up the steps and turned:

"Behold Med, adon," he said modestly, as if he had at that moment
stirred it up in a sauce-pan and baked it before their astonished
eyes.

They were standing at the top of an immense flight of steps
extending as far to right and left as they could see, and leading
down by easy stages and wide landings to the white-paved city
itself. The clear light flooded the scene--lucid, vivid,
many-peopled. Far as the eye could see, broad streets extended,
lined with structures rivaling in splendour and beauty those
unforgotten "topless towers." Temples, palaces, and public buildings
rose, storey upon storey, built of hewn stones of great size; and
noble arches faced an open square before a temple of colossal
masonry crowning an eminence in the centre of the city. Directly in
line with this eminence rose the mountain upon whose summit stood
the far-seen pillars where burned the solitary light.

If an enchanted city had risen from the waves because some one had
chanced to speak the right word, it could have been no more
bewildering; and yet the look of this city was so substantial, so
adapted to all commonplace needs, so essentially the scene of
every-day activity and purpose, that dozens of towns of petty
European principalities seem far less actual and practicable homes
of men. Busy citizens hurrying, the bark of a dog, the mere tone of
a temple bell spoke the ordinary occupations of all the world; and
upon the chief street the moon looked down as tranquilly as if the
causeway were a continuation of Fifth Avenue.

But it was as if the spirit of adventure in St. George had suddenly
turned and questioned him, saying:

"What of Olivia?"

For Olivia gone to a far-away island to find her father was subject
of sufficient anxiety; but Olivia in the power of a pretender who
might have at command such undreamed resources was more than cool
reason could comprehend. That was the principal impression that Med,
the King's City, made upon St. George.

"To the right, adon," Jarvo was saying, "where the walls are
highest--that is the palace of the prince, the Palace of the
Litany."

"And the king's palace?" St. George asked eagerly.

Jarvo lifted his face to the solitary summit light upon the
mountain.

"But how does one ascend?" cried St. George.

"By permission of Prince Tabnit," replied Jarvo, "one is borne up
by six imperial carriers, trained in the service from birth. One
attempting the ascent alone