The Washington times., 1905-12-17

uOWn snort corridor. which ended in
tall. iron-covered doors. These also
rolled omen at our approach. and next
instant we staggered back amazed and
half-blinded by the intense blaze OF
light within
Imagine. you who read. the nave Of
the vastest cathedral with which YOU
are acquainted. Then double or treble
its size, and you will have some con-
cePtion OF that Tempe in which we
found ourselves. Perhaps in the begin
ming II had been a cave. who can savg
-out now its sheer walls. it's muItitud
nous columns springing to the arched
roor far above US. had all been worked
on ana fashioned by the Ia Dor of men
long dead; doubtless the old f1re-wor-
shlpers or thousands of years ago.
iou VIII wonder how so great place
was lighted. but 1 think that never
would you guess. Thus-by twisted
columns OF living fame, counted
eighteen Of them, but there may have
been others. They sprang from the
moor at regular intervals along the lines
OF what In a cathedral would be the
aisles- Right to the roof they sprang.
OF even height and girth. so fierce was
tne force that drove them, and there
were lost, L suppose, through chimneys
oored in the thickness OF the rock. Nor
olo they give OF smell or smoke. or in
tnat ereat. cold place. any heat which
could be noticed, only an intense white
hsnt. Ike that of molten iron and a
sharp. kissing noise, as Of a million an
CRY snakes.
tne huge temple was utterly desert
co. and. save for this sibilant. pervad-
ing sound utterly silent: an awesone.
an overpowering place
10 these candles OF yours ever 90
out? asked Leo OF Oros. placing hts
hand before his dazzled eyes.
How can they" replied the priest
IN his smooth. matter-of-fact voice
seeing that they rise from the eternal
hre which the builders of this hall vor-
shipedT Thus they have burned from
the beginning, and thus they win b,,-.
forever, though. IL we wish IT, we ,.an
shut on their Hght.' Be pleased 70 fol-
low me; you VIII see greater things"
30 IN aWed silence we followed. and
on now small and miserable we three
human beings looked alone IN that vast
temple Illuminated by this lightning
raoiance- we reached the end of II at
.-nsen. only TO find that to right and
Iefs ran transepts on like eieantic
80 - l3c same amazing fash
Ion Here Oros bade US halt and va
waited ht'le while. till presently. from
ether transett arose sound or chant
ing. and we perceived two white-robed
professions advancing toward us from
their depths
On they came. very slowly. and we
saw that the procession to the .1.-ht was
a company OF priests. and that u The
LETT company of priestesses. q hun
dred or so OF them in all.
NOW the men ranged themselves In
front OF Us, while the women ranged
themselves behind. and at signal from
Oros. all OF them still chanting some
wild and thrilling hymn. once more we
started forward, this time along a mar
row gallery closed at the end with dou-
bic wooden doors. As our procession
reached these they opened. and before
y lay the crowning wonder OF this mar
ve.ous vane, a vast. eIlipse-shaped apse
Now we understood The plan Of the
temple was the plan of the looped pillar
which stood upon the brow Of the peak,
and as we rightly guessed, its dimen-
sions were the same
AZ intervals around this elIipse the
fiery columns fiared. but otherwise the
place was empty.
No, not quite. for at the head OF the
apse. almost between two Of the fame
columns. stood plain. square altar OF