a heavy door fastened with large iron bolts. Before opening
it the strange old man placed the lamp upon a table and
turning around looked squarely into my face. Merciful
Heaven! It was the face of another man who was looking at me
now! The deep lines had almost disappeared and the eyes
looked brighter and more intelligent. No, it was the same
face, for while my eyes were eagerly scanning it that
hideous grin began to deepen its wrinkles, and its owner,
taking half a dozen steps down the passageway, made an
awkward motion with both hands as if trying to indicate that
I was to follow him very closely. Then he opened the big
door and I was surprised to observe that it led into the
outer air. What gulf of darkness are we about to plunge
into? I asked myself, peering through the doorway; and as we
stepped out I heard again that ominous whirring. Close upon
his heels I followed in a narrow path, through what seemed
to be a large courtyard, overgrown with thick grass.
Presently he stopped, and, taking a bunch of keys from his
pocket, unlocked a door in a back wing of the house.
Reaching out until his hand touched me, as if to make sure
that I was there, he swung the door open and we stepped into
a dimly lighted apartment. My mysterious guide turned up the
wick of a lamp that was burning on a table in the centre of
the room. It was a library, with great shelves of books
reaching from floor to ceiling along its walls. A large
galvanic battery, globes, charts and other contrivances that
belong to the equipment of a scholar surrounded the table.
This table was used for writing evidently, for there were
pens lying on it and a human skull used as an inkstand, the
fluid being held in the cavities of the eyes. I had seated