and she let out a great
cry that did be distant-seeming in my dulled ears, and came back, naked,
and running very swift. And she ran by me as death should run, white and
silent and her face set unto despair, and her eyes utter intent. And she
struck her belt-knife into the shoulder of the near Humpt Man; and the
Man howled and turned, and she did leap to the side, and the Humpt Man
ran at her. But lo! she leaped again this way and that, and utter
silent, and so quick as a light doth seem to dance all ways in a moment.
And the two other Men did join with the first, that they catch her; and
behold! she went about, and did run right away among the trees, and the
three Men did come after her, running very lumbersome, yet with a great
speed.

And the Maid had the knife in her hand, and I knew that she did mean to
slay herself presently, when that she could run no more; and in that
moment it seemed that my heart burst; for that I should never more see
Mine Own Maid forever. And there came some power of movement into me,
and I came forward from the rock and fell over upon my face. And I gat
again to my knees, and began that I creep after the Maid, and I did
shout in whispers, for my voice had no more power to call. And the Maid
went from my sight among the trees, as a far white figure, that did run
very swift, and was presently lost utter to my sight; and the Humpt Men
did go after; yet even in my weakness, I perceived that two did go
something clumsy, as that they had been hurt in the fight; and they to
be the rearward of the chasing; but he that the Maid did cut with the
knife was to the fore, and did run very strong; and surely they were all
gone inward of the trees with a dreadful speed, and were lost from me.
And the world did become sudden an Emptyness and a great Horror, and
there was no sound in all the Earth, as it did seem. And I knew that I
was come to my feet, and did run toward the trees, and the Diskos did
trail from mine arm by the hold-buckle; and the ground did be as that it
moved and shifted under me, and I not to feel where I trod, but did only
peer desperate and lost among the trees; and, as I to know now, I heard
my voice calling strangely; and afterward there was a thundering in mine
ears, and I came downward upon my face.

And I did know presently that I was alive, and there to be some dreadful
terror at my heart; and surely I did remember and sickened and gat my
head from the ground. And I lookt among the trees; but there did be
nothing, and everywhere there did be a strange silence and a dimness of
unreal seemings. And I knew that Mine Own was gone from me, and had
surely died. And the earth did be all stained about me with my blood,
and I did be utter glad; for I to need death.

And I swooned again and was lost to my pain; but did live presently to
know.

And there was a little strength come into me, and I gat my head up
somewhat from the ground, and did peer among the trees; and my head did
be too heavy, and my face came against the earth once more. And because
that I could not hold up my head, I rolled my head a little, until that
my cheek did be to the ground, and I to look thiswise, so well as I
might; but there did be nothing; and afterward, I rolled my head again
to the other cheek, and so to stare very weak and desperate, and not
abled to look proper to my front. And lo! there went something among the
trees, and did show white in the gloom of the wood; and did come through
the trees. And I not to believe in the first that I did truly see aught;
and sudden I to know that I saw somewhat. And behold! my heart did bound
in me, so that all my body did waken; for I knew that Mine Own Maid did
run slow and staggering toward me, through the wood. And I did be now
upon my knees and upon my hands, and did begin again to creep and to
bleed; and did make little callings to Mine Own, that had no sounding.

And Mine Own drew nigh, and did rock and stagger, and did strike anon
against the trunks of the trees, as that she did be gone near blind with
her running. And in a moment she saw me, and that I did yet live and did
come unto her; and she made a strange and loving crying unto me, with a
great gladness and with an utter weakness.

And she came running, and was lost with faintness, and did sway this way
and that, stumbling; and she went sudden to the earth, and did be still.

And I crept onward so speedy as I might, and the earth to seem alway as
that it moved from my hands, and to slide; and this-seeming to be of my
weakness; for my hands and my knees went everyway, and my head to be
that it kept nodding forward very stupid to the earth.

And lo! as I came anigh unto the Maid, where she did lie so quiet, I saw
that something moved in the wood, and was running. And truly it did be
an Humpt Man, and came forward very silent and with a quick slyness, as
that he did track the Maid secretly; for he lookt alway to the earth.
And I perceived that he was that one of the Humpt Men which the Maid had
cut with the knife; for the blood did show upon the shoulder and the
breast; and this bleeding mayhap to have slowed the Man; so that Mine
Own did be like to have supposed she had come utter free; yet he to have
found her, by tracking, as I perceived.

And I strave to my feet, that I should come to the Maid, before the
Humpt Man; and surely I gat upright, and went with a strange running,
and did roll, and lo! I fell immediate, ere I was come to her. And the
Humpt Man to run also; and surely it did be a dreadful race; for I went
creeping and did be weak and as that I was of lead. And the Humpt Man
came very swift and brutish; but I came the first to Mine Own Maid. And
I rose up at the Humpt Man, upon my knees, and I swung the Diskos, and
the great weapon did roar in my hands, as that it did know and did live.
And the Humpt Man ran in upon me; but I smote him truly with the Diskos,
and he ran past me, all blundering, and fell and died upon his face, a
little way off.

And lo! my wounds had brake out into a great bleeding, and my head did
roll upon my shoulders. And I lookt down dull, yet with an utter great
love upon Mine Own; and there did be no proper wound upon her; but yet
was she all bruised and knockt and marked with the trees, and where she
did fall in her running. And she did be there, very still and dear, and
I to have brake my heart with love for her, but that I did be so dulled,
as I have told.

And I fought that I should be strong a little while more against my
weakness; and I strove that I set mine ear gently upon her breast, that
I should listen for her heart. But my head did go downward something
clumsy and heavy upon her; and I then to hearken, and surely she did
live and her heart did beat; though, in verity, mine ears did have at
first a thundering; but afterward a quietness in them, that made the
sounding of her pulsing to seem an utter long way off; and very faint it
did be. And surely, in that moment, even as I harked, I was gone over
into a deadness, and had no more knowing; neither to have even a
knowledge that I did be slipt from my senses. And, behold, the Maid did
lie swooning; and I to be there in my broken armour, and my head upon
the breast of Mine Own, and likewise to know naught; and about us the
quietness of that Country, and the far noise of the great Fire-Hills
that did sound through Eternity.




XIV

ON THE ISLAND


Now I came unto my senses, and did be in pain and a great forgetfulness
and bewilderment. And I strove that I rise; but did be held by a strange
force, that did be surely my weakness, as I to know afterward.

And I was upon my back; and a little sound did be near me, as that
something did pant. And I turned my head, very slow, because that I did
so lack of strength. And lo! I saw that the Maid did be anigh to me, and
did be yet naked; and did pant, and pusht hard and desperate with a
great pole, which did be surely that one which I had cut when that the
Humpt Men came upon us. And therewith I remembered all, and perceived
that I did be upon the raft, and the Maid to push the raft along with
the pole.

And, at that, I made a little sound with my mouth; but the Maid not to
hear me; for she did look backward, as I should think to the shore; and
her face did be very set and anxious; and there to be a far noise of
howling, that I knew to be the voices of the Humpt Men; and so to
perceive that the Maid had come unto her senses, and had gat me somewise
to the raft, whilst that I did yet be swoond. And thus to save me ere
the Humpt Men had come. But, in verity, how she did this thing, I never
to learn; neither she to know, but only that her love did give her a
great and desperate strength that she save me, that did be her man.

And afterward, Mine Own Maid did tell me how that she had come into her
senses, and did be there upon the earth, and somewhat did be upon her
breast; and she saw that it was my head which did be heavy upon her, and
I to be surely gone out from this life; for I was so still.

And she came from under me, and did ease me out upon the earth, and her
heart nigh brake, because that I was so be-bled, and my blood to have
stained all that did be near. But when she had gat me restful, she saw
that I did surely live; and a great hope to spring in her heart. And
oft, as she had eased me, she had lookt about, and there did be naught
to the sight, save the body of the Humpt Man anigh, and the others dead
about and upon the flat-topped rock, as you to mind.

And she ran then very speedy to the raft, and brought water from the
river in my headpiece, and she dasht the water upon me; but I to have no
power to come unto my senses. And lo! in that moment, she to know by
some subtile telling of the spirit, that there came some danger anigh;
and she then to make that she save me, or that we die both of us
together. And she strave with me, and did carry and draw me that
weariful way unto the raft. And she gat me on to the raft; and she ran
then for the pole that did be beside the rock; and whilst that she took
the pole, she perceived her torn garments, that did be yet in the hands
of the Humpt Man, even as she had slipt them to escape him. And she
caught the garments very hasty from the hand of the Man, and ran then to
the raft; and she pusht the raft out from the shore, and leaped aboard;
and behold! as she made to use the pole, there came a sound out of the
wood. And there ran from the wood the two Humpt Men that did yet live;
and they to have trackt her, after that she did run from them; and they
ran downward to the shore, very silent and intent upon her; but she to
work with an utter despair, and to have the raft a good way out, ere
they did be come. And surely, they either to have no power of swimming,
or to know that there did be a Dread in the water; for they made not to
come after; but did stand and stare very stupid, and afterward to howl;
and this howling I did hear when that I was come unto myself upon the
raft, as you do know. And by this telling, you to be so wise as I; for
more I know not, save odd things that I did learn afterward, that did
but set my love more holy unto Mine Own Maid; and these to have been but
small matters of love-thoughts that we did have together; and scarce
clear unto my remembering.

And lo! even as I harked unto the howling of the Humpt Men, the sound
did grow more faint and far off; for the Maid worked very desperate with
the pole. And I did feel that I would help her; but yet was so a-lack;
and surely, even as I did mean to rise, I was gone again utter from my
senses; and that dear naked One did pilot me safe and loving unto the
safe harbouring of the little island, that you do mind; and had no
thought unto herself; but only that she save me. And I to be there,
scarce offward from my death, and to have no knowing of aught, and no
more power to help or to be a shield unto Mine Own; but did be only an
helpless man, that had surely died, save for the care of My Beloved.

Yet did I fight a good fight, and have alway a great joy in the
remembering.

Now, I mind nothing very clear after this for a great time; but only of
pain and weariness, and of half wakings and times when I did know
naught, and others when that I did be awake, yet did have no realness,
either in myself or in any land or place; and all to come back strange
and vague; yet with a constant knowing that there went Love about me,
and a great and gentle watchfulness; so that I was eased when that the
black mists of my weakness did uprise about me to swamp me; and I was
made to know hope, when that unknown despairs did live stealthy within
me.

And lo! there came a time when I waked, and did be freed of uncertain
burdenings and peculiar woes and that still haze through which great
achings did come constant upon me. And surely, I was laid very nice upon
somewhat that did be soft, and there went a sweet quietness about me,
and an healthful drowse did grow in my bones.

And slowly I perceived that the Maid did kneel beside me, and did look
upon me with so great a love and gladness that it did be as that I drank
in health and a drowsy joy and peace. And surely, she stoopt and kiss me
with an utter gentle love, upon my mouth, and her tears to go sweet upon
my face; and truly I kist her again, with an utter content.

And she took my head in the comfort of her arm, and gave me somewhat
that I drink; and when I had drunk, she kiss me once again, so light as
that a pretty wind did blow hushed upon my lips. And my head she made
easy; and lo! I was gone over unto sleep, even as she tended me.

And thrice do I mind that this to happen; and at the third time, I knew
that my strength was come something into me again; and I moved my hand a
little, this way and that; and she to know that I did need her to hold
my hand; and she to do this, and I to go into sleep again, even while
that I look sleepy, yet with all my love, into her eyes.

And when I waked for the fourth time, I did whisper that I loved her;
and surely she broke into a sudden weeping, and did hold my hand very
dear against her breast.

And when I waked for the fifth time, I to know how things did be about
me, and that I did lie naked in the cloak, and did be all bandaged about
my body; and the bandages, as I did know afterward, did be from the torn
garments of the Maid.

And I look at the Maid, and knew that she did be drest again, and did be
in the garments that I did give to her, as you to mind; which did be
that one, and the inner, that the Humpt Man tore from her, and which she
had slipt, that she escape from the Man.

And afterward, I found that she had made a very cunning mend of the
garments, whilst that she did sit so utter long beside me to tend me;
for she had gotten threads from her torn garments, and had made needles
from thorns that did grow on the little bushes of the island; and the
thorns did brake oft, and she then to have another, and so to persist an
hundred times. And this way she did be drest very nice and dainty.

And Mine Own Maid perceived how that I lookt with interest at her, and
did mind, very natural, how that I last to have seen her; and she then
to blush gently; and did kiss me, that she have her pretty face
something from mine eyes. And truly, I to wish the more that I be
strong, that I kneel in a glad reverence unto her; for this way did be
my love, and ever so; and you likewise, that have truly loved.

Now I did begin that I grew very steady unto my strength, again, and
Mine Own Maid did tend me alway, and she gave me a broth of tablets and
the water at set times, by the telling of my timepiece. And oft she
washt me and did change the bandages, and did wash and dry the bandages,
that she use them over again; for we did be so lacking for such matters,
as you to know.

And on the fifth day, I was come utter to ease; and did be wondrous
happy, and Mine Own to make pretty talk unto me; but had me to be alway
quiet, because that I did be yet so weak.

And on the sixth day, I to be let answer Mine Own, and to say how great
I did love her, the which mine eyes had said alway, while that I did lie
in silence. And I to be assured by the Maid that she did be in health,
and recovered; but indeed, I saw that she was gone very thin, and that
her eyes did be weary, even while that they had so great a love and a
gladness to me.

And I made Mine Own to bring her tablets by me, as she did alway, and
when that I had kist them, and she to have eat and drunk, I bade her to
make me the broth ready; and when she had made the broth, I askt that
the Diskos be set anigh to me. And afterward, I bid her to my side, and
had her to lie by me; and I took her pretty head upon mine arm, and told
her that she to lie thus and to sleep, and to have no fear that she
weary me; for that I to be but the more rested to have her so, beside
me.

And she in the first to trouble that she be too heavy for mine arm; but
truly, I showed that my strength was something come back to me; for I
prest her gentle unto me, and she then to nestle content, and to be gone
into an utter sleep, and to have been in a sore need of the same.

And Mine Own did sleep for twelve great hours, and had scarce any life
in all that time, save when once she did make a little and gentle
moaning, and did afterward set her pretty face more nigh to me in her
sleep. And surely, I had neither weariness nor lonesomeness; but did lie
with an utter content; and did look downward upon the Maid, where she
did sleep in the hollow of mine arm; and truly she did be most wondrous
lovely and dainty; and the goodness of her face did seem as that it made
an holiness about my heart, so that my spirit was uplift in a quiet and
constant glory of love.

And I drank a part of the broth at the third hour, and at the sixth
hour, and at the ninth hour, when that I finished it; and my right arm
did be free to this purpose and to the Diskos; and surely I did twice
and thrice set my hand upon that great weapon, as to a true comrade;
and, in verity, I could think the weapon did know and did love me. And
this thinking to be because I did be so uplift, as I have told; yet
truly, the Diskos did be a strange and wondrous thing, and did be alway
thought to have an oneness with the man that did use it.

And in the twelfth hour, the Maid awoke sudden, and came upward out of
mine arm, all in a sweet haste, that she know that I did be well; and
she did be eased wondrous, when that she saw how I laughed with a quiet
joy but to see her dear eyes, and her pretty trouble. Yet did she be in
reproach to herself, when that she lookt to find how the hours had past.
But, indeed, I did make a mocking sternness with her; and forbad that
she even to say one little word more upon this matter; but to be glad
that I did be so utter happy, and she likewise.

And truly, when I had said this, that impudent Maid did set her little
fist against my nose, and to threaten me. And, in verity, I laught so
hearty that the Maid did be in fear I should set my wounds again to
bleed, and did reproach herself again; but, in truth, I came to no harm.

And when that I could speak, I askt the Maid whether that there had been
brothers to her, because that she did play so natural. And this I askt,
not thinking; and lo! in a moment I perceived my thoughtlessness; but
said naught, save to take the hand of Mine Own, that she know utter that
I did not be heartless. And she to nod very quiet, and afterward kist my
hand, and slipt from me. And I knew that she was gone a little way off,
lest she weep; and I did be in trouble for her and for mine a-lackness;
but truly I could do naught, only that I called very gentle unto her.

And she to return soon, and did smile loving and cheerful upon me; but,
indeed, I saw that she covered her weeping, whilst that she had made me
new broth. Yet, before I would take the broth, I would have her to mine
arms; and she to submit very glad and happy, but to keep her pretty
weight from me, lest she hurt my woundings.

And afterward, we both to eat, and be happy in glad talk.

And presently, I did sleep; but would have her to be nigh to me, even
though she did be wakeful; and so we to be utter content together.

Now, the seventh day, as it might be called, was a wondrous happy time;
and when I waked, the Maid did be sleeping as a child to my side, and
her face nestled against me. And she to waken in a moment; for thus had
she drowsed and watched through all the hours whilst that I had slept.

And we then to eat and to drink together, after that Mine Own had made
me easy with a gentle washing and care. And I now to be allowed that I
have my tablets whole, and the water afterward, as when that I did be
well; and this to please me, as you shall think; for I did ache that I
be strong very speedy, that I have power to guard Mine Own Maid again,
and to go forward with our journeying, that I have the Maid unto the
safeness of the Mighty Pyramid; and surely, now that I had my tablets
whole, I to feel that I did grow near unto fitness again; and moreover,
they did satisfy my hunger the better than the broth.

And the Maid to give me my tablets oft, so that I eat a great many; and
I did make her to count; and surely there did be sufficient, if that I
get strong pretty quick. And so I made no refusing of the tablets; for I
did need them, that I make blood again within me, else should I be
lacking, when that there came any need anigh.

And we kist each the tablets of the other, and did drink from the same
cup, and did be utter happy; and did be part like children, but also to
be man and maid.

And presently, the Maid did shift my bandages, as alway, and washt me
proper, and had me into comfort. But she did keep me alway very
low-lying; and truly I scarce to mind; for I was not gotten enough of my
strength, to give me to feel irked. And further, as you shall think,
there did be that lovely One with me alway; and did make sweet quips
unto me, and talkt and did laugh, and oft did come into singing; for she
did be so sweetly joyed that I was in life and did mend so proper.

And afterward, she went off from me a little, to her toilet; but I to
ask that she be so swift as might be, and she to promise very merry; and
she came back in a little while, and her hair to be in a lovely cloud
about her shoulders, and her pretty feet yet to be bared from her bath,
which she had in a pool beyond some bushes; and she to say that I did be
so impatient a man, that she to be forced that she do the half of her
dressing with me; but truly, she came thiswise only because she to know
how I did delight in her thus, and to watch the way that she set up her
abundance of hair; and she to be hungry also that she be with me, and to
love me that I watch her, even while that there did be oft a little and
quaint stirring of shyness in her dear heart.

