Born Again | Page 6

further below.
Although somewhat stunned and a trifle confused by the suddenness of
the fall, I quickly regained my equanimity and looking upward I saw a
small hole which my body had passed through, the shaggy rocks above,
the dark sky and a few stars, but the strangest thing of all was, that the
grotto into which I had fallen was as light as day.
CHAPTER V
After all I had passed through during the preceding twenty-four hours,
then to be suddenly cast from the outer darkness into a hole as light as
if illuminated by the mid-day sun was a revelation that caused me to
seriously doubt my own senses. But having spent a life of travel and
adventure in which I had faced many unexpected dangers and
inexplicable sights, I soon regained my normal presence of mind and
began to look around with considerable interest. I was now fully
convinced that the great pile of stone which I had so strangely reached
had at one time formed a gigantic structure moulded together by human

ingenuity.
The enclosure I found myself within might have been a hallway of the
edifice, but it was hard to positively distinguish it as such, for the
building in falling had placed things in an almost unrecognizable
condition. Some of the great stones from above had passed through the
ceiling and floor, while others had become wedged together before
reaching the surface, thus forming a very ragged and peculiar aperture.
In places where there were no obstructions I noticed a beautiful white
marble floor, while here and there a fragment of the walls showed that
the art of decorating had at one time reached a degree of proficiency
quite unapproachable by our modern artists. The space I found myself
in was too irregular in its outlines to form an adequate idea of what it
might have been used for. In some places I had to stoop to pass along,
while in others I was forced to climb over great blocks of stone.
After being in this passage about half an hour making an inspection of
the premises, I discovered a small opening which led into another
apartment. It appeared that a great door had separated the two rooms,
but had apparently become broken with the fall of the building and left
a space barely wide enough for my body to pass through. So in I went.
Or out I went, I was not quite sure which, for after squeezing through
the doorway a scene presented itself to my astonished gaze that I must
confess my inability to properly describe.
The view before me was a mammoth park with its variety of trees,
flowers and shrubbery of every possible description.
Straight ahead in the distance and plainly discernible was a running
brook which flowed along in a devious course and emptied into a lake
far beyond. And there, in all its majesty was the sun just sinking behind
the horizon, its brilliant radiance forming the most beautiful effects of
colorization upon the distant clouds it has ever been my good fortune to
behold.
I stood in motionless reverence for several minutes as my mind
expanded with wonder at the magnificent panorama, while my nostrils

inhaled a most delicious fragrance from the innumerable plants which
seemed to put new life into my enervated body.
What strange phenomena is this, I soliloquized? On the outside of the
earth the sun had gone down and darkness prevailed, while down here,
in under its crust I found it blazing away in all its splendor. In fact it
seemed that an entirely new world had suddenly been thrown in front
of me. Was I really alive or had I passed into some other world, was the
next question to enter my mind. I remembered that I had fallen a
considerable distance into this strange place and was somewhat stunned
in the tumble. Perhaps, thought I, my body is still lying somewhere
among the rocks above while this is only my spirit wandering about in
a fanciful manner. But no, looking downward I plainly saw my massive
frame dressed in sailor's clothes just as I had left the ship and I was
positive of being alive, awake, and in my right senses. And the wonders
multiplied. Looking to the right of the entrance, a short distance away, I
observed a marble platform elevated about two feet from the ground, in
the midst of huge flower-beds and shaded by large trees, upon which
sat a number of men, silent and motionless, with various musical
instruments in their hands as if they had just finished playing and were
taking a short rest. These instruments were of an entirely different
pattern from any I had ever seen. And the men! Oh, if I only had the