mroth, "that we have been refreshed by the sight of
this guileless place, and as our time is running short, I am going to
show you something very serious indeed. In fact, before I show it you I
must remind you carefully of one thing which I shall beg you to keep in
mind. There is nothing either cruel or hopeless here; all is implacably
just and entirely merciful. Whatever a soul needs, that it receives; and
it receives nothing that is vindictive or harsh. The ideas of punishment
on earth are hopelessly confused; we do not know whether we are
revenging ourselves for wrongs done to us, or safeguarding society, or
deterring would-be offenders, or trying to amend and uplift the
criminal. We end, as a rule, by making every one concerned, whether
punisher or punished, worse. We encourage each other in vindictiveness
and hypocrisy, we cow and brutalise the transgressor. We rescue no one,
we amend nothing. And yet we cannot read the clear signs of all this.
The milder our methods of punishment become, the less crime is there to
punish. But instead of being at once kind and severe, which is perfectly
possible, we are both cruel and sentimental. Now, there is no such thing
as sentiment here, just as there is no cruelty. There is emotion in full
measure, and severity in full measure; no one is either pettishly
frightened or mildly forgiven; and the joy that awaits us is all the
more worth having, because it cannot be rashly enjoyed or reached by any
short cuts; but do not forget, in what you now see, that the end is
joy."

He spoke so solemnly that I was conscious of overmastering curiosity,
not unmixed with awe. Again the way was abbreviated. Amroth took me by
the hand and bade me close my eyes. The breeze beat upon my face for a
moment. When I opened my eyes, we were on a bare hillside, full of
stones, in a kind of grey and chilly haze which filled the air. Just
ahead of us were some rough enclosures of stone, overlooked by a sort of
tower. They were like the big sheepfolds which I have seen on northern
wolds, into which the sheep of a whole hillside can be driven for
shelter. We went round the wall, which was high and strong, and came to
the entrance of the tower, the door of which stood open. There seemed to
be no one about, no sign of life; the only sound a curious wailing note,
which came at intervals from one of the enclosures, like the crying of a
prisoned beast. We went up into the tower; the staircase ended in a bare
roo