And I had her to come beside me, and to sit anigh to my hand; and I made
presently that I did scold her, because that she had no proper care to
her pretty feet; and I bid her to set her feet toward me, that I look
the more close at them. And she to be a pretty rogue, and did think I to
mean to kiss them--and truly not to think alway wrong--but I then to
have another planning; for I had pluckt a hair very sly from her head,
and she but to have said an Oh! to me, and to have thought no more. But,
indeed, when that she gave her feet to me, I held them so strong as I
might, and I bound her pretty toes together with the hair; and surely
she did be a captive unto me, and we to laugh, as that we to be both
children. And afterward she stole back her feet from me; but, in verity,
I knew that she had a wondrous heed that she brake not the hair that
bound her; but did sit beside me bound in that pretty way; but yet to
hide from me that she did not brake the hair.

And she then to do her hair upon her head, very lovely; and afterward,
I put up my hands, and took it down again; and she then to kiss me and
to ask how that she should ever have it proper upon her head, if that I
did alway so tease her.

And she then to take her hair, and did set the abundance of it upon both
sides of my face, and then to kiss me, as I did look up at her, from out
of so much beauty.

And afterward she cut a lock of my hair, and a lock from her own dear
head; and she did plait the two locks together, so that our hair did
blend and be together; and afterward she hid it in her bosom. But I did
be then out of content, and would have done likewise, only that it did
so weary me to uphold my hands; and she to cut a second lock from my
head, and a second tress of her own most lovely hair; and she made me to
kiss the hair that did be from her, and she then to kiss the hair that
did be from me; and afterward, she did plait them together, and gave
them to me. And I set the hair, for that time, under the great bandage
that went over my heart; and truly, she did be then the one that lackt
content; for she to say that the second plaiting did be kist, and the
first to lack; but I to refuse to exchange; so that we made up a
quarrelling, and did presently have to be kist, unto forgiveness. And,
truly, have you not likewise known such glad foolishness, when that you
were in the love-days.

And she then to make me to be quiet, and to keep my hands downward from
her hair, because that the uplifting did prove overmuch to me; and she
took my great hands then, and did threaten how dreadful she use me, if
that I be not humble. And truly, I said that I did be an humble man; and
she then to hold my hands with but one small one; and surely, her hand
did be so small that she not able to hold me, save by the thumbs. And
she then with her free hand to cover mine eyes, so that I might not see;
and whilst that she did hold me thus so utter helpless, she to kiss me
very dainty and impudent upon the mouth; and afterward she loost me, and
did be demure.

And we did be then silent a space; and presently, I put forth my hand,
that did be very great, yet to be gone white and to tremble, because
that I did lack so utter of blood. And the Maid to know what I did mean,
and she clenched her hands into two fists, and set them both into my one
hand, and surely they did be little fists; and I then to be happy; for
this did be a wondrous pleasure alway unto me; and she to have her lids
a little downward upon her eyes, and to be quietly happy. And, truly,
how I mind it all so plain.

And afterward, I did plague her very gentle that she to be all a-lack,
if that she did try to use her hands to aught, because that they did be
so small. And she in a moment to have her two arms very dear about my
neck, and did kiss me with an utter love and tenderness upon the mouth,
and afterward went from me, lest that she have me to overset myself.

And I did then to make her to sit by me, and I did tell her a tale how
that a young man did once live in the olden days, and did meet with the
One Maid Upon All The Earth. And how that they loved and did be married,
and she to die, and of the utter and desperate madness of grief that
nigh destroyed the man; and how that he sudden to wake into the future
of the world, in a New Time, and did come to learn that His Own did also
to live in that Time. And he then to make that he find her; and did
truly come unto her. And how she did be different in her beauty; but yet
to be utter lovely. And the man did hold an utter reverence to the Maid,
that had been his wife in the olden dream-days, so that his reverence of
love did live in him like a constant pain and anguish of sweetness and
trouble, and of holy thoughts that did be bred of her lovely
companionship, and of his memories.... But, in truth, I gat not further
in the tale than this; for Mine Own did have come sudden into weeping,
and had gotten to her knees, and did hold my hand against her breast,
and did put her hand gentle upon my lips. And, in a moment, she to
whisper somewhat through her tears; and there to be dear Motherhood
within her face; and a sudden shining of Memory in her eyes, that had
been near dreadful, only that it did seem to be to her as that she were
part dreaming. And the strange and solemn pain did come also unto me
through the part-open gateways of my Memory. And I to remember very
clear and with an anguish in that moment. And I told Mine Own how that
the babe had gone onward, after that the Beloved had died. And there did
be then an utter quiet upon us.

And lo! sudden the Maid did bend unto me, and I to take her into mine
arms, out of the vague dreamings of her Memory-dreams. But, ere she did
be come outward entire from the haze of the Past, she to try to set
somewhat into words concerning this memory-vision of the babe; but
someways to be strangely dumb. And I did be silent likewise, because of
all those things that did be between us forever and forever.

And presently, she kist me, and was herself again; and she went from me
to attend unto our food.

Now, that did be truly a lovely day; for I to have gat sufficient of
strength that I did be able to have interest, and talk with Mine Own
Maid; and she now to be well rest, and to have ease in her dear heart
concerning me.

And surely we oft to laugh, and did make jests utter glad and foolish.
And indeed, I do mind how that I askt Mine Own an olden puzzle, that did
come out of the vagueness of my Memory-dreams. And she to be like a
person that doth hear a strange familiar thing; and lo! sudden she to
say, as that she gat knowledge from beyond Eternity, that it did be when
that he was a little hoarse. And you to know the jest, and to have
troubled it oft at school; but, in verity, it did be a strange thing to
have from our Memories out of all the deep of Time. And we, in truth,
never in that Age to have seen or to have known that ever there did be
an Horse, or to mind the likeness of one. And this to be but a little
matter; yet of strange and peculiar interest, as you to agree. And,
indeed, we did both to look one at the other, when that we had ended,
and did wonder what an horse did be; yet in the same time did have a
vague inward knowing.

And so we to look ever backward through dim Ages; and surely we gat
presently from jests, unto solemnness; and the Maid to be nigh again
unto tears. And, in truth, I then to bring our thoughts and our speech
forward from the Abyss of the Years, and did cease from Memory-dreaming
for that time; and so to have the Maid again in joy; yet mayhap
something wistful odd whiles.

And presently, I to tell the Maid an hundred thousand things concerning
the Mighty Pyramid, of which I had so oft said somewhat; but never to
have gat so great a chance as this unto a plenty of time and so nice an
oneness in the way that our minds did go.

And surely, the Maid did be eager in a moment, and did be husht; and
again to ask constant concerning all matters.

And, in verity, there went a great while this way; and the Maid to have
an utter wonder and excitement of all that I to tell; for truly, it did
be as that a man of this age should come downward from a great star in
the heavens, and to tell of wonders and new things; and you to
understand how she did feel.

And of all things that did most have a happiness unto the Maid, I to
perceive that the great Life and Humanness of the Millions to dwell
within her imaginings as a cloud of warmth and quiet joy; for I did show
this thing to her, so well as I was able; and, in truth, you shall tell
me in honesty whether that I have made the same likewise clear-seen unto
you?

And she, as you shall mind, did be a maid that had grown all her life in
a Refuge that did be shaken with hauntings, because that it lackt the
power of the Earth-Current to protect; and with a People that did be
weak-conceived through great thousands of years; and where love did
bloom something faded, even in youth; and youth to have lack of the
life-blood of an utter joy, such as did be ours and likewise to many
that did be of the Mighty Pyramid.

Though, truly, there did go millions then, as now, that did never to
know love; though the name did be in their mouths, and they to have
belief that the sweet kernel did be in their hearts; but, in verity,
THIS to be love, that your life shall bound in you with abundance, and
joy dwell round you, and your spirit to live in a natural holiness with
the Beloved, and your bodies to be a sweet and natural delight that
shall never be lost of a lovely mystery that doth hold a perfect peace
each unto the need of the other; and all to be that there go round
about you a wonder and a splendour all the days and the nights that you
shall be--the Man with the Woman, the Woman with the Man. And Shame to
be unborn, and all things to go natural and wholesome, out of an utter
greatness of understanding; and the Man to be an Hero and a Child before
the Woman; and the Woman to be an Holy Light of the Spirit and an utter
Companion and in the same time a glad Possession unto the Man. And lo!
if one to die, then the soul of the other shall fail; and that one never
to have full life again, in that bitter parting. And this doth be the
true Human Love; and all else that be not like to this with the Man and
with the Woman, doth be but a borrowing of the name of Love for that
quiet desiring, which is but an Endurance beside Love, which doth be
between they that be not mated both in their souls and in their bodies.
And this telling to take no heed to those base joinings that be made for
purposes of wealth or Desire or other piteous ends; for, in verity,
these to have no more dealings with the thing that I do tell upon, than
hath the merchanting of goods, or the _need_ of a glutton. But the thing
that I do have upon my heart doth be that dear and uplifting Power of
Love, which I to set forth in this mine own story; for, in truth, I to
have known love, and to need death when that I be parted from Mine Own.

Now, surely, Mine Own did come twice and thrice unto weeping, as I did
tell of this thing and that, which did set her memory backward unto the
ways of the Lesser Redoubt. And presently, I did cease from my tellings,
because that she did so be gone into pain of her memories. But, indeed,
she then to beg me that I go forward again; for, truly, she to need in
the heart that she know, and to strive to be no more in grief for the
telling.

And I then to say on, and did tell upon the Might and Wonder and great
Olden Delight of the Underground Fields, that were below the Great
Redoubt, as you do know. And I told how that they went downward an
hundred strange miles, that did be dug of the labour of Millions and of
the years of Eternity.

And I set out unto Mine Own concerning that there did be wondrous
villages spread through that great and hidden Country that did be in the
underground; and how that great millions of the Peoples did live there,
and made a constant labour in those deep Lands and Countries, that did
be truly so monstrous in all as an huge Continent.

And I showed Mine Own how that there did be wondrous processes that did
be learned in the Ages; and how that water did be made in chemistry; and
truly she to nod to this, because that she did mind upon the powder that
we did use; but truly the powder to have to be made in the first, as you
shall think; and we but to advantage ourselves of that which did result,
and I to speak to her of the making of the powder, rather than of the
way that it afterward to make chemistry with the air, unto water.

And I told the Maid how that there did be mighty underground pipes that
went across the Night Land, and did be, mayhap, oft so much as twenty
great miles deep in the world, and did come upward into the seas of the
Land; and all to have been made secret and hid from the monsters of the
Land, as I to know from much readings of the Histories.

And Mine Own then to tell me that they did lack to have any such great
wonders below the Lesser Redoubt; but that there did be utter monstrous
caverns, where that there had been alway a strange and uncouth Country
of Husbandry, and lit from the Earth-Current; and they also there to
bury their Dead. And all had been a-lack through great thousands of
years, as she did know of their Records, and had grown dim-lit and
lonesome, and a Land of deepness to starve the spirit with an utter
strangeness and discomfort, where that the men went quietly as ghosts,
through many ages; and all a place in dire want of sound and laughter.

Yet this all to have been surely different a monstrous Age gone, when
that the Earth-Current did be a power in the Lesser Redoubt, and the
Humans to be in plenty, and of good and natural health and courage of
life. And, truly, to mind upon that Place, doth alway to set a fresh
wonder in me, that Mine Own did be so lovely and wholesome of spirit and
wise and in knowledge and good force of her being. But so it did be with
her; and she to have been surely alway That One that did be Mine Own.

And I then to tell Mine Own Maid concerning the lowest Field, which did
be the Country of Silence, and was the Place of Memory unto all the
great Millions, where did linger and bide the ghosts of an hundred
billion griefs and the drifted thoughts of sorrowful hearts; and there
to live a great hallowedness and a mystery of silence and an holiness
and a Greatness, as that it did be the Expressing of all that doth be
Noble and Everlasting that ever did come out of the heart of Man and all
the lost Dead of Eternity; so that the spirit of a man did seem to go on
great wings, unto lovely and splendid resolvings, if that he but to walk
lonely awhile in that Country, that surely did be never lonesome unto
the spirit.

And lo! the Maid did be all husht, as I did speak, and did look downward
unto me with her eyes very bright, and lovely with the thinkings and
tears that did stir within her.

And sudden she to ask whether that I did make my resolve to my journey,
whilst that I walkt in that place; and she to look very intent and
beautiful upon me, as she did question. And, indeed, I saw that she to
mean a lovely praise unto me, as you to perceive; and truly, I did feel
a little strange, as that I did be both glad and shy in the same moment.
And she then to ease me of any answer; for she gat upward upon her
knees, and she put her two hands to the sides of my face, and bid me to
look into her eyes and to know that she loved me with her soul and with
all that did make her to be.

And afterward, she kist me very gentle upon the forehead, and did be
then husht awhile, as that she to be in thought; yet oft she did look
downward at me, and did have a beauty of love and honour within her
eyes, so that they alway to shine, as she did look at me.

And presently, the Maid did sit again beside me, and slipt her two hands
into the one of mine, as did be ever my desire, and she to love that she
give me this delight, and likewise, she to have joy to herself in this
lovingness.

And we then again to have talk; and I did tell Mine Own somewhat of the
History of the Olden World! and she did have dim memories, as in dreams,
of the days of light; yet scarce that she could believe it of truth. But
she to have knowledge of the Olden Love Days within her spirit, and to
mind that there did be alway, as it did be, a lovely and golden light
upon the world; but she not to know truly whether this to be but the
holy glamour-light that Memory doth set about a past loveliness; and to
have no remembering of the Sun; but yet to be made ready by her memories
unto believing. And I to know of certainty; but yet even I that do tell
this My Tale, did but perceive the Days of the Light, as in a far and
vague dream; and to remember it but in the chief by the glory of lost
sunsets that had cast an holiness upon my heart, and of the hush of
Dawns that had made ready my spirit in the Gone Ages to look quietly
unto my death.

And surely you to go with me in all this thing, and to have felt within
your own spirit that uplifted wonder that doth shake the soul with the
lost Beginning and with the unknown End, when that you have lookt
through the sorrow of the Sunset, and stood silent before the Quiet
Voice that doth make promise in the Dawn.

But, in verity, we that had near lost our Memory of the surety of these
great wonders, did have memory of Love; and this to be most beautiful
unto my heart; for it but to show the more how that love doth live
forever, and doth make an holiness in all places; and doth give
Companionship and Satisfying; so that to have love, is to have all, and
to have escaped this Wonder is to have missed to have Lived.

And I to find then that Mine Own did have no knowledge of the way that
the World did be in that Future Age; and did lack to know that there
abode mightily above us in the everlasting night, the dead starkness of
the world, where did be--mayhap two hundred great miles above us--snow
and the eternal desolation of a lost world, that did be once the lovely
world of the olden days, which did be now given over unto Night and
Silence.

And mayhap there did wander upward there Memory, and did go companioned
by Grief. But, indeed, I to delight to think that Hope and Love did
build houses of joy about the Dead; and there to be no true death; but
only the dying of days. Yet, surely, this doth be sorrow enough unto the
heart and the soul, if that they did be days when love did make a
mystery of light about the spirit, and the Beloved to have been anigh to
make ever a sweet wonder unto the heart.

But I to cease from these thoughts; for we to face our life brave and
wise, and to take both the sorrow and the joy unto our developing, and
to hold up the face with courage when that Grief doth come anigh; and to
see that we grow not to bitterness, but unto sweet wholesomeness. And
there to be Joy again, and we then the better abled to have that delight
into our hearts; for how shall Joy ever to come truly again to that
heart which bitterness hath made a place for the abode of sorrow.

And truly, I to cease from these thinkings also; for my story to wait
upon me, and these things that I do say do be plain unto you, and to
have no need to the telling.

And so did I tell Mine Own Maid of the things that I did learn from the
little metal book; and she to be in a constant wonder and delight and
with an awe and newness upon her. And sudden, there did some olden
memory stir within her; for she askt me, in one instant, whether that I
did remember when that the Cities did move alway unto the Westward.

But truly I had no remembering of this thing, and did look at her
awhile, with somewhat of a trouble upon me; for, that there should be
aught lacking in my memory of those times that we did be together upon
this world, was a fear unto me, and a vague sorrow alway, if that I did
but to let my thought go that way; though, indeed, I did ever strive to
wiseness, and did have knowledge that there doth be an heart-wearing and
despair and needless trouble in vain regrets; but yet these to be
natural unto the spirit, if that you to know love; and do be but the
complement of the love-joy, and mayhap to have a use unto the sweetening
of the spirit, if that they be not let to over-ride the reason.

And whilst that I did look unto Mine Own, that she help me to remember,
she did strive with her Memory. But in the end, did fail to come unto
aught of clearness, save that she did see, as in a far dream, yet very
plain, a great metal roadway, set in two lines that went forever unto
the setting Sun; and she then sudden to say that she did see in her
memory the Sun, and she to have a strange and troubled amazement upon
her. And there did be Cities upon the great road; and the houses did be
strange-seeming, and did move forward eternally and at a constant speed;
and behind them the Night did march forever; and they to have an even
pace with the sun, that they live ever in the light, and so to escape
the night which pursued forever, as she did tell, and a dread and
terrible chill that did live in the night. And there did be cities far
forward in the morning Sunshine, that did have gone before at speed, and
set the husbandry of the world, and to be finished and gone forward
again ere that certain of the latter cities did come to that place to
the reaping; and the night to come presently to that place; but this not
to be for some part of a year after that the crops were taken. But how
long this might be, she not to remember.

And all this the Maid did say to me, as out of a strange dream, and I to
have set it down, and to have made it so clear to you as she to have
told it; and surely it doth be plain then that she to speak of a time
when that the day did be grown to a monstrous length, because that the
world did turn but slow and weary.

And it to be a sureness, as you shall perceive, that but to stand still
in that age of which Naani told, was to be left presently in an utter
night and chill, that should last mayhap a great and weary year. And, in
verity, it doth seem that all Humanity did travel forever in that
strange age, when that to stay was to die unprepared in the bitter
night, and to go forward, was to be forever in the sun. And truly, this
doth be so strange seeming to me, as to you.

