He said,
"Kohen." This, however, I afterward found was not a name, but a title.
The "Kohen" did not remain long, for the light was painful. After his
departure I was alone for some time, and at length Almah made her
appearance. I sprang to meet her, full of joy, and took her hand in
both of mine and pressed it warmly. She smiled, and appeared quite
free from the melancholy of the previous day.

We ate our breakfast together, after which we went out into the world
of light, groping our way along through the dark passages amid the
busy crowd. Almah could see better than I in the darkness; but she was
far from seeing well, and did not move with that easy step and perfect
certainty which all the others showed. Like me, she was a child of
light, and the darkness was distressing to her. As we went on we were
seen by all, but were apparently not considered prisoners. On the
contrary, all looked at us with the deepest respect, and bowed low
or moved aside, and occasionally made little offerings of fruit or
flowers to one or the other of us. It seemed to me that we were
treated with equal distinction; and if Almah was their queen, I, their
guest, was regarded with equal honor. Whatever her rank might be,
however, she was to all appearance the most absolute mistress of
her own actions, and moved about among all these people with the
independence and dignity of some person of exalted rank.

At length we emerged into the open air. Here the contrast to the
cavern gloom inside gave to the outer world unusual brightness and
splendor, so that even under the heavy overarching tree-ferns, which
had seemed so dark when I was here before, it now appeared light and
cheerful. Almah turned to the right, and we walked along the terrace.
But few people were visible. They shrank from the light, and kept
themselves in the caverns. Then after a few steps we came to the base
of a tall half-pyramid, the summit of which was above the tops of the
trees. I pointed to this, as though I wished to go up. Almah hesitated
for a moment, and seemed to shrink back, but at length, overcoming her
reluctance, began the ascent. A flight of stony steps led up. On
reaching the top, I found it about thirty feet long by fifteen wide,
with a high stone table in the middle. At that moment, however, I
scarce noticed the pyramid summit, and I only describe it now because
I was fated before long to see it with different feelings. What I then
noticed was the vast and wond