TWILIGHT LAND

looked, he saw two little lumps bud out upon the smooth
skin, and then grow and grow and grow until they became
two great wings as white as snow.

“Now, then,” said the master, “take me by the belt and
grip fast, for there is a long, long journey before us, and
if you should lose your head and let go your hold, you
will fall and be dashed to pieces.”

Then he spread the two great wings, and away he flew
as fast as the wind, with Gebhart hanging to his belt.

Over hills, over dales, over: mountains, over moors he
flew, with the brown earth lying so far below that horses
and cows looked like pismires and men like fleas.

Then, by-and-by, it was over the ocean they were
crossing, with the great ships that pitched and tossed
below looking like chips in a puddle in rainy weather.

At last they came to a strange land, far, far away, and
there the master lit upon a sea-shore where the sand
was as white as silver. As soon as his feet touched the
hard ground the great wings were gone like a puff of
smoke, and the wise man walked like any other body.

At the edge of the sandy beach was a great, high,
naked cliff; and the only way of reaching the top was by
a flight of stone steps, as slippery as glass, cut in the
solid rock.

The wise man led the way, and the student followed
close at his heels, every now and then slipping and
stumbling, so that, had it not been for the help that the
master gave him, he would have fallen more than once
and have been dashed to pieces upon the rocks below.

At last they reached the top, and there found themselves
in a desert, without stick of wood or blade of grass, but only
grey stones and skulls and bones bleaching in the sun.

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