And much I questioned the Maid, and did have an hurt within my heart,
and a pain of jealousy and sadness to grow in me; for surely she did
speak of some life that she did live, when that I did be elsewhere,
either in Life or Unknowing. And, in verity, what man then should have
taught Mine Own to love him? And she then mayhap to have had no
remembering of me.

And truly I questioned very desperate, and the more so because that I
was yet weak, and lacking my strength to be composed. But she neither to
remember me nor any other man of that time; and to have no memories,
save these bare things that she to have spoken out so strange, and which
did come sudden unto her out of all the deepness of the years and the
lost sorrows and joys and wonders of that which doth make a World of
Humans.

And surely my questionings brought a distress upon Mine Own, both
because that she did be troubled by the way that my love did bring me to
this strange anguish, and because that she also to have pain, and a
sudden fear that there did be ever a time when she not to have known me,
or to have permitted the arms of another.

And she did then strive that she be both wise and strong, and to give
help unto me, and to take reason unto her own easing. And truly she to
show how that she did be all unknowing of any love in that far backward
time; but it to be possible in reason that she to have gone to another,
in natural course, the while that her heart did yearn alway in vague
trouble unto Her Own, that her spirit did mayhap never to have
forgotten. And, truly, this doth be the way of Life, and a bitter thing
and a sorrow to Joyous Love to think upon; yet I here to be set to the
tellings of Truth, and to have heed to all that reason doth show to be.

But Mine Own did also have us both to remember that there did be equal
right to think that she had died Mine Own Maid in that life; for that it
did be not out of reason to think that she had been void-hearted unto
all men, because that she had known in her spirit that she did once to
meet Her Own, and did be thereafter untuned unto all other men that ever
did live. And this all to be in a mist, and we to go vainly. And of her
will, she did think that no man did ever to have possessed her, save I;
yet this to be mayhaps only the prompting of her love; and she then to
kiss me, and to say that there did be no surety in aught, but only that
we did have been together before, and have borne a love so great that it
did live through Eternity; and we to be now together, and maybe all else
to be but dreams.

And truly I did have a fierce hope that this be so; and the Maid
likewise so to hope, yet to be less bitter with rebellion than I, though
in pain upon the thought; for she did be so utter and dreadful glad and
in happy thankfulness that we did be now come together again in the end;
and did mean that she conquer all that should be like to set a greyness
upon our joy, and to be steadfast unto this end.

And I afterward to be likewise in wisdom, when that I was come the more
to strength, and to mind that I suffer vainly for that which did have no
surety, as I have shown; and moreover I did have no power upon the past,
either to learn aught or to mend aught; so that I did go the way of an
Human, and did shake free from these broodings, and strove unto
forgetfulness; which, in truth, doth be both a Terror and a
Mercifulness, as doth chance. And I kist Mine Own Maid, with somewhat
more of the years within my love; and she to kiss me very sober and
dear; and to desire only for my happiness, and to be utter mine own.

Now, we then to eat and to drink, and the Maid to see me unto comfort in
all things, and my bandages all right; and she then to make that she
have on her footgear and her hair to be bound; but indeed I bid her that
she to dare do this thing, when that she to know how I did delight that
her little feet be bare to mine eyes, and her hair most lovely upon her
shoulders; and she to be very happy that I so to have an utter pleasure
in her dear beauties, and did sit beside me again, and set her feet very
sly where they did be anigh to my hand; for she to know that she did be
Mine Own, and I to be her Master, and she to have joy that she to have
to render her beauty unto me; for she did be that true complement unto
me that the heart of a man doth ache for eternally.

And so, presently, did end that lovely day of quiet speech and
togetherness; and the Maid did prepare me for my slumber, and she then
to lie anigh to me, and her head to rest gentle beside me, so that her
pretty face did be near unto my breast upon the right side; and she to
give me at the first a loving and sober kiss that did be somewise to set
a guard upon her tenderness, and afterward did sleep content and gentle,
as that she did be in the same moment a child and a woman.

And I also to come unto slumbering; yet did know vaguely how that Mine
Own did rise a little upon her elbow, this time and that, and look very
loving into my face, that she have assurance of my comfort and
well-being; and once I did waken, proper, and lookt at her, and she then
to kiss me gentle upon mine eyelids, and bid me to sleep; and so did
come herself unto her sweet slumber. Now when that I did come to my
proper wakening, I to hear the fizzing of the water, and to know that
the Maid did be risen a good while, and had made her toilets, as I
perceived in a moment, when that she came unto me; for her hair did be
in a lovely cloud upon her shoulders, all combed and made ready against
my waking; and she to have bathed, as I supposed, in some warm pool that
did be among the bushes upon the island; and she now to slip her
foot-gear, that her feet be bare unto me, as I did love, and to stand a
moment, and her eyes to twinkle gently. And I lookt at her with love and
honour in mine eyes, as you shall know, and she to have dancing of sweet
pleasure in her heart, that I so to look upon her with holiness and with
natural love, and surely the last doth be unnatural if that it do lack
the first; but my love did burn upward out of my being, so that the
flame of my spirit did light the fires of my heart, and my Reason to add
coals unto that fire that hath lived for ever, and doth be as that it
shall be never quenched.

And Mine Own in a moment did kneel beside me, and, truly, someways in
her deep intenseness unto me; for our love did make all the world holy,
and she to be both uplifted and as that she must give all the humbleness
of her heart unto the greatness of my love; and this she to feel, and
her deep and utter love, to make it as that she did be all a passion of
humbleness unto me, so that in her soul I did rise in that moment upon
the wings of my love, and to seem that I did be all the world and all
time and all place and all that ever she did need unto her.

And she put out her arms to me, and her eyes did shine with those tears
that do never be shed; and lo! in a moment, she did be upon my heart,
and we two to be husht together in content; for our need did be in the
other. And truly, where there do be two together with love, there doth
be neither lack nor need; but eternal fulfilment.

And in verity this to be my Hope for that which doth come
Afterward--that all doth be leading unto so glad a joy as this, and that
all pain and grief and all that doth make the shaping of Life, doth be
but a process by which we be eternally perfected from living unto
living, unto each Fulfilment that doth be but the doorway unto greater
Fulfilment in the Beloved.

And, presently, Mine Own Maid did loose herself gentle from me, and
washt me and tended me; and very husht and tender, and something
down-ridded of her dear and lovely eyes.

And we then to eat and to drink together, and joy so great and quiet did
be upon us, that it did be as that we had gone into an eternity of peace
and an utter content. And surely, as the thought did stir in me, it did
be of beauty that we did be both of us true unto the other, in that
life, and I never to have kist a maid, until that I kist Mine Own, and
she to have been likewise, and to have fended all men from her, because
that they did be Strangers unto her inwardness, and so we two to be so
utter together, both in that our spirits did be knit, being each the
complement of the other, and because that we had no secret pains of
remembered things, to set any apartness between our hearts.

And in verity, I to think back then upon my jealousies, that I have
told, and to know that Mine Own did never to have given herself lightly
to any, neither to have taken lightly; and her spirit to have been alway
mine through all the Everlasting; and mayhap this to be how all Peoples
shall come to be in the length of time, only that to us had come the
great wonder that we did early meet; though this also to bring that
utter pain, which doth seem to slay, when that once you have known the
Beloved, and to be parted.

And so I to think, and did presently ponder with a great and strange
pity upon they that did not yet have met the Beloved, and they mayhap
not to have kept all for the Beloved; but to have been light with that
which doth be the Treasure, because that Love had not come to show them
that they did unknowingly squander the strange and holy glory which doth
be the possession of they that shall come to the Beloved and say, All
that is thine have I kept for thee. And the Beloved to know and to have
peace in the remembering. But what doth be the peculiar sorrow of they
that have gone over-lightly, when that they shall meet the Beloved; for
then shall there be a constant and inward regret, as a thorn in the
heart, that they not to have observed alway that holy care of all which
doth pertain unto love; and they nigh to moan in the spirit, _if they
had but known, if they had but known._ Yet, in the end, of their pain,
shall they grow unto all loveliness, if that now they have truly come
upon Love, and to live with Love; for this to be the especial glory of
love, that it doth make unto all Sweetness and Greatness, and doth be a
fire burning all Littleness, so that did all in this world to have met
The Beloved, then did Wantonness be dead, and there to grow Gladness and
Charity, dancing in the years.

And there to be yet one thing upon which, mayhap, I not to have thought
sufficient; for it doth be this, that they who did err, as I have shown,
shall be the greater for their _Pain_; and let this be to cheer you, if
that you have done foolishly, and thought not upon that day when the
Beloved shall come; for Pain is but the voice of Development or
Destruction; and truly you to suffer the first, if that Love doth work
in you; but truly, the more that you have lacked, the greater shall be
your pain; for the more change there doth need be in you.

And so would I have you now to think, and to know that the Beloved shall
come, and so shall you live in glad care of all your being, that you be
able to come unto the Beloved in that day, and to say with beauty and
human joy in your heart, even as I have said; and thus shall you miss
that bitter pain. But yet, truly, you to be like to heed not this, until
that Love doth come upon you; and I therefore to cease from this vain
setting of mine inward reasonings.

But truly, when that day be come, as I have told, you to know how that
there went alway with me in this mine own story which I tell, the
simplicity of Truth; and how that I did be minded only that you to know,
and thereby that you have gentle wisdom that you lay not up pain for
that day. Yet, if you do lack to go with me, you to need that developing
which shall then come upon you.

And so shall you perceive how my thoughts did go to and fro, as I did
eat with Mine Own; and so in the last I to find that I did think very
serious; and I then to cast from me this pondering, and to have that
utter joy which did be upon us, and to seem that it did fill all that
strange Country of Seas.

And lo! after we did be done of eating and drinking, which did be but a
little time, as you shall think, the Maid did ease me to an upward
sitting, and had my back very nice to an olden stump which did be light,
and she to push unto me.

And Mine Own did sit then beside me, so that mine arm did come most
natural about her; and she there to be nestled all gleeful and content,
so that my heart did be doubly tender unto her. And I took the abundance
of her hair, and set it about my neck, and upon my breast, so that it
did near to cover me in the upward part; and we both then to laugh as
that we did be two children, because that Love did make us so utter
young in the heart; and our hands to be hid under the beauty of the
Maid's hair, and I to have her then that she explain just how great she
did love me; and you that go with me, do know how that this doth be a
delight that is never done, neither to be set only into words.

And all that day we did be wondrous happy, save once when we saw that
there were Humpt Men upon the shore, about the Flat-Topt rock where did
be the fight; but what they did there, we not to be able to see, only
that presently they went away; and indeed seemed to have no thought unto
us, neither any knowledge; and so did be gone again into the forests;
and we saw no more of them, after that time. And afterward we to be lost
utter in happiness.

Now, upon the tenth day, I did be so come into health that I to walk a
little way to and fore upon the island; and Mine Own did go with me, and
so I to pace a good while, and afterward to rest again.

And Mine Own then to bring mine armour to me, which she had scoured very
nice; but truly, the Armour did be sore broke and bent, and did be
jagged inward this place and that, with the monstrous strength of the
Humpt Men, when that they did strike me with the great sharp stones.

And, in verity, how I should ever come again to wear this protection, I
to be in doubt. Yet, truly it had been a wondrous suit of strength that
had kept my life within me when that I had been so deadly beset; and I
to know that it to be yet like to save both our lives, if that we could
someway straighten it, and ease the broken jags from wounding me afresh.

And I thought a time, and the Maid with me; and afterward we gat that
stump upon which I had leant, and had this to be for an anvil; and we
found then smooth stones of different sizes, and these to be for
hammers; and we wrought all that day, with restings, upon the armour;
and surely, we beat it into a very good shape, from the inward, and the
broken parts we beat smooth, so that they should not wound, and in the
end to have mine armour fit to go upon me.

And I, by now, as you shall think, to be drest part in my garments; but
not all; for there did be yet some of the bandages upon my body, so that
for the main I did wear the cloak, that the bandages be easily come at.
And all that day did be utter happy, whilst that we workt; for we to be
together.

And on the morrow, as we do say, which was the eleventh wakening upon
the island, the Maid and I to talk long and oft, whilst that we yet
worked upon the armour; and we to ponder the best way that we continue
to our journeying; for, indeed, I was not come to my strength; yet was I
very earnest that we go forward early; but in the same time, I did fear,
lest that we meet with aught of Danger, and I to be a-lack, because that
I was yet weak.

And presently, the Maid and I both to think upon the same thing; for she
to cry out concerning the raft, and I to have the same word in my mouth.
And, in verity, this to be a great thought; for then should we be able
alway to be free of the Humpt Men, and to have frequent rest when that
we be weary, and to sleep with an ease in the mind; and, indeed, I to
hope that the labour of oars should be something less than to go upon
the feet.

And surely, we talkt upon this a good while, and afterward we left the
armour, and went over to the raft, and so to learn whether we should
have power to make it something more stable, and that we have some way
that we should put a solid matter between our bodies and any monster
that should chance to swim under us.

And we went then together over all the little island; for I did search
for some bush that should have a long tendril in plenty, and supple, and
so to suit for binding. But, truly, there did be no such bush in all the
island; and this to put me in trouble, as you shall suppose; yet was
there a sufficient plenty of small and upright trees, that did seem very
good for any purpose of structure.

And when we had gone all about the island, and found naught that should
bind, the Maid to say with a pretty jesting that we should cut her hair,
and plait it to be for cords. And, surely, even as the words did come
from her, they to set me upon the thing that should supply our need; for
I stoopt sudden to the grass that did grow oft and plenty in this place
and that, and was so tall as my thigh, and to my head in the middle of
the dumpings where it did sprout. And lo! it was wondrous tough.

And the Maid to have likewise perceived the thought, almost at that
moment; but I to have been the first this time, and so to tease her; for
truly, we had grown that we did nigh alway to discover all things in the
same instant, as you mayhap to have seen. But I did surely be first this
time, and must kiss her, as we do kiss little ones, that they be eased
in their dismays and disappointments; and she to see how I did mock her,
and she to pretend to weep; and surely how could she even to pretend,
when that she did not be able to keep her pretty mouth from searching
with laughter unto mine; but must be kissed full and plenty in our
constant joyfulness.

And we cut then a good arm-load of the grasses, using the knife, and had
those to our camp; for we did be homely now unto that place, as you
shall think. And the Maid then to show me plaiting, and how that we
could work in the grass piece by piece, so that we should plait unto any
length that we to need.

And all that day we workt, and did be very happy together; but when that
we came to the time of our slumber, the Maid had done twice and thrice
so much as I; and surely she came over to me, and kist me very grave,
that I should be not to fret, even as I did kiss her with gentle mocking
concerning the thought about the grass; and so did she make level with
me, by this impudence and quaint sweetness.

And on the next day, which did be the twelfth, I took the Diskos, and on
that day I cut down six of the trees; and alway the Maid did bring her
plaiting, that she be near me; and when I had cut the six trees, she had
me to cease, lest that I risk to open any wound. And truly they to have
healed very wonderful.

And afterward, we to plait all that day, and did also finish the armour;
and did be content and utter happy.

And on the thirteenth day, I counted the tablets, and found that we yet
to have sufficient, if that we came unto the Mighty Pyramid within any
reasonable time. But I insist that I should eat no more now than did be
my usual way; and though Mine Own did beg and to coax me, and even to
try whether that a naughty and loving anger should do aught to shift me,
I not to alter from my deciding, which was based upon my reason and upon
my intention that Mine Own should never to go in hunger-danger, whilst
that there did be life in my body. And when that the Maid did show this
dear and pretty anger, I to take her into mine arms, and to tell her how
I did reverence and love her, and that she did be all beauty unto me,
and I but to love her the more, because that I did know the reason for
her dear shaping of anger unto me.

And she then to kiss me, and yet to beg again that she have her way in
this thing; but presently I did show her that my reasoning was sound in
this matter; though I said not that my strongest thought did be unto her
own needs. And she to have to agree with me in her brain, even whilst
that her heart did ache to feed me. And truly, I to love her but the
more, as you shall think.

And this way shall you ever to manage a dear and sensible woman that
doth both love you and hath reason in her; for the wise man and he that
hath an heart unto bigness, doth be never hasty to command. But, indeed,
I speak not now of the way that you shall go with a woman that hath the
love-foolishness upon her; for this to be a different matter, as you do
know; and a woman then to require a double wit and tenderness in the
governing; but also to need to be commanded, mayhap with sternness; yet
with the more love.

Now, when that we wakened on our fourteenth day upon the Island, we gat
to work, so soon as we had washt and eat and drunk, and Mine Own to see
how my scars did go.

And I cut seven more trees that day, which made thirteen in all; and
afterward I trimmed the trees very nice. And when this was done, I cut
twelve good sapling-trees, and two more very thin, that I did mean to be
for paddling the raft upon the water. And Mine Own Maid did sit near me
alway, and never to be ceased from her plaiting.

And whilst that the Maid did plait, and make gentle and happy talk with
me, I presently to sit beside her, and had her belt-knife to my need;
and therewith, when I had cut bark from a tree, I made a foot-long
cross-piece of wood which I did fasten with pegs and some lashing unto
the end of one of the paddle-shafts.

And I took then a piece of the bark, so big, mayhap, as would cover my
thigh, and shaped broad one end and thence to a point; and when I had
made holes in the piece of bark, I lasht the broad end to the
crosspiece, and the end that did be narrowed, I lasht secure to the
shaft, and likewise made holes down the length of the bark, and lasht it
also thereby to the shaft, and thiswise I had a pretty good paddle,
that did be about ten feet long in the clear shaft, and the head to be
somewise two feet more, mayhap.

And when this was done, I shaped the handle so small as might come into
the grasp of the Maid, and did jest her very loving and gentle that she
give me so great a work, because that she have her hands so little. And
truly, she presently to stop me of my mocking; for she put her pretty
hands upon my mouth, and I then to have to mumble and to laugh, and so
she to go forward again with the plaiting.

And when I had made the one paddle, I made also the other; but something
more rough and heavy, and suited unto my strength; and so did be very
well pleased; for they did be made more of my Reason than of memory; yet
had I used somewhat of the kind upon the quiet lakes which did be in the
Country of Silence.

And we then to join in the plaiting, and thus with happy talk and our
times of eating, until that we did be come again to our slumber.

And on the fifteenth day, when that we had gotten up and washt and eat
and drank, the Maid did look unto my bandages; and did consider that I
be healed very good, if but that I not to overstrain my body. And we
then to dance, half in play and half in victory, but gentle; and
afterward she to come with me that she give me aid that we get the trees
unto the water.

