And the
light revealed, directly ahead something that Chick at first
thought to be a cascade of black water. It leaped out of the rear
wall of the temple, and at its crest it was bordered with walls of
solid silver, cut across and designed with scrolls of gold and gem
work; walls that swooped down and ended with two huge green
columns at the base of that fantastic fall.
As they approached a swarm of tiny bronze objects, silver winged,
fluttered out through the temple--tiny birds, smaller than
swallows, beautiful and swift-winged, elusive. They were without
number; in a moment the air of the temple was alive with flitting,
darting spots of glinting colour.
Then Chick saw that there were two people sitting high on the
crest of that cascade. Wondering, Chick and the rest marched on
through the silent crowd; all standing with bared heads and bated
breaths. The worshipping Thomahlians filled every inch of that
enormous place. Only a narrow lane permitted the procession to
pass towards that puzzling, silent, black waterfall.
They were almost at its base when Chick saw the vanguard of the
Rhamdas unhesitatingly stride straight against the torrent, and
then mount upon it. Up they marched; and Chick knew that the black
water was black jade, and that the two people at its crest were
seated upon a landing at the top of the grandest stairway he had
ever seen.
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