The Master of the World

village of Pleasant Garden. The guides accompanied us, Harry Horn, a man of thirty, and James Bruck, aged twenty-five. They were bo

beyond which our trip surely would not be protracted. Mr. Smith had shown himself a generous provider both in meats and in liquors. A

, who gamboled joyously about the wagon. Nisko, however, was to remain behind at the farm at Wildon, when we attempte

uds sped rapidly overhead, driven by a light breeze which swept across the long plains, from the distant

illiant colors and deafening loquacity. Opossums passed in hurried leaps, bearing their young in their pouches. Myriads of birds

a particular friend of Mr. Smith. Pleasant Garden proved little more than a village; but its mayor gave us a warm and ge

terior of the Great Eyrie. "You are right," said our host, "until we

ked, "since the last appearance

suspicious noise has come down to us. Not a spark has risen. If a legion of devils is in hidin

mped without leaving some traces of their occupation, some

as before, except that our road led more steeply upward. Woods and marshes alternated, though the latter grew sparser, being drained by the sun as we approached the higher levels. The country was al

ko. This will be the first time that I have passed here without trying my luck with the partridges and hares. The good beasts wi

d I, "we do not come ba

at the base, they grew more bare and showed only stunted evergreens toward the summit. There the scraggly trees, grotesquely twisted, gave to the rocky heights a bleak and bizarre

mbed that dome, Mr

ascent. A few mountaineers have climbed it; but they report th

guide, Harry Horn. "I

ed I, "the weather

lear. But the wall of the Great Eyrie on that si

be sorry to set foot where no person ha

tranquil enough. As we gazed upon it, there r

armer assured us that nothing notable had happened about the Great Eyrie for some time. We supped at a common table w

of the ascent could not be great. A few hours should suffice to bring us to the crest of the crater. Of course, difficulties might present themselves, precipices to scale, clefts and breaks in the ridge might necessitate painful and even dangerous detours. This was the unknown, the spur to

of the twenty or more which he smoked each day, "we are well

ted I, "you and I are fully resolv

solved, M

snatch the secret from thi

vowed Mr. Smith, calling Heaven to witness. "Even if

excursion will be prolonged beyond today,

oreover, though I left my brave Nisko at the farm, I have my gun. Game will be plentiful in the woods and gorg

lighted,

to be found beneath their ashes? And then, if this is truly a crater, is the volcano so wholly extinct that we cannot find there a single ember?

people would be reassured. But at heart, I must admit, I had the very natural desire of a man possessed by the demon of curiosity. I should be glad, both for my own

ery steep gorge amid rocks and trees. A tiny stream trickled downward under our feet. During the rainy season or after a heavy shower, the water doubtless bounded from rock to

progress was much delayed. Soon the gorge became wholly impracticable; its cliff-like sides offered no sufficient foo

e why the climbers of the Great Eyrie have been few, so

uch toil for very little profit. And if we had

"My comrade and I have scaled the Black Dome sever

em almost impassable

been more easy. Perhaps if we could get above this wooded slope we could advance with surer foot. Now, we could only go ahead blindly, and trust to the instincts of our two guides. James Bruck w

as determined to go, also; though it might cost me some uncomfortable falls. But it was not the same with the first magistrate of Morganton, less young, less vigorous, larger,

than we had estimated. We had expected to reach the foot of the rocky wall before eleven

ngs, one of the guides gave the signal to halt. We found ourselves at last on the upper border of the heavy wood. The tree

ighty pine tree, "a little respite, a little rep

est an hou

ungs and our legs, we wil

the appearance of the precipitous slope above us. We looked up toward one of those bare strips called in th

his comrade, "It

ossible," re

tain, my mission would be a complete failure, without speaking of the torture to my curiosity

finished, in less than half an hour, Mr. Smith sprang up eager to push forward onc

heir doubt and hesitation. Soon Horn left us and went far a

mid the sliding stones, held in place only occasionally by wiry bushes. At length after a weary struggle, we gained some two hundred feet further upward and found ourselves facing a great gash, which

huge block which broke away from the

and I think we had better follow

earth which had resisted the passage of the monster rock. Our task thus became much easier, and our progres

red feet straight upwards in the air rose the rocky wall whic

jagged needles. At one point the outline appeared to be an enormous eagle silhouetted against

we will see if it is possible to make

ock must have fallen from this part of the cl

ter a rest of ten minutes, we clambered up close to the f

eights seemed peopled by dragons and huge monsters. If chimeras, griffins, and all the

at nature had worked as man does, with careful regularity. Nowhere was there any break in the fortification; n

regained our starting-place. I could not conceal my dis

etter than before what is inside this confou

ous noises now; neither smoke nor flame rises ab

d us; and a perfectly clear sky shone overhead.

within, we could scarce reckon that without knowing the thickness of the encompassing wall. The surroundings were absolutely

the use of stopping here all day! We shall learn nothing more. We must ma

where I was seated; so he called again

an imperious need of persisting; my curiosity had redoubled. But what could I do? Could I tear open this unyield

we had so laboriously scrambled up. Before five o'clock we descended the last sl

dn't get ins

lieve that the inside exists only in

strove vainly to sleep, I asked myself if I should not stop there in the village and organize a new ascent. But what better

s, I took leave of Mr. Smith at Morganton, and