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.