At length we halted, and I looked all around me, but was unable to
perceive a single object.

"Where are we?" I enquired; "in the realms of Chaos and Old Night?"

"You are now in the centre of the Universe," replied Gazen; "or, to
speak more correctly, at a point in space overlooking the solar system."

"Well, I can't see it," said I. "Have you got such a thing as a match
about you?"

"Let there be light!" responded Gazen in a reverent manner, and
instantly a soft, weird radiance was over all. The contrast of that
sudden illumination with the preceding darkness was electrical in more
senses than one, and I could not repress a cry of genuine admiration.

A kind of twilight still reigned, and after the first moment of
surprise, I perceived that we were standing on a light metal gangway in
the middle of a great hollow cell of a luminous black or dark blue
colour, relieved by innumerable bright points, and resembling the night
sky in miniature.

"I need hardly say that is a model of the celestial sphere," whispered
Gazen, indicating the starry vault.

"It is a wonderful imitation," I responded, my awestruck eyes wandering
over the mysterious tracts of the Milky Way and the familiar
constellations of the mimic heavens. "May I ask how it is done--how you
produce that impression of infinite distance?"