And in six hours, we rolled the trees down to the shore, and did begin
then that I lash the saplings across the trees, and thiswise to hold
them secure into a raft. And the midmost tree I put something more
forward than the next; and so, until that which did be the front was
shaped somewise like to the bow of a ship. And the saplings to hold the
trees thiswise, when that I had set the lashings about every sapling and
every tree, where the saplings did go across.

And all that day I worked pretty constant and steady, until that Mine
Own had me to cease awhile, lest that I bend overmuch, and so to put
strain upon my scars. And I to be reasonable; but yet to go forward
again with the work; only that I did rest now, this time and that; and
so did all to prosper.

And on the morrow, which did be the sixteenth day upon the island, I
made an end of lashing the saplings across the raft; and I set up also,
two rests for the paddles, so that we might row if we stood upon the
raft; and afterward, being ready, we gat together our gear, and set all
upon the raft.

And I put the pole that the Maid had used, also upon the raft, and
loosed the straps from that first raft, and had the straps for our
requirement, as heretofore. And mine armour we made safe on the raft;
but the Diskos I had to my hip, as ever; and so did we be ready to leave
that little island of refuge, where we had been so near to sorrow, but
yet had come utterly upon joy.

And surely, Mine Own did take me by the arm, and she to stand a little,
and to look with me unto that bed of soft herbage where she had laid me,
when that I did be so nigh unto death; and she then to kiss me very
sweet and loving and gentle, and all a-tremble with the tears and love
that did stir in her; and I to set mine arms about her in love; and so
we to turn and to put off then in the Raft.




XV

PAST THE HOUSE OF SILENCE


Now it was in the tenth hour of that day, that we put off in the raft;
and surely we found the paddles to go very easy and with somewhat of
balance in the rests which I had set up, as you do mind; and the raft to
go forward with not overmuch of labour; so that we stood, the Maid to
the fore paddle and I did be to the hinder one, and we pusht very steady
upon the paddles, and had the raft presently to a speed something less
than we should walk over the rough way of the Land.

And about the twelfth hour we stopt and eat and drunk, and went on again
with our easy labouring; and truly, when that we gat set to the
movement, we scarce to wot that we did aught more than rock something
fore and back upon our feet; and so the hours to pass, and we to have a
constant gentle speech one with the other, and the Maid oft to look back
unto me with love, and to set her lips that she tempt me; but yet to
shake her head most dear, when that I would leave my paddle, that I go
forward unto her.

And when that the eighteenth hour of that day was come, we to draw
inward our paddles, and the Maid set the cloak very nice to be our bed,
and afterward we eat and drank, and so presently to our slumber, and did
have sleep, very sound and happy, all in a moment, as it to seem.

And eight good hours after, we did waken both of us, together; and lo!
we scarce to mind where we did be for a little moment; but afterward to
know and to perceive that we did be safe and naught to have come unto
us in our sleep. And surely we laught each in the face of the other; for
we did be so joyous to be wakened each unto the knowledge of the other.
And after that we had kist, we washt somewhat in the water of the sea,
and so to our food. And when we had eat and drunk, we made again to the
paddling; and went forward thus along the coast very peaceful and
content all that day.

Now, in all, that voyaging did talk four good days of four-and-twenty
hours each, for we made no great haste or labour, but went easy, that I
have time to gather my strength. And naught to happen in all that time,
save that once we did see a great beast to come upward lumbersome out of
the sea on to the shore, and there did eat and browse upon the herbage
in that part; or so it did seem to us; though, truly, we did be over far
off to have surety.

And this beast not to put us into any horror; but only to make us glad
that we be afar off from it; and by this saying, I to mean that it did
seem unto us a natural thing; and nowise to have an odour of aught
monstrous to trouble our spirits. And this way did be all the creatures
of that Country; and truly I do think the Early World did be somewise
like to it; and this to seem to make true that olden saying that extreme
things do meet, as doth be over-apparent; for thus doth it be somewise
to our knowings, as you shall perceive by your Reasonings Upon Olden
Days, and by the showings of this Mine Own Story, for that Deep World to
have put forth natural creatures that did be even as might be those that
did live in the Beginning; though I to make no point of this, but only
that it doth occur to my thought; and all to seem that it did be bred of
Circumstance and Condition; yet this to have no saying whether that
there to be a spiritual-force something deeper than the Circumstance;
for this to be outside of any surety, but not offensive unto my Reason.

But this thinking also neither to offend me, that although much--and
mayhap all--doth be modified and shapen diverse ways by the Circumstance
and the Condition, yet doth there be an inward force that doth be
peculiar each unto each; though, mayhap, to be mixt and made monstrous
or diverse by foul or foolish breeding--as you to have knowledge of in
the bodies of those dread Monsters that did be both Man and Beast. Yet,
also, I here to say that maybe all diverse breeding not to be monstrous;
but this to be beside my point. For I to be now set to tell, as I have
told, that it not to offend me to suppose that there to be this inward
force peculiar to each shaping of all bodies that do hold that wondrous
quality of Life. And if that you ask me that I give example to make
clear my thought, I to say that it doth be reasonable to suppose that
the Force or Spirit of the Human doth be peculiar to the Human, whether
that it to be a Cause of Life, or the Result of that which hath been
evolved out of a Condition. And whether it to be the one way or the
other, you to know that where this Force or Spirit be found untainted,
there is man; and I to be not opposed to think that Man doth be constant
alway in matters of fundament, and neither to have been ever truly
different; though something modified in the body and surely, in the
first, all undeveloped in the lovely things of the spirit, because that
there to be no call to these. Yet, presently, they likewise to come, and
to act upon the flesh with refinings; and likewise, mayhap, there to be
some act of the flesh upon the spirit; and so to the state of this Age
of this our day, and to that far Age of which I do tell. But development
never to make the Human other than the Human; for the development to
have limits peculiar to the Human. And surely, it doth appeal to me,
that the development of Man doth lie between two points, that be not
wondrous wide apart; and Man to have power that he arrive very speedy
from one unto the other, and likewise that he go back so quick, or even
the more hasty. Yet, even did it be ever proved that Man once to be a
fish, I to have no cause to abate the first part of mine argument; but
to have the more need of the thought, that I gain power to accept the
Fact; for I still then to have no occasion that I think Man to have been
truly a Fish, or aught truly different from a Man; but only that he did
be once Modified physically to his need, and to be still possessed of
the Man-Spirit, though all lackt of development. Yet, truly, I to be
less offend in my Reason, if that it be shown that Man did be ever
somewise in his present shape, though mayhap so brutish as the Humpt
Men; but yet I do be ready to consider all matters, and do build no
Walls about my Reason. Yet, neither I to have an over-ready acceptance
of aught, but to need that my Reason shall approve.

And you to perceive, surely, that I here not to speak of that which may
be Afterward, when that all This, our life, be done. For who shall say
how much or how little we then to go forward unto loveliness; and I at
this point to tell you that I do have a wondrous hope of beauteous
things, and of sweet and mighty Uplifting and Furtherance unto that Glad
World which we have beheld the shores of, when that we had stood in
holiness with the Beloved.

And, in verity, I now once more to my story; and to be glad that I am
done at this small setting forth of a matter which did need words,
because that it did have root in this Mine Own Story, and to be grown of
it and from it.

Now, there did be one other thing of note, beside the Sea Beast, whilst
that we did be upon the Seas; and this did be the strangeness of a great
Fire-Hill which did stand in the sea, and we to pass very nigh unto it.
And surely the sea did boil about it, yet not in all places; and there
did be a score great jets that did go upward a monstrous way, and did
roar very plain to us across the sea between; and there did come strange
gruntings from the sea about the base of the Fire-Hill, and these I to
conceive to be made by the upbursting of gases in this place and that;
and surely, it all to make us to know of the great energy that did be
wakeful in that deep Country; and we yet to stare backward upon that
Hill of Fire and Force, for a great while after that we had come past.

Now, beyond this, there to be naught, except that we had a certain care
as we did come to that place where the Great Sea did be broke to smaller
seas; but all to be knit with passages of water, which let us through
upon our way.

And surely, I did show Mine Own Maid those two places where I did sleep
when first I was come into that Country; and she to be sweet in
interest, and alway to have somewhat that she would learn of this and
that.

And so, when that we did be four good days upon the water, as I have
told, we to come to the land, upon a flat place of the shore, where the
Country did slope upward unto the mouth of the First Gorge, of which you
do mind. And this to be in the tenth hour of that day; and we likewise
to have begun that voyage in the tenth hour, as you do remember; and
surely it to have been a sweet and peaceful water-journey; and I to have
been happy, if that all that did be yet before us, to hold so much of
pleasantness and safe goings. But, indeed, there to be much danger yet
to come, as you do know; and we to have our hearts set in courage, and
to go forward to conquer; for surely, if that we to conquer, and to come
safe into our Mighty Home, there to be then that we have all our lives
together in loveliness; and this to be truly a worthy prize and a glory
of the heart, to end and to repay our Stress.

And surely, the Maid and I did presently strand the raft, so well as we
might, and did then to wonder whether any should evermore to behold it
through all Eternity. And we lookt a little, each at the other; and the
Maid then to cut free a small piece of the wood of the raft, to be for
an after remembrance.

And so we to have our gear upon the shore; and the Maid then to give me
aid that I get once more into mine armour; and so I presently to have
the Scrip and the Pouch again to my back, and the Diskos in my hand, and
all in readiness, and the Maid with her bundle (that was now grown
small), and her belt about her body, that she have her knife unto her
hand.

And surely, the Maid then to kneel and to kiss the raft; for memories
did gather upon her; and she there to have one more breaking from all
that did be the first part of her life; and you to give your
understanding, and so to have a quiet sympathy, and to perceive that her
heart did be like that it should stir with a strange trouble of
sorrowing in that moment.

And surely I stoopt then, very gentle and loving, and had Mine Own to
her feet; and I led her from the raft, and she to need that she be near
me; and so we to go forward, and to make upward unto the dark mouth of
the Great Gorge.

And there to be some miles unto our right, that grim and utter huge
Mountain, whereon afar upward in the monstrousness of the night did be
perched those four fire-hills of which I have told. And below them,
there to go upward the great hills of ash, that had been cast down
throughout Eternity. And this thing had the Maid lookt upon for a great
time, and did be never done of her wonder; neither I, nor any human that
ever should have sight of so great a wonder.

And so we to have come presently upward into the high mouth of the
Gorge, and did go onward then into the gloom, a little space, until that
we were come to the place where the Gorge did bend sharp unto the left,
into darkness.

And lo! we made pause here, and turned again unto the Country of Seas,
that we have a last outward look over all that Deep and living Land,
that did be hid so far downward in the everlasting night of the world.

And, in verity, it did be a solemn thing to know that we, mayhap, to be
the last of the olden Humans that should ever to look upon that Country;
and I to wonder, in that moment, whether that the Humpt Men should ever
to develop, in some far eternity, unto the full sweetness of the spirit
of Humanity which I did think to be inward of them. And this to be both
an odd and a natural thought to have then, as I do see. But at that
time, I only to think it, and not to wot or to trouble whether that it
did be odd or otherwise. And I to think that Country did be somewise as
the Olden Time renewed; but truly we to look upon early things with new
eyes.

And we yet to look awhile, and to be husht, and to hark in those last
moments unto the far mutter of the Great Fire-Mountains, and the
Fire-Hills, and the noise of life which did go over that Land; and we
even then to be but a few short pacings off from the silence of the
Great Gorge, which should lead us presently toward the Eternal
Strangeness which did be in the Night Land. And the Maid did hold mine
arm very close, as we lookt our last into the red light of that Deep and
Hid Country of the World, where, in verity, we had come so utter nigh to
our Death.

And presently, I turned, and the Maid slipt her hand into mine, and the
tears did go silent down her face, because of all that did be prest upon
her heart; but yet not to be all of sorrow, for there to be both sorrow
and happiness, and also there did be somewhat of vague emotion that she
never more to look upon that dear island where she had nurst her man
again unto life and well-being; and she to be in mind of all those
places where she to know that in after-life her memory to wander; and
she to have oft-told tales, mayhap, unto her children, of that Country
that they never to see; but only to be for a wonder to them for ever.

And we past then round the Mighty Corner-place of the Gorge, and went
forward, somewhat stumbling, into the gloom.

Now we went sixteen hours very steady, and with naught save the great
darkness to trouble us; and we by this to have been twenty and six hours
since last that we had sleep; and surely this did be a foolishness,
because that I to need that I come into my full strength, ere we reach
the Night Land; and it to be a folly that I should over-tire myself; and
the Maid to have said so much.

And, indeed, then, we came to a safe place for our slumber, and whilst
that we eat and drunk, we made count from my notings of the outward way,
and so did decide that we go no more than sixteen hours' journey each
day through the Gorge, and to sleep alway for eight good hours. And this
we to do, both then, and until that we did be come out of the Great
Gorge, which did take us in all, so much as five days thiswise.

And surely, when that we were come into the light places of the Gorge,
we to be more cheered, as you shall suppose; yet oft did we be half
smothered with the horrid gases that came upward in this part and that,
as you do mind.

And my strength did grow constant, as we journeyed; yet would the Maid
never suffer that I carry her; but went alway very light and clever, and
was grown, in truth, set unto this constant wander.

And at this place and that, I to make pause that I show Mine Own those
places where I did slumber, and she alway to need that she come unto the
very part, and that she stand for a little moment where I did lie so
lonesome, as I went outward unto that despairful searching. And alway
she then to be utter tender with me, and to be something lacking of
speech, because of the calling of her heart.

And surely, Mine Own did be alway now to ask me when that we should be
come unto the Night Land; and to require how far it should be, and to be
taken with a growing of excitement, very dear and natural; and, in
verity, I to be almost so much so as she; and to wonder what she to
think of the Mighty Redoubt, and of all that strange and monstrous Land.
And, above all these, I to be shaken unto my very heart, that I have the
Maid speedy unto safety; lest, after all, even though we to have come so
far, there somewhat to happen of woe. And all this did make it a hard
thing that we not to begin to race, and to exceed the hours that we did
set; but truly we had wisdom in this matter, and slumbered alway after
the sixteenth hour.

And we never to see aught of life in all that great and desolate Gorge;
for there did be only the gas-burnings, and the boulders and the stark
rocks, and oft the rank smellings of the gases. And alway an utter and
everlasting quiet; save when some lonesome gas-fire did oddly to moan
or to whistle, and the whistling to sound very dree across the great
waste of the Gorge, and likewise the moaning to be but a thing to make
the loneliness to be felt in the heart; and the Maid to feel thus with
me.

And alway, as I did know, she to think in her heart that I did come
through that place alone to make a searching for her into the unknown
lands of the world; and surely, I did be but a natural man if that I was
something happy in my heart that Mine Own so to ponder and to remember;
for thereby did her love seem ever to grow. And likewise, a man doth be
glad in his spirit and natural pride, that his Maid to know that he hath
done wholesomely of his best for her need. And you but to think upon the
love-days, and to hear the echoes of those dear proud thoughts that did
so to swell in you; and doth not all to go so strangely with familiar
pain in the old way?

Now it was upon the fifth day, in about the seventh hour, that I heard
oddwhiles a sound in this place and that of the Gorge, as that the rocks
made husht and strange sounds at us. And I to have the Maid instant very
nigh to me, and the Diskos to my hand, and we then to go onward with a
great caution.

And thrice we did pass places where gas-fires did burn and dance, and
made oft a low moaning, and somewhiles a little whistling; and the other
sounds yet to come oddly from the rocks, in this place and that, very
strange and unthought of, yet to be something familiar.

And sudden, it did come to me that there to be a far-away noise in these
sounds; though they to seem to come from this place and that almost to
mine elbow, as you should say. And lo! I knew then that I harked unto
little echoings, that did be caught by the near rocks, and to come from
some far and mighty sound. And this should be surely the monstrous
piping of the Great Gas Fountain, that you do well mind. And, in verity,
I told Mine Own in a moment; and she to be all eager with me, because
that this did be both a wondrous thing, and to be also a landmark to
show that we did be nigh to come out of the Gorge, and our journey to
come the more near unto an ending.

And surely we lookt ahead very earnest; and there to be so many strange
and leaping fires to our front, that we not to be very sure which did be
the far and monstrous dance of the Great Gas Fountain; for truly it to
be yet so distant that the near gas-fires did make more upon the eye up
all of a weary length of the Gorge, than did the great dance of the
far-off fire, that was now so small, by the distance.

And presently, when that we were gone onward something more, we to see
that there went a lightening and a darkening afar along the Gorge, so
that the background of the night was made to lose somewhat of the
intensity of its darkness, as with constant shudders of light; and this
to be surely the far away dance of the flame of the Great Gas Fountain.
And we then to watch alway as we journeyed, and to see how that the
vague shudderings of light did grow in the distance of the night, and
did merge and become known presently in a strange uplifting and falling
of a far away blue flame.

And the sound now to come more steady, and to grow in a long while into a
monstrous piping, very great and wonderful, and having a constant change
in the note.

And we to come past the last of the lesser fires, and to be in that part
of the Gorge which did be fireless, save for the great upward dance of
the Gas Fountain, which did now to be grown huge and plain-seen, and did
make a quaking light over all the Gorge.

And so in the end, we to be come very nigh to the dance of the monstrous
flame; and did be half stunned by the noise, which did be now an utter and
furious roaring, as you shall remember; and the Maid and I did stand as
but two lonesome strangers in the mouth-part of that deep and desolate
Gorge, and did stare voiceless unto the great flaw; and mine arm did be
about the Maid, and she to stand very nigh to me; and neither to speak;
and surely, how should we anywise; for the noise did be so huge.

And after that we had stared a great while, we turned that we look each
at the other; and we kist very sober, there in the light from the
monster flame. And afterward, we did stare again at the Flame, and soon
turned, and lookt all ways, and did marvel to see the great throw of the
light go blue and spreading and strange unto great distances.

And a while we did be watching the way that the far-off side of the
Gorge did come plain to sight, when that the Flame did leap; and, truly,
that did seem a far and lonesome Place, as that a lost and forgot world
of desolate mountains did be there.

And lo! we now to look that we should see somewhat of the way that our
journey to go; and surely naught to be clear shown save when the Flame
did rise oddwhiles to a monstrous height; and this to be because of the
huge rocks that did stand about the Flame. Yet something I was abled to
show the Maid of the bottom part of the Mighty and Utter Monster Slope
that did be the last way of our journey, ere we were come to the Night
Land.

