unded by a great waste of
loneliness. The place was lit with a gloomy twilight that gave an
impression of indescribable desolation.

Afar to my right, within the sky, there burnt a gigantic ring of
dull-red fire, from the outer edge of which were projected huge,
writhing flames, darted and jagged. The interior of this ring was
black, black as the gloom of the outer night. I comprehended, at once,
that it was from this extraordinary sun that the place derived its
doleful light.

From that strange source of light, I glanced down again to my
surroundings. Everywhere I looked, I saw nothing but the same flat
weariness of interminable plain. Nowhere could I descry any signs of
life; not even the ruins of some ancient habitation.

Gradually, I found that I was being borne forward, floating across the
flat waste. For what seemed an eternity, I moved onward. I was unaware
of any great sense of impatience; though some curiosity and a vast
wonder were with me continually. Always, I saw around me the breadth of
that enormous plain; and, always, I searched for some new thing to break
its monotony; but there was no change--only loneliness, silence,
and desert.

Presently, in a half-conscious manner, I noticed that there was a faint
mistiness, ruddy in hue, lying over its surface. Still, when I looked
more intently, I was unable to say that it was really mist; for it
appeared to blend with the plain, giving it a peculiar unrealness, and
conveying to the senses the idea of unsubstantiality.

Gradually, I began to weary with the sameness of the thing. Yet, it was
a great time before I perceived any signs of the place, toward which I
was being conveyed.

"At first, I saw it, far ahead, like a long hillock on the surface of
the Plain. Then, as I drew nearer, I perceived that I had been mistaken;
for, instead of a low hill, I made out, now, a chain of great mountains,
whose distant peaks towered up into the red gloom, until they were
almost lost to sight."

_III_

THE HOUSE IN THE ARENA

And so, after a time, I came to the mountains. Then, the course of my
journey was altered, and I began to move along their bases, until, all
at once, I saw that I had come opposite to a vast rift, opening into the
mountains. Through this, I was borne, moving at no great speed. On
either side of me, huge, scarped walls of rocklike substance rose sheer.
Far overhead, I discerned a thin ribbon of red, where the mouth of the
chasm opened, amo