the house, I paused in wonderment at the strange world into which I was
about to plunge. All landmarks were gone, nothing but silver and gray
left of nature's brilliant tints, not even so much shadow as an artist
might use to accentuate a bird's wing in crayon--no heaven above, no
earth beneath. The interior of a raised biscuit could not have been
more densely uniform than the atmosphere. It seemed as if the world
had slipped its moorings and drifted off its course into companionless
space, leaving me behind, as an ocean steamer sometimes leaves a
straggler on an uninhabited shore. I felt like sending forth a call
that should give my bearings and bring back a boat to the rescue. I
groped my way down the steps, and, following an intuition, sought the
station. Ahead of me I heard muffled steps, yet saw no form. But
suddenly a doorway opened in the east and out strode the sun. In the
air above and about me, behold, the wonder of diamond domes and slender
minarets traced in pearl! The wayside banks were fringed with crystal
spray of downbeaten weed and bush that sparkled like the billows of a
sunlit sea. The tall elms here and there towered like the masts of
returning ships, slow sailing from a wintry voyage back to summer lands
and splendor. There was no sound in all the air, but the whole
universe seemed singing as when the morning stars chorused the glory of
God. More and more widely opened that doorway in the east; step by
step advanced the great magician, and over all the world the splendor
grew, until it seemed too much for mortal eyes to bear, when lo! a
touch dispelled it all and commonplace day stood revealed.




VI.