fs on the opposite side.

To Maskull's mind, however, even more wonderful than this unnatural
phenomenon was the absence of shadows, which was more noticeable here
than on the open plain. It made the place look like a hall of phantoms.

Corpang, without delay, led the way along the shelf to the left. When
they had walked about a mile, the gulf widened to two hundred feet.
Three large rocks loomed up on the ledge opposite; they resembled three
upright giants, standing motionless side by side on the extreme edge of
the chasm. Corpang and Maskull drew nearer, and then Maskull saw that
they were statues. Each was about thirty feet high, and the workmanship
was of the rudest. They represented naked men, but the limbs and
trunks had been barely chipped into shape--the faces alone had had care
bestowed on them, and even these faces were merely generalised. It was
obviously the work of primitive artists. The statues stood erect with
knees closed and arms hanging straight down their sides. All three were
exactly alike.

As soon as they were directly opposite, Corpang halted.

"Is this a representation of your three Beings?" asked Maskull, awed by
the spectacle in spite of his constitutional audacity.

"Ask no questions, but kneel," replied Corpang. He dropped onto his own
knees, but Maskull remained standing.

Corpang covered his eyes with one hand, and prayed silently. After a
few minutes the light sensibly faded. Then Maskull knelt as well, but he
continued looking.

It grew darker and darker, until all was like the blackest night. Sight
and sound no longer existed; he was alone with his own spirit.

Then one of the three Colossi came slowly into sight again. But it had
ceased to be a statue--it was a living person. Out of the blackness of
space a gigantic head and chest emerged, illuminated by a mystic, rosy
glow, like a mountain peak bathed by the rising sun. As the light grew
stronger Maskull saw that the flesh was translucent and that the glow
came from within. The limbs of the apparition were wreathed in mist.

Before long the features of the face stood out distinctly. It was that
of a beardless youth of twenty years. It possessed the beauty of a girl
and the daring force of a man; it bore a mocking, cryptic smile. Maskull
felt the fresh, mysterious thrill of mingled pain and rapture of one
who awakes from a deep sleep in midwinter and sees the gleaming, dark,
delicate colours of the half-dawn. The vision smiled,