off from the staircase by rough wooden planking; it was rudely
furnished and contained nothing of astronomical interest. The
lantern was resting on a table.

Maskull walked in and looked around him with curiosity. "Are we at
the top?"

"Except for the platform over our heads," replied Krag.

"Why didn't that lowest window magnify, as it did earlier in the
evening?"

"Oh, you missed your opportunity," said Krag, grinning. "If you had
finished your climb then, you would have seen heart-expanding
sights. From the fifth window, for example, you would have seen
Tormance like a continent in relief; from the sixth you would have
seen it like a landscape.... But now there's no need."

"Why not--and what has need got to do with it?"

"Things are changed, my friend, since that wound of yours. For the
same reason that you have now been able to mount the stairs, there
was no necessity to stop and gape at illusions en route."

"Very well," said Maskull, not quite understanding what he meant.
"But is this Surtur's den?"

"He has spent time here."

"I wish you would describe this mysterious individual, Krag. We may