And we then to go onward for about a good mile, that we be not so
deafened by the noise of the Gas Fountain; and it did be now beyond the
seventeenth hour; so that we eat and drunk, and made our rest in a
secure place among the great boulders.

And lo! when that we waked, we eat and drunk again, and did be something
silent, as we to gaze at the Flame dancing monstrous, and lonesome and
all set about with the stark and mighty Rocks, which did be like unto
giants of silence that did watch forever. And presently, we had our gear
upon us, and we went forward toward the utter dark of the Mighty Slope;
and we began that huge climb, that should last through days in an
eternity of night.

And oft in the first hours did we turn about from our blind stumblings,
and gaze downward out of the long height, unto the loom of the Flame,
that did shudder far below in the night, and made a quaking light in
that far darkness. And so did we leave it to dance forever through
Eternity in that deep and lost place of the world; and we bent all our
will and our strength unto the climb.

And this way went we stumbling for sixteen great hours; and by that time
had come to a pace proper for that task, and to be something numbed, and
seeming grown unreal, because of the affecting of the Darkness.

And lo! for eight days then did we go upward forever through that most
dreadful night. And after the first day, we crept alway upon our hands
and our knees, and I to go in the front, and had the Diskos ready upon
my hip. And I took two of the straps from the pouch and the scrip, and
so had a certain length; and I set them from the waist-belt of the Maid
unto mine own belt, and so did know ever that she came close after me.

And we made journeys sixteen hours long, and did eat and drink at the
sixth and the twelfth hours, and likewise we eat and drank ere we slept,
and again upon our wakings; and our slumber-time to go alway somewheres
about eight good hours; for thus did I be heedful that we have all our
strength for that dreadness of the journey, which did be yet before us,
across the fear and horrid terror of the Night Land.

And oft, at this time and that, I was utter sickened and a-wearied of
reaching forward and upward forever, and making blind fumblings that I
find a way about great boulders and the rocks and holes that did be in
our path in the dark; for it to seem that we went lost from all life and
knowing, in a blackness that should be never slackened from about us.

And I, these times, to make a pause, and to call softly unto Mine Own
that she creep up nigh unto me; and I then to take her into mine arms,
out of the utter blackness of that night. And so to give and to have
comfort.

And surely, Mine Own did whisper once unto me, that she did be stunned
with love and wonder in the heart; for she to never cease to know that I
did adventure through this great night, that I find her. And this thing
did make me very warm in my heart, as you shall think; but yet I to stop
her speech with a gentle kiss; and she then to know that she be dumb
concerning her thought in this matter; yet she never to cease from
remembering it, and did be the more stirred with the trouble of her
lovely secret worship; for, in verity, she to have me to be for her
hero; and this to make me in the same moment both something shamed and
greatly proud.

And so we to be together, and after such pause, to go forward again,
with a new courage.

And surely it did be a great comfort to me to think that, because we to
go upward and not downward, we be not like to fall over any hid cliff in
the night; for I to have now some little knowing of the Slope, from mine
outward journey; yet to remember upon that monstrous pit that I then to
escape, and so to go with care.

And, indeed, upon the second day, I had Mine Own to creep more nigh with
me, and I then to have but one strap between us, and the other I set a
stone into, and did cast the stone alway before us, as upon the outward
way. And you to mind you of this, if you but to think a little minute.

And oft in those weary days in the Darkness, did I make gentle
whisperings through the blackness, unto Mine Own, that I give cheer unto
her; and she alway to answer, very sweet and loving; yet ever husht, as
I did be; and in verity, it did be as that we could not set our voices
loud upon that Mighty Slope, lest some enchantment come upon us, as it
might be said. And, indeed, each time that I cast the stone, the noise
of the stone to make a little trouble and dismalness in mine ears; for
all did be so quiet and desolate and lost in night, that it to make us
to need to be likewise so quiet, and to desire that we might go upward
so silent as shadows.

Now, surely, I must tell here how that the Maid to have alway at waking
that same awaredness that I did have upon the Outward Way, that somewhat
did be nigh to us, and to seem to have been concerned with our waking;
and I likewise to have also the same knowledge, as before. And oft as we
did go, I to feel that somewhat did go near to us. And this to put
something of a fear upon me, because that I was ever anxious for Mine
Own; and I to have her to be alway the more nigh to me, and did set the
strap from her to me, even when that she slept; so that she not to be
touched, and I to lack to know. Yet she to have no fear concerning this
thing; but to feel in her spirit that it did be a force that had no evil
intent unto us; but more, neither she nor I to know; and I, in truth, to
come in the end used to it; save that I did be, as I have told, anxious
in all that did concern the life and well-being of My Beloved.

And so did we go onward through those eight days.

And it soon to be grown cold, so that we both to need the cloak over us
in our slumbers; but in the journey-hours to need naught; for the
upward-going did surely heat us very well.

And there also to be come presently a change and a seeming of thinness
into the air; and the Maid to remark upon this, and likewise that the
water-powder now to be that it not to fizz so plentiful.

And we went upward, as it did seem forever, and journeyed very husht
and steadfast; and likewise did halt at set times, that we eat and
drink; and did alway sit then very close and quiet and in love. And so
alway to go never beyond sixteen hours' journey each day, and very
weariful even so much; for it to be a sore and constant labour of
climbing.

And I to learn the hour alway, by a little shining of the Diskos upon my
time-dial, which I have told did be somewise as the watch of this our
present Age. Yet, truly, I also to learn that I made somewhat of a
constant number of forward-throws of the stone in an hour; and the Maid
to be the first to discover this, as she did creep behind me and harked
steadfast and quiet unto the clatter of the stone, each time that I cast
it. And she sometimes to call low to me that it now to be this time or
that time; and I to look at my Dial, as I have told, and oft to find
that she did be curiously right.

Yet otherwhiles, we to have no thought to count; but made a constant
husht talk one to the other; and did grow odd times, that it did seem to
us that we did be two spirits there in an Everlasting Darkness, that had
quiet speech one to the other, and to be seeming gone from our bodies.
And we then to need that we look each at the other, that we know truly
that we yet to live and to be indeed with the Beloved. And I then alway
to make the Diskos spin a little, yet something more than when I should
see the hour; and, in verity, our faces then to show pale and strange
seeming in that luminous glowing of the great weapon in the Darkness;
and we to look very eager and an hungered of love, each at the other;
and so to need that we be held loving by the Beloved, and so to have
comfort and assuredness; and afterward to have peace to go onward again.

And it did be one such time as these, that Mine Own to give me a love
name she had called me in those olden days of _this_ Age; and which
surely I had not heard since Mirdath died. And, in verity, you to have
dear understanding with me, how that I then to be all troubled with
vague troubles and ghostly love-aches in the heart; and likewise, I did
be all set about in a moment by the olden enchantment and speechless
glamour that did be so long hid and lost in the Spaces of Memory, where
surely the spirit doth wander such oddwhiles, husht unto a dumb
tearlessness and to know in the same moment both Agony and the voiceless
Glory and lost Delight of the Hath-Been; so that it doth be as that you
wandered in the spirit between the sorrowful pain of the Sunset, and the
Promise of the Dawn which doth be builded upon the Need and Hope of the
soul, and doth also to have an essence of pain within it; because that
these do be knit with Longing which doth be the essential pang of
Memory. And so, mayhap, you to have gone with me; for you to have also
strange thoughts that do come out of the years, and do hurt the heart,
even whilst that the heart doth hunger of that which doth so pain. Yet,
truly, Mine Own did be now with me, as you do know so that I had joy
all about my heart; yet did all the years of my lost delights and of my
pain, be in the spaces of my memory, and Mine Own now to have stirred
all; so that no words that did be ever shaped of man should help me to
have ease in speech.

And Mine Own Maid to know how it did be with me; and she to have said
the thing, scarce wotting, even as her spirit did set it through her
lips; and she before then to have forgot so utter as I; and now she to
be stirred likewise with me; so that, in verity, we to hold hands in the
great Darkness upon the Slope, and to wait till the pain and strange
trouble did go somewhat from our hearts; and we to have power again to
know truly that we did be again together in sweet verity, after a mighty
Eternity.

And thus did we go, and even in that strange Night to have an
everlasting coming together; so that surely our two spirits to be nigh
made one, somewise; and this to be that sweet and holy thing which I do
name Love; and it to be my glory and Astonishment that Love hath come
unto me. And with you that have love, I am as a Brother in holy delight;
but with all that have not known Love, or to have missed Love, I am a
Mourner, and my heart to pray that they to know this Wonder, ere they
die; for else shall they die so green and bitter as they be born, and to
have grown nowise unto Ripeness, which doth be Charity--the end of life
and the Crown of Humanity.

And surely I to go forward again now with my telling. And you to know
that on the eighth day upon the Slope, about the end of the ninth hour,
there to be an upward seeming of light, afar before us in the Darkness,
and did show as a dull and vague sheen above us in the night. And truly,
I to know that we did be come at last a-near unto the Night Land.

And we went upward then very eager through the dark; and the dim shine
did grow, ever; so that we soon to see it very plain, as a looming of
light afar upward. And we ever to climb and to go onward. And lo! in the
fourteenth hour of that day, we came up slowly out of the Night upon the
Slope, and stood at the ending of that strange road Where The Silent
Ones Walk.

And surely it did be as that I was come home, and to have set my feet
again upon familiar Lands; and this to bring to you how far off I did
seem to have gone; and now to be come again to a Known Place.

And we went upward upon the Road, until that we did truly have topt the
Slope, and at last to look out over all the wonder and mystery of that
Land. And I never to be rid of the utter gladness of knowing that I was
come there again, after so strange a journey, and that Mine Own had I
brought with me, out of all the unknown world. Yet, truly, I also never
to have forgetting that this familiar Land of Strangeness did be the
last test and the greatest dreadfulness of our journey; and anxiousness
did hang upon me; for I now to have to take the preciousness of Mine Own
among and beyond all that Danger of Horrid Forces and of Monstrous
Things and Beast Men, and the like.

And truly, I did be like to trouble.

And, in verity, I did stare with a fierce eagerness unto the far-off
place in the middle part of the Night Land, where did be the Mighty
Pyramid; and surely it there to shine in the midst of the land, and did
be mine Home, where never had I dared hope I should return. And I set
mine arm very swift and eager about the Maid, and pointed, so that she
see quickly the wonder and safe Mightiness of that which did be our
Refuge for all our life to come, if but that we to win unto it. And the
Maid to look with a great and earnest soberness and a lovely gladness
and utter soul and heart interest, unto that Place that bare me, and
where I to have come from, and now to take her.

And long and long she lookt; and sudden came round unto me, and set her
arms quick about my neck, and burst unto a strange and happy weeping.
And I to hold her gentle to me, and let her cry very natural, until that
she was something unpent.

And lo! when that she was eased, she to stand close beside me, and to
look again unto the Mighty Pyramid; and afterward, as she to steady, she
to ask an hundred questions, so utter eager and so to thrill with joy
and excitement, as that she did be a glad child. And an hundred
questions I answered, and showed her new things and Wonders uncounted.

And of all strangeness that she then to see, there did none so to shake
her in the spirit with terror as did that dreadful and Horrid House,
which did be the House of Silence. And it was as that her very being did
know and be repulsed of some Horror that did concern and be in that
House; so that she to want to hide in the bushes that did be anigh to
the Road; and truly, I to think this wise, and to remember and to be
ware suddenly that we did be indeed come now into the Power of
Monstrosity which did be utter and forever abroad in that Land.

And surely, we went then in among the bushes that did grow clumpt upon
the side of the Road, as you to remember; and afterward, I calmed this
new fear that had come so quick upon Mine Own; and she then to peer
forth with me from the bushes, and to have renewed sight over the Land.

And the House of Silence to stand upon that low hill of which you do
know; and did not be a very great way off, somewise toward the right.
Yet, as you shall have remembering, it did take me some long and bitter
hours upon mine outward way, ere I did be come from under the shadow of
it, as we do say, unto the top-part of the Mighty Slope.

But this to have been in the main, because of the utter care that I did
need to bring me safe past the House; for I to have gone long and weary
upon my hands and knees among the bushes, as you remember; and oft to
pause, and to be so still as Death, lest that the Power of the House to
have become aware of my passing. And truly, we to need again so utter a
care, when that we make to go past, unto our Mighty Home; and this to be
heavy upon my heart, and I to be in the same moment anxious that we have
haste to the trial, and yet very willing, if it might be, that we not
make it forever.

And, indeed, after that we had peered a good while from the bushes, I to
consider that we do well to eat now, and afterward to have a safe place
for our slumber, so that we go fresh to the horrid dangers and
dreadfulness that did be before us upon our way.

And we then to look about, and soon to find a great boulder that did be
set with the bushes. And we made our place for sleep against the
boulder, and the bushes went all around, so that we did be complete hid.

And, in verity, we to be very cold, as we had been those two past days,
whilst that we made toward the top of the Mighty Slope. And now we to
have the full chill of the Night Land, and did be very glad to have the
cloak, so that we eat and drank whilst that we sat together, and the
cloak round us. And afterward, the Maid set the cloak about us for our
sleep; and we then to kiss very sober, and I with anxiousness in the
heart; but she with less, because she to have rest in me.

And so we lay down to our sleep, and the Diskos ready in my hand; and my
spirit wakeful against any terror that should come anigh to us in our
slumber; and the Maid I warned to be likewise wary.

And surely we slept and waked, and there had gone eight good hours, and
naught was come anigh to us to harm us. And we eat and drank, and did
hark oft, and lookt out from among the bushes; but there did be naught
abroad to set dread upon our spirits; and so we did be more content, and
well rest and a-ready for the further journeying.

Now I had the Maid to wear the cloak, because of the chill of the Land;
but she in the first to refuse, save I also to have it in my turn; but
truly, I did feel that it should smother me, and that I need all my
freedom of my body, lest there come any thing sudden upon us; and all
this I showed Mine Own, and also that we should have weary work, and to
creep much, so that I should be warm by my labour of going, and she
likewise, mayhap. And she then to consent, because she saw that I did be
earnest and to burn with anxiousness; yet had me to promise that I take
the cloak, if that the chill of the Land gat me anywise bitter.

Now we made a pause, when that we have our gear upon us, and we lookt
well out over the Land; and surely alway our eyes did gaze in the ending
upon that far Wonder of Light and Safeness, which did be the Mighty
Pyramid; and I to be never ceased from telling Mine Own this thing and
that thing concerning the Great Refuge; and she to be constant stunned
unto silence and delight of wonder, and anon shaken unto a multitude of
questionings, so that truly we did be as that we never to have done
making known one unto the other.

Now, as you have knowledge, the House of Silence stood upon a low hill,
and the Road did bend about the bottom of the hill; and this way did I
come, when that I was on mine outward way.

Yet now there to be a new plan of journeying come into my mind; for, as
you do remember, I did take somewise of eleven great days from the
Pyramid unto the top-part of the Mighty Slope, because that I had gone
diversely and round about to the North-West of the Plain of Blue Fire.

And surely, as now I lookt, it did seem that we should try a short
passage, and thereby be come free out of all danger in but a space of
four or five days, if only we to succeed. And I stood a good while very
husht and anxious, and did consider this new way, and did presently
point it out to the Maid, how that we saw the Mighty Redoubt straight to
the back of the low hill where stood the House of Silence, and mayhap we
might chance to find a safe going that way, and that I did ponder
thatwise. For, indeed, as you do know, we must go _nigh_ past the House,
even did we return by the long journeying, and this to be because that
the bushes did make a cover only near to the Road, and all to be a
country of bare rock beyond the bushes on that side of the Road, which
did be to the North and West.

Now, presently, I had formed my intention regarding our way, and told
all to Mine Own, and how that we to have alway an utter caution; and the
danger I made so plain to her as I did know it, and she then to beware
in her heart the need there to be of care and wiseness forever, as we
did go. And we then to make forward into the Night Land, and to be gone
from the top-part of that great deep, in which there to be hid strange
lands, as you do know. And surely, it to be like that none should ever
to go that way again for an eternity, or maybe forever.

And so went we forward, with a new caution.

And we came out from among the bushes upon the North-West of the Road,
and crost unto the Eastward side; and here the bushes to grow very
plentiful, so that I led on with a cheerfulness of hope within my heart.
And alway I went so far to the South-East as the bushes would give us
their cover, and this way I made that we should scarce to pass within a
great mile of the dread and horrid House; though, in verity, this to be
most dreadful close.

And we walked then for six hours, and went sometimes creeping, and oft
stoopt, and ever with a great caution.

And in the sixth hour we made a rest, and eat and drank, and afterward
went forward again.

And in the tenth hour were we come something nigh unto the House; for
truly, we to be off from the Road Where The Silent Ones Walk, and so to
go more straightly, and alway to save distance. And we kept so far
outward from the House as we might; but could pass it not more than a
great mile off, because that the bushes did have their margin near upon
our left, as we went; and there to be barenness of rock beyond; and
fire-holes in this part and that amid the starkness of the rocky spaces,
that should be like to show us very plain, if that we came outward from
the bushes.

And moreover, there went upward into the everlasting night one of those
Towers of Silence, which did be in this part and that part of the land,
and were thought to hold Strange Watchers. And the Tower stood great and
monstrous afar off in the midst of the naked rocks, showing very grey
and dim, save when the flare of some great fire did beat upward in the
Land, and sent huge and monstrous lights upon it. And we to have need
alway now to remember this Tower, and to keep the more so to the
sheltered hiding of the bushes. Yet, in verity, we to have little
thought of aught, save of the grim and threatening terror and
monstrousness which did stand forever upon that low hill, and did be the
House of Silence.

And in the eleventh hour, we did go creeping from bush unto bush, and
did be as shadows that went in the mixt greyness and odd shinings of
that Land. And the grim and dreadful House did be now unto our right,
and did loom huge and utter silent above us in the night. And the lights
of the House did shine steadfast and deathless with a noiseless shining,
as that they shone out of the quiet of some drear and unnatural
Eternity. And there did a seeming of Unholiness to brood in the air, and
a sense of all and deathly Knowledge; so that, surely, our hiding did
seem but a futile thing unto our spirits; for it was to us as that we
did be watched quiet and alway by a Power, as we slipt gentle from bush
unto bush.

And when the twelfth hour did be nigh, we to begin to draw clear of the
House; and surely there to come somewhat of ease into my brain and
heart; for it did be as that we should come clear of all harm.

