_III_

THE HOUSE IN THE ARENA

And so, after a time, I came to the mountains. Then, the course of my
journey was altered, and I began to move along their bases, until, all
at once, I saw that I had come opposite to a vast rift, opening into the
mountains. Through this, I was borne, moving at no great speed. On
either side of me, huge, scarped walls of rocklike substance rose sheer.
Far overhead, I discerned a thin ribbon of red, where the mouth of the
chasm opened, among inaccessible peaks. Within, was gloom, deep and
somber, and chilly silence. For a while, I went onward steadily, and
then, at last, I saw, ahead, a deep, red glow, that told me I was near
upon the further opening of the gorge.

A minute came and went, and I was at the exit of the chasm, staring out
upon an enormous amphitheatre of mountains. Yet, of the mountains, and
the terrible grandeur of the place, I recked nothing; for I was
confounded with amazement to behold, at a distance of several miles and
occupying the center of the arena, a stupendous structure built
apparently of green jade. Yet, in itself, it was not the discovery of
the building that had so astonished me; but the fact, which became every
moment more apparent, that in no particular, save in color and its
enormous size, did the lonely structure vary from this house in which
I live.

For a while, I continued to stare, fixedly. Even then, I could scarcely