And it was in this second Third of the day that I saw afar to
my right, two strange and wondrous men, and they did shine, as they had
been made of a pale mist. And they came anigh, going very swift, and did
seem as that they were maybe forty feet high, yet having no thickness;
and I hid downward into the moss-bushes. And they past me, so quiet as a
cloud of this day might go, and did appear to be, if I did guess, but an
hundred fathoms off; yet was this no sure thing; for their position had
no more surety than shall a rainbow have in this age. And so they were
gone onward into the Night, and did seem to come out of the North. And
they did appear not to wot of me; and whether they were harmful, I know
not, for they harmed not me. And I lay there in the moss-bushes, until they were well gone away; and
I had belief that they must be those same mist-men that were told of in
certain of the olden Records; but were never seen anigh to the Pyramid;
though I had thought, odd times, to see men, as of mist, through the
Great Spy-Glass, when I was within the Tower of Observation. But they
were always a mighty way off; and some would say it was but a bright
vapour that did move; yet would others be in doubt, and so is it ever in
such matters. And here let me take chance to say how that it is a hard thing to speak
of such happenings to men of this age, and to make the truth proper unto
them; and because of this, oft am I tempted to say no word upon many
things that I did see; yet must I tell my tale, or suffer from the
weight of it within me. And so shall you hark to me and give me your
sympathy and human understanding. And concerning these mist-men, I have
wondered oft whether they were the visible shape of some of those many
Forces that were abroad in the Night Land; for they did truly seem to me
as that a thing of Strange Life were half shown to my human eyes; yet I
do not know, and am but telling of my natural thoughts and ponderings. Now, as I did say, those mist-men were never seen nigh unto the Pyramid,
and were, as I did hint, always so far off that they were half given
over to the fables of the olden days, in the beliefs of the Peoples of
the Mighty Redoubt; and set about with an halo of unrealness, for none
within the Great Pyramid had ever beheld them with surety. And because that now I saw them anigh to me, it was borne in afresh upon
my spirit how greatly I had wandered away, and how that I stood afar in
the lonesomeness of that Land of Night; as it had been that a man of
this Age did wander amid the stars, and perceive a great comet to go by
him very close; for then he should know in his heart how that he was far
off in the Void. And this I do say to you, that you may know somewhat of
the emotions of my heart in that moment. Yet, presently I shook free of my melancholy and lonesomeness and rose
up out of the moss-bushes, and went onward. And, as ever, I thought much
upon the Maid that I did search for; yet strove to think quietly
concerning her state; else should I have turned to running, and wrecked
my body before that I had gone any great way. And that day, I passed seven large fire-holes, and two that were small;
and always I came softly unto them; for there were oft living things
about the warmth. And at the sixth fire-hole, I did see that which I did
think to be a great man, that did sit to the fire, with monstrous knees
drawn upward unto his chin. And the nose was great and bent downward;
and the eyes very large, and did shine with the light from the
fire-hole, and moved, watching, always this way and that, so that the
white parts did show, now this side and now that. But it was not
properly a man. And I went away very quiet from that place, and looked oft backward,
until that I was sure of safety; for it was a very horrid Monster, and
had that place to be for a Lair, as I did judge from the smell thereof. And when the eighteenth hour was come, I looked about for a safe place
to my sleep; and I kept away now from the fire-holes; for I did always
find the more life there. Yet, when I came to my rest, I was lacking of
warmth, by reason of this care; and could scarce sleep at all, because
that I was so cold. Yet managed something of slumber after a while; but
woke very stiff, and was glad to beat my hands and bestir myself that I
should come to some warmth of life. And after that I had eat and drunk, I put my gear upon me, and took the
Diskos in my hand, and went forward again upon my journey. And here I
should tell that I was come soon unto the North-West border of the Plain
of Blue Fire. And presently, I was but a little way off from it, and did
go direct to the North; so that the Plain was always upon my right. Now this Plain was a strange and fearsome place, as you shall see; for
it was as that a blue void did rise upward from the earth in all the
country of that Plain. For, surely, the Plain did not lumber with flame;
but was hid with a strange and inburning light, as of a shining
atmosphere of a cold blue colour. And it did throw no sure light upon
the Night Land, as had seemed proper; but was a very dreadful, cold
shining, as of a luminous and blue void. And the moss-bushes grew nigh
to the edge of the plain, and did show to me black and strange against
that horrid gloom of light. And you shall know that I could not see into the plain; for it was as
that the cold blue light was a void that swallowed all within it; and
gave no power to the eye that aught should be perceived. And it stood
between me and the Mighty Pyramid, and I could nowise see across. And I
know not whether I do make all this matter clear unto you; for surely it
is no easy task. And presently I had gone very quiet upon my hands and knees through the
moss-bushes; and I came near upon the edge of the Plain, and hid there
in a clump of the moss-bush, and peered forth and harked. And I heard
constant voices that did call to one another across the Plain; as it
were that strange peoples of Spirits did wander within that blue
Shining, and did make a calling one to the other, and were all hid and
held apart. And surely I could see naught, and did judge, as I have
writ, that they likewise went blindly. And truly is this a strange
matter to set out; and easy to think on with doubt. Yet as I did see, so
have I told; for, in verity, there were surely hidden Peoples of Spirits
scattered and lost afar upon that improper Plain. And you shall judge that I kept safe hid; for whether this might have
any natural explaining, or whether it was a matter that did go utter
beyond knowledge of man, I did not know; for surely in that strange
Land, it did like to be an Horrid Danger in any case; and whether of
some Monstrous Creatures, or of the Evil Forces of the Land, I did
wisely to be away. And for two days I did make a safe coasting of the Plain of Blue Fire;
and did keep well off, maybe two great miles, among the moss-bushes. And
I made a very good speed through the darkness.