And I turned to the Maid, that I whisper gentle and loving encouragement
unto her. And lo! in that moment, Mine Own gave out a sudden low
sobbing, and was gone still upon the earth. And, truly, my heart did
seem to die in me; for I knew that there did be directed a Force out of
the House of Silence, which did be aimed unto the Spirit of Mine Own
Maid. And I caught the Maid instant into mine arms, and I set my body
between her body and the dreadness of the House; and surely, my spirit
to perceive that there beat out at her a dreadful Force, which did have
in it an utter Silence and a bleakness of Desolation. And lo! I saw in a
moment that the Force had no power to slay me; but did surely make to
slay the Maid. And I set my Spirit and my Will about her, for a shield,
if this might be, and I had her to mine arms as that she did be mine own
babe.

And I stood upright, for there did be no more use to hide; and I knew
that I must walk forever until that I have Mine Own to the Shelter of
the Mighty Refuge, or to walk until I die; for only with speed might I
save her from the dread and horrid Malice of that Force.

And I set free the Diskos from my hip, and had it in mine arms beside
the Maid, and I strode forward out of the bushes, and put forth my
strength that I journey with an utter speed. And ever my Spirit did know
of that monstrous Force which did be direct upon us, to the Destruction
of Mine Own Maid.

And odd whiles, as I walkt, I called Mine Own by her olden love name,
and by the new name of Naani; but never did she move or seem even that
she lived; and surely my heart sickened within me with a mighty despair,
so that a constant madness did begin to thrill in me and to make me
something monstrous in strength, with my fierce agony and intentness to
save. And one hope only had I, that I bring her yet living into the
Shelter of the Mighty Refuge; and so, swift, to the care of the Doctors.

And lo! I did strive to be wise in my despair; for I made a quick
halting soon, and I warmed a broth of the tablets and water upon a hot
rock, and strove that I set some of the broth between the closed lips of
Mine Own Maid; yet did it be useless, as I to have known before in my
heart. And alway I kept my body and my Will and my Spirit and my Love
between the Maid and the dreadfulness of the House. And I made some of
the water, and dasht it upon the face of Mine Own, and I chafed her
hands; but truly it to have no use; neither did I truly to think it
should be like to.

And I wiped her face then, and harked to her dear heart; and surely it
did beat, very slow and husht. And afterward, I wrapt her in the cloak.

And I forced myself then that I eat some of the tablets, and I drank a
great lot of the water, for a fever did seem to burn in me, and moreover
I to mean that I lack not for strength to my task.

And I set my gear upon me very speedy, and I lifted Mine Own Beloved,
that did be now so husht, that once had been so merry and dearly
naughty. And surely, I nigh choked as the thought uprase in me; but I
set it back, and did but go the more furious. And surely no man did ever
go so fast and constant upon his feet, through an eternity; for I was
come again to my strength, and there did be a madness of intention and
despair upon me; and I went on forever.

And at each sixth hour when I stopt very brief to eat and to drink, I
made to bring Mine Own to her senses; yet she never to come, and alway
her heart to grow the more feeble; so that in the end I did utter fear
to hark; and did but set food and drink into me, and onward again with
an utter fierceness.

And why there came not any Sweet Power of Goodness to help me in my
strait, I never to know; but did call desperate upon all Good things to
aid me, as I went, to save Mine Own. But there naught to come; so that I
had grown into cursings, but that I did not to lose my wisdom to any
useless foolishness. And alway, as I went, I to see the Land blindly,
and oft vague and grey as that I did look at naught real, and again with
strange flashings of light, and the glare of fires; and anon to see the
Land as it did be, and all odd whiles to have now to me the feel of a
dread and monstrous dreaming.

And surely I sped forever through the dreadful hours, and went neither
to the right nor to the left, neither did I strive to hide in the bushes
nor to evade aught, for I knew that the Maid died slowly in mine arms,
and there to be no more gain in life, save by speed, that I have her
swift to the Mighty Pyramid to the care of the Doctors. And a great and
despairing madness grew ever within me.

And thrice I to have a vague memory that there came creatures at me,
from the dark of the Land; but surely I slew them with the Diskos, and
have no remembering thereof, only that mine anger did boil in me, and I
to know once that the Diskos did run blood in my hand.

And lo! there to come sudden unto my spirit the knowledge that the
aether of the world did be stirred. And, indeed, I did be surely sighted
by the great Millions of the Mighty Pyramid. And they to have seen me
come forward into the sight of the spy-glasses, and that I did bring a
maid in mine arms out of all the night of the world.

And truly, as I did after learn, the dear Master Monstruwacan had
discovered me great hours before; for there had been a steadfast watch
kept in the Tower of Observation for my returning, if that ever I should
return; and the might of the Great Spy-Glass had shown me plain a good
while gone, and that I did carry somewhat, that was surely the maid that
I did go to find. Yet had the Master given an order that no word be set
abroad to the Peoples, of this discovering, lest that the emotions of
the Millions to tell overmuch unto the evil Powers of the Land. But now
had the Millions also come unto knowledge; for many had ceased not to
watch through their spy-glasses, and the news to travel very speedy
through the cities; and surely now there did be a constant spiritual
noise in the night, to be heard only of the Spirit, yet to suffice to
wake and to warn all that Land.

And truly, as I after to learn, the Master Monstruwacan did know by the
instruments that there came a force out of the House of Silence, and
this to trouble him greatly; so that he set the word through the
Pyramid, by the Hour-Slips, that all the Peoples strive to contain their
emotion, lest they bring an Harm and a Destruction upon me, by warning
the Land with the greatness of their feelings.

Yet, in verily, this did be useless; for the Peoples did be very human,
and could nowise check their gladness and great wonder and excitement;
for it was to them so great a wonder almost as we should suffer if that
a man in this Age should go beyond Death in search of his Beloved; and
afterward to come backward unto the Living; and, surely, in such case,
how mighty should be our amazement; and this to be somewise how they did
be; yet with it also a sweet and natural gladness and strong welcoming,
which doth be the true beat of the Human Heart unto the Wanderer.

And presently, and through all the time that I came forward across the
Land, there did be mayhaps an hundred million that did never cease to
watch me from the embrasures, from the View-Tables, and from all
vantages. Yet, for a long while, only they which possessed strong
spying-glasses did be abled to see me truly, for I was a great way off.

And millions did but stare vainly unto that part where I was said to be;
and the Hour-Slips to come out four times in the hour, and to tell aught
that did be known. And so shall you perceive that Humanity did but have
grown the more Human.

And, in verity, I went forward with all my strength, and did drive
heedless through the miles and the night, and scarce conscious of aught,
because of the aching madness of despair that did grow ever within me;
for I knew that Mine Own Maid died alway in mine arms, as I did carry
her.

And later, a monstrous space of hours it to seem, I knew that I was come
to that part of the Road, where it did bend somewhat unto the Vale Of
Red Fire; and this did be something anigh to that wilderness where the
Youths did fight with the giant-men.

And I came over the Road, and urged my body utter furious across the
Land. And, surely, in that moment when I cross the Road, great numbers
of the Millions did see me, that had not seen before. And there went a
shaking in the aether of the World, because of the sudden emotion of so
mighty a Multitude; and lo! it did be as that in that moment the Land
was at last waked; for there came from far away unto the Eastward, a
faint and dreadful laughter, as that a monstrous Being laught unto
Itself in some lost and dreadful country. And the Laughter passed over
the Land, and did echo strangely, as it did seem, in this part and that
part, and presently to go rolling round in the far and hid West Lands,
and to be as that it wandered awhile amid the far mountains of the Outer
Lands, and was presently lost from my hearing.

And my heart chilled a little maybe; but yet did I not care over-much;
for I to lack all if that I lackt Death, if that I not to be given power
to save Mine Own. Yet did I make a little pause, so that I gat the knife
from the belt of the Maid, and did also to bare the Capsule; for if that
there came a Destruction upon us, I to make instant sure that Mine Own
Maid be safe unto death, and I then to go quickly with the Capsule.

And afterward I again upon my way.

And ever upon each sixth hour I did stop that I eat and drink, and did
onward again, even as a machine; for I commanded myself to this duty of
victual, that I lack not my strength unto the saving of the Maid. Yet,
truly, I did seem to choke alway as I strove with the tablets.

And lo! ever as I went forward did the Land awake; and my spirit to know
that Great Forces did be abroad, restless. And the Monsters to begin
wild roamings, because that they also to know of the Unrest that did be
come into the Land. And there to go presently odd roarings across the
Land, from night unto night. And I to go forward the more desperate, and
to step neither to the right nor to the left; but to make direct unto my
Mighty Home.

And the Vale of Red Fire did be soon afar off unto my right, and the
bulk of the Watcher of the North-East to be somewise unto my left,
before me; and the great back to be toward me. And truly, I lookt at the
Brute-Force, and it did be as that I drew nigh unto a Mountain of
Watchfulness; and above it in the everlasting night did be the blue
shining of the luminous ring, and the ring shed a light downward over
the Monster-Force; and the shoulders did be huge and humpt, even as two
small hills, and it lookt forever from me through eternity unto the
Pyramid. And this to be plain, though I did be a great way off from it.

And sudden, as I went, there came Somewhat out of a bush unto my left,
and rose up at me, very long and tall; and surely it did be some kind of
a man, and came at me. And my fury and my despair came inward upon me in
a moment, so that I troubled not to set down the Maid, but leaped at the
thing, where it did be yet half hid in the dark. And lo! it died in
pieces, and the Diskos did roar to content my heart an instant. And I
then onward again the more savage, so that my heart did be a dreadful
thing within me.

And a great while I went then, and do have a vague remembering that this
time and that there came things at me from out of the dark; but surely
they to have died very speedy, that I not to remember more.

And the hours did pass in spaces of time that did be made of terror and
numbness and an utter and evergrowing fury of despair. And I did be at
last as that I did burn inward with a grim and dreadful energy, and to
seem to grow the less tired, and to come over the Land with a stronger
ease and somewhat as that I did desire things to come unto me, that I
have something to ease my heart; for lo! Mine Own Maid did be dying in
mine arms as I carried her; and I to be in a bleak and sickened dread,
so that I lacked all courage now to listen unto her heart, as I have
told; and went burning, and dry and hot in the eyes.

And ever there sounded the roarings across the Land; and there did be
added presently lower and more horrid and dread noises. And later I
heard a far thudding of the earth; and in a little there went past me a
great Man, running so heavy that he did make a shaking as he past me;
yet, in verity, by a sweet mercy, he saw me not, and was gone onward in
a moment and lost utter into the night. And the aether of the world to
be full of the trouble of the Peoples, as the Man past me; and afterward
there to be a stirring of glad thankfulness. And truly, alway my spirit
did know strangely as in a dream, that the Millions set their sympathy
and pity and help about me, and did girt me about with Human love and
with encouragement and with uplifted thoughts. Yet, in verity, did all
be as water beside the fierce wine of my love and despair, which did
urge me onward in a natural lacking of all dread, save for Mine Own. And
truly this doth be the way of Love, and shall make fearless the heart of
the weakest. And there to be prayers in the night, and all the aether to
be surged with the spiritual trouble and callings and cryings of the
Millions; so that, indeed, if that my spirit so to hear these things, it
to be conceived that these do pass outward into the Everlasting, and to
break upon the Shore of Eternity in an anguish, even as a visible foam
of supplication.

And surely the unity of love of the Millions did make a natural Force
about me; for, in verity, the Force that did come from the House to seem
to be somewhat eased from the Maid; yet there to be no surety in this;
for all did be desperation and turmoil in my heart, and I to have but
one thought in my brain, that I bring Mine Own swift across the Land
unto the Mighty Pyramid, and so unto the Doctors.

And lo! there stole presently from afar the deep and dreadful baying of
the Hounds; so that I knew we did be surely dead, save that a miracle
should happen. And I askt in my heart in a fierce and mad fashion why
that they did not to rig one of the olden shooting weapons, that they
shoot from the Pyramid, and so to give me some aid in mine extremity.

And behold, even as I did be so bitter, there went afar upward in the
everlasting night, where did shine the Last Light, the sharp flashings
of the Set Speech; and I did warm in my heart a little with hope; for
the Master Monstruwacan did see that I was now all discovered, and there
to be no more use for silence, and did speak straight and helpful unto
me. And I made to read the Set Speech, but mine eyes had been mad and
near blinded with lost hope. But in a moment I saw clear. And behold,
the dear Master Monstruwacan bid me to keep good my courage, for that
they did have made ready three of the olden weapons; and moreover, they
to save me, even if that they have to turn loose the Earth-Current over
the Land. And he commended me with Honour, and that I strive forward yet
a little while; for that an Hundred Thousand Men did be Prepared, and
did even then go downward in their armour by the Lifts.

And surely, as you shall think, my heart eased a little in me, and there
burned somewhat of a hope in my spirit that I yet to bring Mine Own
unto the Doctors, ere it be too late.

And the baying of the Hounds did grow nearer in the night; and there to
grow ever the roarings over the Land; and a sense of Evil and
monstrousness to be abroad in all the night.

And lo! I to have come by this so that the Watcher of the North-East did
be backward upon my left; and I lookt keen and fearful now at the
Monster-Force; and behold, the great bell-ear did quiver continually, so
that I saw the Monster made somewhat known unto all the Land. And the
Monster did look as ever, unto the Pyramid; and did be a great and
silent Hill of Life that did lean toward the Pyramid; and the light from
the Ring came downward upon the monstrous hide, which did be set in vast
folds and wrinkles upon it. And the Monster to know of me; yet never to
move, neither to show life, save that the ear did quiver so horridly.

And I knew that they made some great preparation in the Pyramid for our
defence; for all the night did begin now to shake and to quiver with the
mighty beat of the Earth-Current.




XVI

IN THE COUNTRY OF SILENCE


And lo! I did be come something nigh unto the Mighty Pyramid; and my
great Home went up vast into the everlasting night, as a very Mountain
of sweet Life and Safety, and had surely amazed me afresh with the utter
Bigness of it, only that despair and weariness did have too grim an hold
upon my heart for me to care of aught, save to have Mine Own Maid within
the safe wonder of the huge Refuge. And it did be still afar off from
me.

And I to go forward across the Land with a strong going; and lo! as I
past a hollow place where did burn a fire-hole, there came something out
of the hollow. And the thing gat upward from crawling, and did be a
great and haired Man. And the Man lookt at me, and afterward came unto
me, and did put his hands forward, very eager, as he came. And I did see
the hands plain in the light from the fire-hole, and the hands were
monstrous, and did be armed brutish with horrid claws, so that the Man
should have been able to rip aught, even as a wild beast.

And I put Mine Own very swift to the earth; and surely, I cared not for
life or aught; for this thing did make to delay me, and I to be fierce
with despair that aught should halt me. And lo! I leaped very furious
and with cold anger at the giant; and I smote at the monstrous brute;
but he unto the side in an instant of time, and so escaped the blow. And
he flung forth his monstrous arm out of the half-dark of a shadow that
did be cast by the dance of the fire-hole, and caught my head-piece and
pluckt it from me so strong and brutish that he cast me nigh a dozen
feet on to my back. Yet I was not harmed in the life, but only sore
shaked and bruised; and I to be up in a moment, and came in upon the
giant, and the Diskos did roar and blaze in my hands as I swung the
weapon. And I gat the giant above the middle part, and the Diskos did
glut itself, and went through the giant as that he did be naught, though
so huge and monstrous and girt with strength. And he to have surely
turned his shoulders as he died; for the upper part of the giant-man
went horrid to the earth, and the legs and the trunk stood plain in the
light of the fire-hole, and the blood went upward as a fountain in the
night.

And I made no pause, but leaped unto the Maid, and had her in a moment
to mine arms, and onward again past that dead thing, that did only then
to fall with an horrid sound. And surely the night did be full of an
astonishment and upliftedness of the Millions, so that their spiritual
cryings did go all about me, and did tell me that they had perceived
this thing, and did cast their love and delight unto me, and a vast
excitement to be upon them.

And lo! I scarce to have gone a great mile more, but there came two
vague things out of a dark place, where certain rocks did upstand; and I
smote them with the Diskos, and went onward; but what they did be, I
never to know.

And surely, after that, I did seem to go smiting forever; for there to
come, time and oft, strange things out from the bushes and the rocks, as
that all the Land did be a-crawl with foul and monstrous life, and I to
go smiting, as in a dream, and to speed forward ever with a more fierce
despair; for surely the end of our lives did be come, and I not to be
given power to save Mine Own Maid.

And all the Land did be full of grim and monstrous roarings, and
odd-wise lower sounds, very deadly. And once I did hear the noise of
giants running. And all the night to be Evil. And, in verity, how I did
not be slain by some dread Force, I not to know, unless that I did be
burned free of all weakness that an Evil Power should have chance to
harm me through; for, indeed, I had been dealt a bitter training a
monstrous time.

And lo! there to be again the deep and dreadful baying of the
Night-Hounds unto the South-East, and to be nearer; and I to know now
that no strength of mine should serve to protect Mine Own.

And lo! from the upwardness of the night, where did be the Last Light,
there sudden to come downward a strange blue flash, that smote downward
into the Land unto the South-East. And again the flash to come, and
mayhap a score times after; and there to come down out of the height a
peculiar crackling sound, that did be less than the thunder of this age,
yet more loud than any other sound that you ever to hear. And lo! I knew
that the Humans did begin to fight for me, that I bring Mine Own safe
unto Home.

And behold! it did be as that all the wakefulness of the Land that had
been, did be but as sleep, beside the wakefulness that now to come; for
surely the Night now to seem to rock with the roarings of the Monsters,
and with the be-stirring of Great Forces. And ever there to go over the
Land the yowling of that strange and dreadful Laughter, which did come
from that hid Country in the night of the lost East.

And lo! there arose constant now the hoarse and dreadful bayings of the
Hounds, and made known that a mighty pack did be out. And they to seem
to be no more, maybe, than a good mile unto the South-East; and I to be
all alone, save for the dying Maid that I held in mine arms. And I lookt
vainly and with despair for the Hundred Thousand that did be Prepared,
and had come downward, as you do know, unto mine aid. But truly, there
did be naught to see anywheres, save the strange lights and shadows of
the Land; and the movement of monstrous life in this place and that
place. And the Hounds to come nearer with every moment of time; so that
indeed, I knew that death did be very nigh.

