The Seven Years of Seeking 117

All day they sailed towards it, and some-
times it vanished from their view, but it re-
turned constantly. On the third day they
came tothat land. Bright and beautiful it was
to their sea-wearied eyes; and of a surety no
land is there that goes so nearly to heaven.
For it rose in green and flowery heights till
it was lost in a ring of dusky sea-cloud; and
through this vast ring of cloud it pierced its
way, and the Sea-farers saw it emerge and
stand clear above the cloud, bluish with
the distance. And higher till it rose, and
entered a second great cloud-ring, but this
ring was white; and once more it emerged
from the cloud-ring, and high over all
towered the pyramid of shining stone.

“Well might it be that Angels often
alight on this soaring mountain,” said Sera-
pion, “and leave it glittering with their foot-
prints. If life and strength be given us,
thither we also shall climb, and praise God
in the lofty places of the earth which He has
made.”

They steered the ship into a sunny bay,
and Serapion having blessed the sea and the
shore, they landed right joyfully. Drawing
the ship high on the beach, they chose a