"What is the matter, Henry?" exclaimed Delancy.
"O nothing, nothing," was the reply, and they were resuming their tacit thinking, when a voice was heard outside the cavern which broke strangely upon the desolate silence of that land which for thousands of years had heard no sound save the howling of the wind through the forest, the echoing of the thunder among mountains or the solitary murmuring of the river if we except the presence of O'Donell and Delancy.
"Listen!" cried Alexander, "listen! What is that?"
"It is the sound of a man's voice," replied Henry and then snatching up a burning torch, he rushed to the mouth of the cave followed by Delancy.
When they had got there they saw the figure of a very old man, sitting on the damp wet ground moaning and complaining bitterly. They went up to him.
At their approach he rose and said, "Are you human or supernatural beings?"
They assured him that they were human. He went on, "Then why have you taken up your abode in this land of the grave?"
O'Donell answered that he would relate to him all the particulars, if he would he would take shelter for the night with them. The old man consented and when they were all assembled round the cheerful fire, O'Donell fulfilled his promise and then requested the old man to tell them how he came to be travelling there. He complied and began as follows —
CHAPTER THE IV
"I was the son of a respectable merchant in Moussoul. My father intended to bring me up to his own trade but I was idle and did not like it. One day as I was playing in the street a very old man came up to me and asked me if I would go with him. I asked him where he was going. He replied that if I would go with him he would show me very wonderful things. This raised my curiosity and I consented. He immediately took me by the hand and hurried me out of the city of Moussoul so quickly that my breath was almost stopped and it seemed as if we glided along in the air for I could hear no sound of our footsteps. We continued on our course for a long time till we came to a glen surrounded by very high mountains. How we passed over those mountains, I could never tell. In the middle of the glen there was a small fountain of very clear water. My conductor directed me to drink of it. This I did and immediately I found myself in a palace, the glory of which far exceeds any description which I can give: the tall stately pillars reaching from heaven to earth were formed of the finest and purest diamonds, the pavement sparkling with gold and precious stones and the mighty dome, made solemn and awful by its stupendous magnitude, was of a single emerald. In the midst of this grand and magnificent palace was a lamp like the sun, the radiance of which made all the palace to flash and glitter with an almost fearful grandeur, the ruby sent a stream forth of crimson light, the topaz gold, the sapphire intensest purple, and the dome poured a flood of deep clear splendour which overcame all the other gaudy lights by its mild triumphant glory. In this palace were thousands and tens of thousands of fairies and genii, some of whom flitted lightly among the blazing lamps to the sound of unearthly music which died and swelled in a strain of wild grandeur suited to the words they sung —
in this fairy land of light
no mortal ere has been
and the dreadful grandeur of this sight
by them hath not been seen
'twould strike them shuddering to the earth
like the flash from a thunder cloud
it would quench their light and joyous mirth
and fit them for the shroud
the rising of our palaces
like visions of the deep
and the glory of their structure
no mortal voice can speak
the music of our songs
and our mighty trumpets' swell
and the sounding of our silver harps
no mortal tongue can tell
of us they know but little
save when the storm doth rise
and the mighty waves are tossing
against the arched skies
then oft they see us striding
o'er the billows' snow white foam
or hear us speak in thunder
when we stand in grandeur lone
on the darkest of the mighty clouds
which veil the pearly moon
around us lightning flashing
night's blackness to illume
chorus the music of our songs
and our mighty trumpets' swell
and the sounding of our silver
harp no mortal tongue can tell.
When they had finished, there was a dead silence for about half an hour and then the palace began slowly and gradually to vanish till it disappeared entirely and I found myself in the glen surrounded by high mountains, the fountain illuminated by the cold light of the moon springing up in the middle of the valley, and standing close by was the old man who had conducted me to this enchanted place. He turned round and I could see that his countenance had an expression of strange severity which I had not before observed. "Follow me," he said. I obeyed and we began to ascend the mountain. It would be needless to trouble you with a repetition of all my adventures. Suffice it to say that after two months time, we arrived at a large temple. We entered it. The interior as well as the outside had a very gloomy and ominous aspect being entirely built of black marble. The old man suddenly seized me and dragged me to an altar at the upper end of the temple, then, forcing me down on my knees, he made me swear that I would be his servant forever and this promise I faithfully kept notwithstanding the dreadful scenes of magic of which every day of my life I was forced to be a witness. One day he told me that he would discharge me from the oath I had taken and commanded me to leave his service. I obeyed and, after wandering about the world for many years, I one evening laid myself down on a little bank by the roadside intending to pass the night there. Suddenly I felt myself raised in the air by invisible hands. In a short time I lost sight of the earth and continued on my course through the clouds till I became insensible and when I recovered from my swoon, I found myself lying outside this cave. What may be my future destiny I know not – "