And I ceased not from my stride; but went forward, and did begin to run;
for the Pyramid was not a huge way off in the night; and the shine of
the Circle about it, to be plain seen, save here and there, where it did
be hid strangely. And I to have a despairing hope that I come yet with
Mine Own into the safety of the Circle.

And the baying of the Hounds to come ever the more near; and surely it
did be a doubly hideous bitter thing that I lose My Dear One, so nigh
unto Home; and the great Mountain of my Home to go upward before me into
the night, and to seem so near that surely I did be almost there; but
yet, mayhap, two great miles off, even then. And, behold, I called out
in vain despair and to no end, why that none come to give me aid in this
extremity; for the Hounds did bay now but the half of a great mile, upon
my left, and did surely have scent of me, by the way of their dreadful
baying.

And, truly, the Millions to have an anguish of sympathy for me; for the
spiritual noise of their emotion did be plain unto my spirit; and they
surely to have seen and to have interpreted the way that I did look
about me and appear to call out in despair; for there came all about me
in a moment the companioning of a great and sweet spiritual force, which
did be bred of their quick going with me in their understanding and
love; and they to have perceived how that I did be unto the end of hope;
and the Hounds to be almost upon me.

And in this moment, there came afresh to my hearing the shaking beat of
the Earth-Current; so that I knew the Humans to take desperate means to
save. And there came to my view a vast pack of the Hounds unto my left,
and they came running at a great pace, and their heads did be low, and
they to be so great as horses; and seen plain, and again in shadow, all
in the same moment, as they did come.

And, in verity, I knew that we two to be dead indeed ere a minute be
gone, if that the Humans not to haste. And I stood where I did be; for
there was no more use to run; and I lookt from the Hounds unto the
Mighty Pyramid, and again to the Hounds. And again I lookt with my hope
gone, unto the Pyramid; for the Hounds did be scarce two hundred fathoms
off from me; and there did be hundreds of the mighty beasts. And lo!
even as I lookt that last time unto the Pyramid, there brake out a
monstrous bursting flame, that did rush downward from the Sealed lower
part of the Mighty Pyramid. And the flame smote downward upon the Land
where the Hounds did run, and all the Night to be lost from my sight in
the brightness and strangeness of that mighty flame; so that I saw no
more the Pyramid, or aught; but only the shining and dreadful glory of
that flame. And the Flame made a blast in the Night, and a hotness that
did seem to wither me, even where I did be from it. And I perceived that
the Humans had truly turned loose the Earth-Current upon the Hounds,
that I be saved. And there went a constant great thundering over the
Land, because that the Earth-Force did rend and split the air, and did
tear up the earth. And the roaring of the Monsters did be husht and lost
in that mighty sound; and I to see no place where the Hounds did be; but
only flames and broken lands where the Earth-Force did strike; and great
rocks did be hurled all whithers, with a vast noise; and truly it did be
a mercy that I was not slain an hundred times, if this might be, by the
failings and burstings of great rocks and boulders.

And lo! in a moment the Humans did cut off the Earth-Force, and had it
again to their control. And there to seem now a great silence upon the
Land, and an utter dark; save that flames and noise came from that part
where the Current did strike. And I very speedy to come free of the
dazedness that had me, and made again to my running; for, in truth, it
to seem now that I should yet be let to win unto safety with Mine Own.

And mine eyes did grow presently unto their accustomed using; and I to
look all ways about me, lest there come somewhat upon me even then to
work our deaths. And for a good time there to be naught that I did see
anywheres, neither there to be the wakeful sounds of the Land, save only
the grim and horrid Laughter from afar in the dead East.

And oft as I did run, I to stare hungry hearted upward at the Mighty
Pyramid; and surely it alway now to seem to be less bright than before.
And in the first, I to set this to the count that mine eyes did be yet
dazed by the great Flame of the Earth-Force; but soon I to perceive that
it did be otherwise; and that there did be truly a less brightness of
the light that did shine throughout all the Mighty Redoubt. And this
lack I conceived had owing to that great using of the force and power of
the Earth-Current that had been loosed to save us. And I to have this
new thing cold upon my heart; for, truly, if that the Force of the
Current to be made over low, there to be a danger for all the Humans
that did live, even for all the great Millions of the Mighty Refuge. And
this, did be surely known by the Masters; and they to have no more power
to aid me with the Current, until it flow strong again, lest that they
destroy all the Peoples of the Earth. And all this to be plain to me in
a moment, as I ran; and I to be but the more desperate to come unto
instant safety with the Maid.

And surely, I to be yet in expecting of the Hundred Thousand to come
unto me; but they not to come. And all about me the Land to begin again
to give out the noises of the Monsters; and to send forth new and
peculiar noises, as that there did be more awaked in the Land than did
be ever heard by me before. And presently, I saw that there went living
things, creeping, between me and the light of the Circle. And I to know
that I yet to have to fight bitter, if that I would bring the Maid safe.
And I swung the Diskos free, and ran on.

And sudden my Spirit to know that I did be warned of some new peril; and
I to look upward into the night, that the Master Monstruwacan should
mayhap to tell me the danger, by the Set Speech. But, in truth, there
came not the quick flashings of the Set Speech; but only an upward
stillness, and a dimness of the lights of the Mighty Pyramid. And
afterward, I to learn that the dear Master Monstruwacan made to warn me
of danger; but that all the instruments of the Tower of Observation to
fail to work, and likewise all the machinery of the Pyramid to cease,
even unto the moving of the great lifts, and the moan of the Air Pumps;
and all to have been this way for nigh a great hour, until that the
Earth-Current did flow again more full. And surely, this doth show that
Death did nigh to come unto all the Millions, because of the great trial
that did be made to save us.

But, truly, my spirit did be warned by the trouble of the Millions, and
because the Master Monstruwacan called vaguely with his brain-elements;
so that I went ever more warily, and did look all ways. And lo! sudden
I to stare above me into the night; and there to be a pale circle, very
quiet and steadfast that did go alway over the twain of us. And I saw
that this did be surely one of those sweet Powers of Holiness, that did
stand between our souls and some dread Power that came anigh to work our
Destruction. And I to have no over-fear; but did put my trust in the
Force of Holiness, and went forward, running warily.

And surely, I came mayhap so nigh as to within four hundred paces of the
Circle; and I to think that I yet to win Mine Own safe and undelayed
within the guarding of the Circle. And the light of the Circle did burn
dim; so that I had sudden fear whether that it be any more use for a
Guard, until that the Earth-Current to come more free. And all this as I
ran, swift and wary and utter anxious.

And lo! in that moment in a dim place there rose up three beast-men from
the earth, and came at me, growling. And the first did be so close that
I had no room to the Diskos; but beat in the head of the man with the
haft-part. And I leaped unto the side then, and swung the Diskos, and
did be utter mad, yet chill, with fury; so that the Maid did be no more
than a babe in the crook of mine arm. And I came in sudden to meet the
two beast-men as they ran at me; and I cut quick and light with the
great Weapon, and did have that anger upon me which doth make the heart
a place of cold and deadly intent; so that I had a wondrous and brutal
judgement to the slaying. And, truly, I slew them as that they had been
no more than mice; and I had no harm, neither so much as a touch from
them. And, behold! in that moment there came a great Shout of wonder and
of welcome from within the Circle. And I lookt swiftly, and began again
to run; for there did be men in grey armour all within the Circle; yet
came they not to mine aid.

And lo! in a moment I knew why that the Hundred Thousand did have held
off from me in mine extremity; for, behold! there did be monstrous Black
Mounds all along without of the Circle, and did rock and sway with a
force of strange life that did set an horror into my soul as I ran; for
truly they did be the visible signs of monstrous Forces of Evil. And did
any Human have ventured outward beyond the Circle, then had that man
been Destroyed in the Spirit, and lost utterly; so that none had dared
to come; neither had it been of use if any had made themselves to be a
sacrifice to aid me; for, truly, they to have been of no use, when dead,
as you shall say.

And there came a constant shouting from the Hundred Thousand to me, that
I haste, and indeed to haste. And truly I did haste with all my
strength. And I lookt unto the dear Circle of Holiness that did be above
us twain; and it to go steadfast over us; so that I saw we to be surely
saved.

And lo! I to be no more than an hundred paces now from the glowing of
the Circle. And behold! even in that instant, there must come brutal
things to destroy us; for there came an herd of squat and brutish men
all about me in a moment from the shadows, where they had been hid. And
they caught at me, and caught at the Maid to tear her from mine arm. And
truly, it did be as that they surely to have success; for I could nowise
in a moment free myself, and yet to guard the Maid and to use the
Diskos. And lo! I kickt with my metal boots, and gave from them, and
turned all ways in a moment, and wrenched free; and I leaped back; and
the herd of horrid brutes after me.

And now I to have space for the Diskos, and a grimness in my heart; and
I came round very sudden, and ran in among the men, smiting. And I hit
very swift both from the right and the left, and to and fro with a
constant quick circling. And the Diskos did spin and roar, and made a
strange light upon the faces of the men, and they to have tusks like to
the tusks of pigs. And surely I did rage through them, smiting. And they
to strike me a thousand times with great stones, so that mine armour
rang, and was all fresh burst, and I near to sicken under the blows and
new wounds; but they not to harm the Maid, for I carried her above their
squat and brutish reach.

And the brute-men to seem without end. But I made alway forward unto the
glowing of the Circle; and the night to be full in that place of the
fierce shoutings of the Hundred Thousand; and many--as I did learn--to
have tried to come unto me, but that their comrades held them from so
useless a dying.

And, in verity, I to be now scarce fifty paces from the glowing of the
Circle; and did be nigh to fall; for I did be so utter dazed and wounded
with the fight, and ill with a vast weariness and the despair and
madness of my journey, and moreover, as you do know, I not to have
slept, but to have carried the Maid forever through days and nights, and
to have fought oft.

And lo! the Hundred Thousand stood just within the Circle, and they that
were to the front did swing each man the Diskos; and they hurled each
the Diskos in among the herd of the tuskt men that did make to slay me.
And surely this to save me; for the herd did thin to my front; and I to
gather my strength, and to charge with despair, and to smite and never
be ceased of smiting; so that there did be dead creatures all about. And
behold! I brake through the herd, with Mine Own, and did be upon the
Circle. And lo! I stept over the Circle, that did scarce now to give out
a Resistance; and a thousand hands did come forward to give me help; yet
did none touch me, but gave back from me; for there did be that about me
which held them off, as with a little awe; for I to be strange unto
them.

And I stood there in a great silence, and the Diskos in my hand ran
blood to the haft. And maybe I rockt as I stood; for many again did put
out their hands, as to hold me, and again drew back, and were silent.

And I lookt unto them, and they lookt back at me; and I did gasp
awhile, and was strangely dazed, and did try to tell them that I had
need of the Doctors for the Life of Mine Own Maid, that did be dying in
mine arms. And behold, in that moment, there did be a sound of giants
running, out in the night. And some then to cry out different matters,
to aid me, and to beware of the giants, and to bring the Doctors to
attend me on the instant.

And other voices did call that the Holy Light was gone from above; and
likewise the Black Mounds from the outer part of the Circle. And there
did be a monstrous noise of roarings in the Land, and all to come
bewildered unto my brain, which did surely fail now with the grim and
utter stress which had been mine so long.

And there to be also a constant noise that came from near and from
upward; and truly I to know, as in a dream, that it did be made of the
shouting of the great Millions, that did make an eternal and vague
roaring-sound upward in the night, that did come down from the upper
heights, no more loud than a strange and continual murmuring out of the
lofty miles.

And surely, I to find my voice in a little minute, and did ask a near
man whether there be any Doctors with the men. And in that moment there
came forward a Master of the Diskos, which doth be as a Commander of
this age. And he made the Salute of Honour with the Diskos, and would
have eased the Maid from me; but I to ask again, very slow, whether that
there was a Doctor a-near. And he on the instant to give an order; and
the great thousands to begin to shape, and did make a mighty lane unto
the Great Gateway of the Mighty Pyramid.

And the Master of the Diskos made a sign to certain that did be near;
and they stood about me, as I to know dully, lest I fall; but they not
to touch me; for I did be as that I must not be laid hand upon; for I
did near to choke with despair lest I to have come Home too late; and
surely, also, the men to seem as that I did be strange unto them.

And there went orders swift and constant this way and that; and lo! in a
little while, there came two big men of the Upward Cities, running; and
they had a little man between them upon a sling. And the little man did
be a Master of the Doctors; and he aided me gentle to lay Mine Own Maid
upon the earth. And the Master of the Diskos made a sign, and the men
that did be near, turned each his back; and the Doctor to make
examination for the life of Mine Own.

And there to come about that time a seeming of silence in the land. And
truly the Hundred Thousand did be utter quiet; and a great quiet in the
Mighty Pyramid; for, in truth, all to know, by this, that there to be a
fear that the Maid I did bring out of the night, did be slain by the
Evil Forces.

And sudden the little man that did be the Master Doctor, lookt up quiet
and piteous at me; so that I knew in a moment that Mine Own Maid did be
dead. And he to see that I knew; and he covered the face of Mine Own,
and stood up very speedy; and he called softly to the men that did be to
my back, and he signed to them that some to support me, and some to lift
Mine Own Maid, and bear her unto the Great Gateway. And he lookt keen at
me; and I to fight a little that I breathe; and afterward did make with
my hands, that the men not to come near me, neither to touch Mine Own.
And the Master Doctor to understand that I did be truly strong until I
die, and did beckon the men from me, and from the Maid.

And I stoopt, in a little, and I lifted Mine Own Maid into mine arms for
that last journeying.

And I came down the mighty lane of the Hundred Thousand, all in their
grey armour. And they did make silent salute with the Diskos reversed,
each man as I passed him, and did be utter silent. And I scarce to wot
of aught, save that all the world did be quiet and emptied, and my task
to have failed, and Mine Own to lie dead in mine arms. Yet, truly, did
it to have failed utter? for I had surely saved Mine Own from the terror
of the Second Night Land, and she not to have come alone and with
madness unto her death; but to have died in mine arms; and she surely to
have been comforted within her spirit, because that my love did be so
utter about her. And I to think vaguely and terribly on an hundred sweet
love actions that she to have shown unto me; and sudden I did remember
with a dreadful pain how that I never to have waked to discover Mine Own
Maid kissing me in my sleep, as I to have meant. And a madness of
anguish did flash sudden through the numbness upon my brain; so that I
did be blinded a little, and surely went crooked in my walk; for I to
know, sudden, that the Master Doctor steadied mine elbow for a moment;
but afterward did leave me be, as I to have again control of my spirit.

And lo! as I drew nigh unto the Great Gateway, the lights of the Pyramid
to begin to glow again more strong, and the machinery of the Lifts and
the Air Pumps to work, because that now the Earth-Current did grow once
more to natural strength. And they to have power now to open the Great
Gate, which did be done by great machines.

And there to come forth to meet me a number of the Masters of the Mighty
Pyramid; and the dear Master Monstruwacan did come before them all, so
eager as that he did be mine own Father. And he to have heard somewhat,
vaguely, that there to have been a fear for the life of the maid that I
did bring.

And surely, he did be told by one near to the Gateway, that the Maid did
be dead in mine arms; for he and all the Masters did pause and stand
silent for me to go by, and did reverse each his Diskos; and this to
have been an Honour shown, than which there did be scarce any greater.

And there went a constant murmuring up in the night, which did be the
speech of the Millions, questioning. And the news that the Maid did be
dead, went upward through the miles. And my spirit to know, as in a
dream, of the spiritual noise which did go outward through all space,
and did be the grief of the Multitudes, as they did hear this thing.
Yet, truly, there did nothing comfort me anywise; neither I proper yet
to know the verity of my loss; for I did go stunned.

And I came in through the Great Gateway, and the Full Watch did stand
there silent in their armour; and they made the Salute of Honour. And I
went onward with the dead Maid that I did bring out of Eternity.

And presently, they that were around, did guide me, with the Maid in
mine arms, unto the Great Lift. And I took Mine Own Maid into the Great
Lift; and the Masters came with me, and did be in their armour; and none
did speak to me. And the Master Monstruwacan and the Master of the
Doctors stood silent to the side of me. And there did be everywhere
great Multitudes, that I did see vaguely; but my spirit not to wot of
them.

And lo! I stood very quiet and dumb as we did go upward through the
miles; and the Millions of the Cities stood about the Great Lift, and
there did be a great silence upward and downward through the strange
miles; save for the weeping of women in dear sympathy, that did sound
far and low and constant.

And presently I to know that the Master Monstruwacan and the Master of
the Doctors did look one to the other; and I to be aware sudden that I
stood in my blood; for I did be wounded in an hundred parts, and the
blood to go alway from me. Yet did the Master Doctor be slow to do aught
for me, because that he to perceive that I did be slain in the heart;
and there to be no pain so dreadful as that he should be like to wake me
unto, if that he went hastily.

Yet, presently, there did come whirlings into my head; and someone did
surely make to ease Mine Own Maid from mine arms. But I held her,
dumbly; and the blood to go the more from me; and they not to know what
should be done. And I to look at them. And the dear Master Monstruwacan
did be saying somewhat unto me, that I did have no power to hear; but
only to know that his face did be very human. And there went a strange
noise all about me; and the Master Monstruwacan to seem to hold me up,
and to beckon to some that did be to my back. And lo! there came a
blackness, and the gentleness of arms about mine armour....

And I to come presently to quietness and to half-dreams; and did alway
to seem that I carried Mine Own Maid in mine arms. But truly there did
pass three great days, whilst that I did be thus. And I all that while
to be laid quiet, and to be tended by the Master Doctor, and aided by
all knowledge that did be known of Humans.

And on the third day, as it might be called, I to come full unto my
senses; and the pain to take me in the breast; and the Master of the
Doctors did be with me, and they that nurst me; and the Master Doctor
watched me very keen and gentle.

And I did be in a bed of the Health Room of mine own city. And I gat
from the bed, and the Doctor to say naught; but only to watch me. And I
walkt to and fro a little, and he alway to watch me; and presently he
gave me somewhat to drink; and I drank. And I was gone soon from all
knowledge.

And I to come again unto a knowing that I yet to live; and there went a
certain strength in my body. And lo! the first that I did see, was the
Master of the Doctors; and I to perceive in a moment that he had wakened
me, and had nurst my strength for that moment, that I live through the
Burial. For he to be very wise, and to have known from that first seeing
of me, that I not to live after that Mine Own did die.

