by Sax Rohmer
CHAPTER XXXII. STORY OF THE CITY OF FIRE (CONTINUED)
"'Quitting air, must pass through water.' The meaning of those wordsbecame apparent enough. I stood at the foot of the waterfall, looking upat the fissure from which it issued.
"Although the fact had been most artistically disguised, I could notdoubt that this fissure was artificial. A tunnel had been hewn throughthe rock, and a mountain stream diverted into it. Indeed, on closeinspection, I saw that it was little more than a thin curtain of water,partly concealing what looked like the entrance of a cave.
"A great deal of mist arose from it. But I could see that, beyond aducking, I had little to fear; and, stepping down into the bed of thelittle stream which frothed and bubbled pleasantly about my bare legs, Iset my bundle on my head as the mendicant had done, and plunged throughthe waterfall, into a place of delicious coolness.
"A strange greenish light prevailed here and directly before me I sawa flight of stone steps leading upward through a tunnel in the rock. Bythe light of a pocket torch with which I had provided myself, I beganto ascend the steps. These, as I have said, were hewn out of the solidrock, and as they numbered something like seven hundred, the labourexpended upon the making of this extraordinary staircase must have beenstupendous.
"At first the character of the surrounding tunnel suggested that it was,in part at least, a natural cavern. But as I mounted higher andhigher, solid masonry appeared in places, some of it displaying unusualcarvings, of a character with which I was quite unfamiliar. I concludedthat it was very ancient.
"I should explain, gentlemen, that this ascending tunnel zigzagged ina peculiar fashion, which may have been due to the natural formation ofthe volcanic rock, or may have been part of the design of the originalbuilder. I had ascended more than five hundred steps, and felt that arest would shortly be necessary, when I reached a sort of cavern, orinterior platform, from which seven corridors branched out like thespokes of a wheel. The top of this place was lost in shadows, which theray of my torch failed to penetrate; and here I paused, setting down mybundle and wondering what my next move should be.
"To the damp coolness of the lower stairs an oppressive heat had nowsucceeded, and I became aware of a continuous roaring sound, which Ifound myself unable to explain.
"Attached to a belt beneath my native dress I carried a Colt revolver;and therefore, leaving my rifle and bundle in a corner of the cavern, Iselected one of these corridors more or less at random, and set outto explore. This corridor proved to slope very gently upward from theplatform, and I could not fail to notice that at every step the heatgrew greater and greater. A suffocating, sulphurous smell becameperceptible also, and the roaring sound grew almost deafening. It becamepossible to discern the walls of the corridor ahead because of a sort ofeerie bluish light which had now become visible.
"Gentlemen, I don't say that I hesitated in a physical sense: I wentright on walking ahead. But a voice somewhere deep down inside me waswhispering that this was the road to hell.
"At a point where the heat and the smell were almost unendurable thecorridor was blocked by massive iron bars beyond which the reflection ofsome gigantic fire danced upon the walls of a vast cavern.
"The heat was so great that my garments, saturated by the curtain ofwater through which I had passed, were now bone dry, and I stood peeringthrough those bars at a spectacle which will remain with me to themerciful day of my death.
"A hundred feet beneath me was a lake of fire! That is the only way Ican describe it: a seething, bubbling lake of fire. And above, where theroof of the cavern formed a natural cone, was a square section formed ofmassive stone blocks, and quite obviously the handiwork of man. Thebars were too hot to touch, and the heat was like that of a furnace, butwhile I stood, peering first upward and then downward, a thing happenedwhich I almost hesitate to describe, for it sounds like an incident froma nightmare.
"Heralded by a rumbling sound which was perceptible above the roar ofthe fire below, the centre block in the roof slid open. A tremendousdraught of air swept along the passage in which I was standing, anddoubtless along other passages which opened upon this hell-pit.
"As if conjured up by magic, a monstrous column of blue flame arose,swept up scorchingly, and licked like the tongue of a hungry dragon uponthe roof of the cavern. Instantly the trap was closed again; the tongueof fire dropped back into the lake from which it had arisen on thedraught of air.
"And right past me where I stood, rigid with horror, looking throughthose bars, fell a white-robed figure--whether man or woman I could notdetermine! Down, down into the fiery pit, a hundred feet below!
"One long-drawn, dying shriek reached my ears.
"Of my return to the place at which I had left my bundle and rifle Iretain absolutely not one recollection. I was aroused from a sortof stupor of horror by the sight of a faint light moving across theplatform ahead of me, as I was about to emerge from the tunnel.
"It was the light of a lantern, carried by a man who might have been thedouble of that yellow-robed mendicant who had first unconsciously led meto this accursed place.
"I won't deny that, up to the moment of sighting him, my one idea hadbeen to escape, to return, to quit this unholy spot. But now, as Iwatched the bearer of the lantern cross the platform and enter one ofthe seven corridors, that old, unquenchable thirst for new experiencesgot me by the throat again.
"As the light of the lantern was swallowed up in the passage, I found mybundle and rifle and set out to follow the man. Four paces brought meto the foot of more steps. I walked barefooted, frequently pausing tolisten. There were many carvings upon the walls, but I had no leisure toexamine them.
"Contrary to my anticipations, however, there were no branches in thiszigzag staircase, which communicated directly with the top of the loftyplateau. When presently I felt the fresh mountain air upon my face, Iwondered why I could perceive no light ahead of me. Yet the reason wassimple enough.
"Since I had passed through that strange watergate to the City of Fire,the day had ended: it was night. And when, finding no further stepsahead of me, I passed along a level, narrow corridor for some ten pacesand, looking upward, saw the stars, I was astounded.
"The yellow-robed man had disappeared, and I stood alone, looking downupon that secret city which I had come so far to see.
"I found myself standing in deep undergrowth, and, pressing this gentlyaside, I saw a wonderful spectacle. Away to my left was a great whitemarble building, which I judged to be a temple; and forming a crescentbefore it was a miniature town, each white-walled house surrounded by agarden. It was Damascus reduced to fairy dimensions, a spectacle quiteunforgettable.
"The fact which made the whole thing awesome and unreal was thepresence, along the top of the temple (which, like that of Hatshepsu atDeir elBahari, seemed to be hewn out of the living rock but was facedwith white marble) of seven giant flambeaux, each surmounted by adarting tongue of blue flame!
"Legend had it that this was the temple built by Zoroaster and preservedintact by that wonderful secretiveness of the Orient through thegenerations, by a cult who awaited the coming of Zoroaster's successor,of that Fire-Tongue who was to redeem and revolutionize the world.
"I was afraid to move too far from the mouth of the tunnel, butnevertheless was anxious to obtain a good view of the little city at myfeet. Gingerly I moved farther forward and forward, ever craning out fora glimpse of the buildings more immediately below me, forgetful of thefact that I walked upon the brink of a precipice.
"Suddenly my outstretched foot failed to touch ground. I clutched wildlyat the bushes around me. Their roots were not firm in the shallow soil,and, enveloped like some pagan god in a mass of foliage, I toppled overthe cliff and fell!"