And there was brought to me a loose garment; but I to refuse the
garment, dumbly, and did look about me very troubled and forgetting. And
the Master Doctor lookt alway at me; and lo! in a moment he called one,
and gave an order. And there was brought in then my broken armour, and a
garment to wear below. And I then to know that I did be content in this
matter; and the Doctor alway to watch me. And they drest me in my broken
armour.

And surely, as they drest me, my spirit to hear the sorrow and sympathy
of the Multitudes, and did know that they went downward by millions,
unto the Country of Silence.

And lo! in that moment when I near to be in mine armour, I to mind
sudden again that I never to have waked to discover Mine Own Maid
kissing me in my sleep. And the Pain gat me in the breast, so that I had
surely ended then, but that the Master Doctor set somewhat to my breath,
that eased me, and gave something of dullness unto my senses for a
while.

And I did be carried then in a sling unto the Great Lift, and there did
be a bed in the lift, and the Doctor to have me to lie upon the bed; and
I to know that he also to know that I never to need a bed any more;
neither should I ever to come upward again in the Lift.

And truly the Mighty Pyramid did be an emptyness; for there did seem to
be left only the Stress Masters that did arrange the moving of the
Millions. And the Stress Masters did stand about the Lift, as we dropt
downward through the great miles unto the Underground Fields. And we
came downward in the last unto the Country of Silence, which did lie an
hundred miles deep in the world, and did be an hundred miles every way
of Silence unto the Dead.

And they that were with me, gat me from the Lift, and did mean to carry
me in the sling unto The Last Road. But I stood upon my feet, and made
that I should walk, and I held out my hand for the Diskos, which one did
carry. And the Master Doctor signed that they should obey me, as my
spirit to know. And I walkt very steadfast down the Way that did lead
unto The Last Road; and the Master Doctor walkt behind me, a little
space off.

And surely, there did be all the Peoples of the World in that great
Country; and the Peoples did be spread out forever, so far as my seeing
did go; and they to have sight of me; and all the aether did be stirred
with the humanness of their sorrow and their kind sympathy. And there
grew a murmur, which did be like to a low rolling thunder, and did be
the voices of the Peoples. And the rolling of that great husht Sound
went to and fro across that mighty Country of Quiet; and there to be
afterward an utter silence.

And I saw below me the place of the Last Rest, where did be the
beginning of The Last Road; and there did lie there a little figure,
covered with a white robe, that did glimmer with the beauteous work of
women that had stitcht love and honour into that Last Garment. And
surely, I to rock upon my feet, and to steady myself with the Diskos;
and the Master Doctor to be unto my side in a moment, and gave me again
something that I breathe-in. But, indeed, I to refuse, after that I had
taken one breath of the drug; for I to be able to bear my pain the
little time that I now to have to live; and I to mean that I have no
dimness of my senses for those short minutes that I should have yet near
unto Mine Own. And truly the Master Doctor did not press me anywise, but
had a perfect understanding, and went quiet again to the rearward.

And I came soon to that place where Mine Own Dead One did lie; and the
Master Monstruwacan stood to her feet, and did be clothed in grey
armour, and had the Diskos reversed; and this to be for an Honour unto
My Dead Maid.

And there kneeled two maids in white, one to the right and one to the
left of Mine Own, and they to be for Faithfulness, and did be maids,
because that they watched by a maid; and had likewise been matrons, if
that the Dead had been wife unto any.

And the place at the Head of the Last Rest did be empty, and did be for
me; and he that stood to the head, did be for Love; for it did be the
chief, and did hold dominion over and did make to live both Faithfulness
and Honour. And this to be the way of the Burial alway.

And lo! I took my courage into my heart; and I stood to the head of Mine
Own Maid; and I lookt down upon the wondrous white glory of the garment,
which did be white because that Mine Own did be a Maid; yet did be
worked with yellow Flowers of Weeping, as we did call them, because that
she had died in love. And I to know that no hand had toucht that
wonderful garment, save the hands of maidens.

And behold! as I stood there, from far away over the Land, there did
come a far and faint sound; and the sound did come more nigh, so that I
knew that afar off, beyond the Hills of the Babes, the Millions did
begin to sing the Calling Song, where Million did call husht unto
Million, and the sound did come onward toward where we did be, and did
go over us, and pass onward in a husht and wondrous breathing of sound,
as that all the Love that did be ever in this world, did call in a low
anguish unto a lost Beloved. And the sound to pass away and away over
that mighty Country in the deep Earth, and did hush and hush unto a
great and utter silence, save for a faint murmur of countless women
weeping, that did be in the air of that Land of Quiet.

And there to be a space of silence, and again the silence to be broken
by a far sound; and there to come again from beyond the far Hills of the
Babes a strange and low sound, and did be as of a wind wandering through
damp forests. And the sound grew, and came across the Hills of the
Babes, and did be breathed forth by Million after Million, so that in a
little I to hear the Song of Weeping sung very low and sorrowful by the
multitudes. And the Song came onward over all that great Country, and
past over us, and went onward into the far Land beyond the Dome, and did
be caught by the voices of Millions that did be hid in great distances,
and so to go onward forever, and to die at last unto a mighty silence.

And the Master Monstruwacan lookt at me from the feet of Mine Own Maid,
and I to know that the moment did be come when I to part from the Maid
Naani forever and forever, even though I to live in some strange future,
and to find her soul in some other sweet child. And I stoopt and laid
the Diskos beside Mine Own Maid there upon the Last Rest; and the two
maids drew back the light wonder of the Garment, and showed me the face
of Mine Own, and she to sleep there forever so sweet and husht as a
child, and as oft I to have seen her to sleep. And I lookt a little
while, and the pain of my heart did be sufficient, so that I knew I died
as I lookt. And once more I lookt, and I set my soul about Mine Own. And
I fought with myself, and stood upward, and the maids did cover the face
of Mine Own Maid.

And the Master Monstruwacan commended Naani unto Eternity. And he raised
the Diskos reversed; and lo! the Road did begin to move upward unto the
Dome, and Mine Own Maid did be upon the Road; and I to fight that I keep
breathing; so that I not to die before she be lost utter to my sight.

And there did rise now a sound from all that Country that had no order
in it; and did be like to a low moaning that did fill all the air of
the Land; and there to be also a constant sound, as of a little
whistling dree wind that did be in all that Country of Quiet; and truly
this to be more than any singing; for it to be the true weeping of
multitudes, that did sorrow from the heart, with the grief of this thing
that did be.

And I stood utter still, and did draw my breath very even, and lookt
unto that small form that did be now afar off where it did lie upon the
moving Roadway. And I gazed, as that my soul and all my being did have
no power else, even as a man that dies, doth set all his strength to a
last movement. And I not to wot that the Master Monstruwacan and the two
maids did hold me up, because they to perceive that I did be dying; for
I only to see Mine Own Little One lying afar off upon the moving of the
Last Road.

And the Maid in that moment to come to the place where the Road did pass
into the strange and luminous vapour of the Earth-Current, which did lie
all about the base of the Dome; and the vapour to be only as a faint
shining smoke, scarce seen, yet to be enough to give something of
uncertainty to the Dead, when that they did have past inward of it.

And I stared, with all that did be left of my strength; for Mine Own to
be gone utter and forever in but a little minute. And the uncertainty of
the luminous vapour did cling about her, and to make her to seem unreal
to my gaze; for the vapour did be in constant movement, and to give a
seeming of shifting to and fro of all that did be in it.

And behold! as I did stare, with my dreadful pain, there did be sudden a
strange hoarse noise from the nearer Millions. And lo! in an instant
there came a mighty Shout out of all that Country; and the shout did be
made again, and did grow into a mighty hoarse roaring from the Millions,
so that all that great Country did be filled with the monstrous sound.
And, in verity, I to have seen the thing, likewise; but to have set it
to the madness of longing of my heart and to that desperate and dreadful
pain which did make me to be crazed and lost from all sane thinking.

And the thing that I did see, had been that the Maid did seem to move,
there upon the Last Road, where she did lie; but indeed, this to have
appeared only to be the stirring of the luminous vapour of the
Earth-Current, which did seem to make things shift, as I have told.

And lo! I now to see truly that the Maid did move where she was laid
afar off upon the Road; and I now to know, and to believe that she did
indeed live. And my life came into me with a bounding; yet did my heart
seem to be a moment stilled in my breast. And the Master Monstruwacan to
have signed already that the Roadway be stopt, and brought backward; but
I to be now upon the Last Road, and did run as a madman, shouting vainly
upon the name of Mine Own. And I to learn afterward that there to have
been a dreadful peril that all the near Millions to rush toward the Last
Road, and so, mayhap, to have caused the death of many, and to have
been like to have crusht Mine Own. But this danger to have been eased,
because that the Watch Master did act very prompt, and set the great
regiments of his men to keep back the Millions, and did send a signal
abroad over all the Country, that there to be calmness, for that the
Maid should be succoured. And alway, whilst this to be, I did run
staggering most strangely upward of the Last Road; and surely that great
roof did ring and boom with the constant and mighty shoutings of the
Millions.

And there did run others also along the Road, to my back; but I to have
been the first, and to make a good speed, though I did stagger and rock
so strange upon my feet; and the Road alway to be moving backward under
me; and so I to be come wonderful soon unto where the Maid did be. And
she to be upon her back, and to have pusht the Garment from her face,
and did be lying with her eyes open, and a look of gentle wonderment
upon her dear face. And she then to see me, and her eyes did smile at
me, very glad and quiet; for there to be yet an utter weakness upon her.

And lo! I came with a falling beside her, and I gat upon my knees and
upon my hands, and my heart did shake my lips to dry whisperings. And
she to look weak and steadfast unto me, and I to look forever at her;
and I did alway try to say things unto her; but my mouth to refuse me.

And understanding did come into her, as a light; and she to know in that
instant that she to be truly come into the Mighty Pyramid, and I to have
gat her there somewise; and she to wake sudden in her body, and set her
hands forth all a-trembling from the Garment, and in dreadful trouble.
And I to see then that the blood did go from me, constant; and the Maid
to have perceived this thing, so that she was waked the more proper in a
moment from her death-swoon.

And surely, I did bleed very dreadful; for all my wounds did be opened
with my running. And I to have sudden power with my lips, and did say
unto her, very simple, that I loved her. And she to be all in an haze
from me; and I to know that she to have come likewise unto her knees,
and did have my head upon her breast; and there to be an utter shaking
of the air with some great sound, and a mighty spiritual stirring of the
aether of the world.

And there to be then the voice of the Master Monstruwacan very dull in
mine ears; and the low voice of the Master Doctor; but I never to hear
what they did be saying; and did know only that Mine Own Maid did live;
and I not to mean to die, but to fight unto living. And even whilst that
I made this resolving, I was gone into an utter blackness.




XVII

THE LOVE DAYS


Now, when that I gat back unto life, I to know that I went upward in the
Lift, and did be upon that same bed, where I to think I never to need a
bed any more, neither to come upward again from out of the Country of
Silence.

And I to know vague and strange, that there rose up from out of the
mighty depths of the world, the deep thunder of the Underground Organs,
and did sound as that they made a strange and utter distant music beyond
death; and there to go alway a rolling chaunting, as that multitudes did
sing beyond far mountains, and the sound to be somewhiles as a
far-blowing wind, low in the Deep; and again to come clear, and to be
that great olden melody of the Song of Honour. And I knew, as in a
dream, that the Millions in that deep Country made an Honour and a
Rejoicing over this Wonder of Joy which did be come. But yet all to be
faint and half hid from me, and mine eyes to be as that they had no
power to open, and I to seem to be lifting alway upon strange waters of
unrealness. And there to be sweet and lovely odours, and these to be of
reality, and to come from the great Fields, where the flowers did alway
to grow about the passage ways of the Lifts; for the Lift even then to
be going upward through the great miles.

And mayhap I moved a little; for there came the voice of the Master
Doctor low and gentle to me; and bid me rest; for that all did be well
with the Maid. And surely, afterward, I did be gone into an haze, and
there to be then a seeming of days in which I half to live and half to
sleep, and to wonder without trouble whether I did be dead.

And then there to come days when I lay very quiet, and had no thought of
aught; and the Master Doctor oft to bend over me in this hour and that
hour, and to look keen into my face. And in the end, after strange
spaces, there bent over me another, and there lookt down upon me the
dear and lovely face of Mine Own, and the eyes did speak love into my
soul; yet did she be calm and husht. And I to begin again to live in my
body, and I made, mayhap, a little fumbling with my hands; for she to
take and to hold them; and life to come from her to me; and she to be
ever wordless and gentle; and contentment to grow in me, and presently a
natural slumber.

And there came a day when I did be let rise, and they that tended me,
carried me to one of the Quiet Gardens of the Pyramid; and they set me
there, and did seem to leave me alone. And there came One then around a
bush, and lookt at me a moment, as with an half shyness; only that the
love that did shine in her eyes, made the shyness to be a little thing.
And, truly, I knew that it did be Mine Own Maid; but I never before to
have seen Naani drest pretty as a maid. And I lookt to her, and knew
that she did be more dainty than even I to have known. And sudden I made
that I rise to come unto her; but she to run quick to me, that she stop
me of this natural foolishness; and she then to sit beside me, and to
take my head against her breast, and she not to deny me her lips; but to
be both a maid and a mother to me in the same moment.

And afterward, she had me to be very still; and we to sit there in an
utter dumb happiness, until they that did attend me, were come again.
And the Master of the Doctors did be with them, and I to see that there
went something of satisfaction in his face.

And after that day I saw Mine Own Maid every day; and I gat better unto
health with a wondrous quickness; for Love did mend me. And soon I did
be let go downward unto the Fields; but yet to go by private ways,
because that the Multitudes should be like to follow me alway; and I to
need to be quiet.

And the Maid to be with me; for the Master Monstruwacan and the Master
of the Doctors did agree upon this matter, and had an Officer of
Marriage to wed us; and we to be married very quiet and simple; for I
yet to be over-weak for the Public Marriage, which we to have later;
when, truly, the Millions made us a Guard of Honour eight miles high,
from the top unto the bottom of the Mighty Pyramid. But this to have
been later, as I do tell, and did be a Ceremonial of the Peoples,
because that they not to be denied that they give me an Honour.

And surely the Maid to be with me alway, and did be now my wife, and my
strength to come alway upon me, and Mine Own to grow again unto a
perfect health. And, in verity, we did be now in the Love Days which do
be the most beauteous, if that the Love to be True.

And we did wander through the mighty Fields at our will, and walkt in
the Love Paths of the Fields, which did be alway anear to those places
where did be the villages. And I to hide our name, lest we to be beset
by any, out of natural curiousness and kindliness; for we to need to be
utter together and quiet.

And we to chose those places for our slumber where beauty of flowers did
be most wondrous; and we to carry somewhat of food with us; but also to
eat when we came unto the villages which did be here and there in the
Fields, which were truly so huge as Countries. And Mine Own did make
good her promise an hundred times, as you shall say, and did prepare me
a great and hearty meal; and did tease me utter that I did be a glutton,
as I did eat, and kist me, lest that I have ever a chance to say aught
in mine own defence. And truly, she did be all that my heart and my
spirit did desire; and she to have companioned me with Love, and to have
entered my spirit into Joy.

And once we to go downward unto the Country of Silence; but not to stay
very long at that time; because that my Memory did return upon me. Yet
in the after time, we to wander there oft with Memory, and Holiness of
great Thinkings, and with Love which doth hold all.

And as we to leave that Country, I to tell Mine Own how that when she
had been suspend of her life by the Horrid Force of the House, I to have
minded me with a dreadful pain that I never to have waked to discover
her kissing me when that I did sleep. And surely Mine Own Dear One did
blush most lovely, and had never known that I did be aware of her sweet
naughtiness; and she then to have all thought for mine agony, when that
she did be dead, ere the Vapour of life of the Earth-Force did set her
spirit free of the Silence.

And she to come unto me in dear understanding.

And she then to tell me that the Doctors to say that she had been, as it
were, stunned and froze of the Spirit, and all her Being and Life
suspend; and the great life-force of the Earth-Current to have waked her
spirit, and her body then to live and her blood to flow proper again.
And the Doctors had talkt much and searched much of late in the olden
Records of their Work; and they to have found somewhat of one such
happening in the olden time; but truly, naught such to have been ever
through a mighty age of years.

And whilst that we to wander and to rest in the Fields, I oft to tell
Mine Own of this matter and that matter; and I to know that she had
learned somewhat of odd things, ere I did be come to health; but not
overmuch; for she also to have been utter alack, as you shall think; and
to have come from her bed, when that I did lie so still; for the Master
Doctor to have ordained this, because he to fear that I to be going
truly to die, if that he not to do somewhat to awaken my spirit. And in
verity, you shall think upon the deepness of my Love as I to know that
she did have held my hands so brave and gentle, whilst that she to have
scarce power to her feet. And I to say a little holy praise of Mine Own.

And so do I come to mine ending; and have but one more thing that I
tell. And this to happen a while later; after that Mine Own and I had
gone through the second marriage which did be the Public Marriage. For
it did be, that one day My Wife, that did be Mine Own, did take me with
a sweet cunning unto the Hall of Honour. And surely, when I was come
there, I to see that many of the Peoples did be in that great Hall, and
did stand about in a silence; yet as that they had no meaning to do
aught; but yet to be that they did wait upon somewhat.

And My Wife did go forward with me unto the centre place of the Hall;
and sudden I saw why that she did bring me so cunning sweet; for there
did stand in the midst of the Hall of Honour, in the Place of Honour, a
Statue of a man in broken armour, that did carry a maid forever.

And I did be dumb; and how of this Age shall you to know the Honour that
this to mean in that; for it did be an Honour that was given only to the
Great Dead; and I to be but a young man, and did be so utter far off
from greatness; save that I to love with all my heart and with all my
spirit, and therefore death to be but a little thing before love. And
you to know how Love doth make sweet and brave the heart; and to have
understanding with me in my humbleness and my wonder and my natural
pride that there did any so think to honour me.

And Mine Own did be weeping with joy and honest pride of her man, beside
me. And there to be an utter silence of dear sympathy in all the great
Hall of Honour. And they that did be there, to let me go in quietness,
with Mine Own, which did be a lovely thing of understanding.

And I to go loving and thoughtful with Mine Own Wife; and she to be very
nigh to me.

And I to have gained Honour; yet to have learned that Honour doth be but
as the ash of Life, if that you not to have Love. And I to have Love.
And to have Love is to have all; for that which doth be _truly_ LOVE
doth mother Honour and Faithfulness; and they three to build the House
of Joy.