The Journey of Rheinfrid 293

Rood is my name ; long ago I bore a goodly King ;

trembling, dripping with blood.

As he read them he became aware that
some one had come out of the mist and was
standing near him. “ In the darkness the
danger is great,” said the stranger; “another
step would have carried thee over the brink ;
and none who have fallen therein have ever re-
turned. But the wind is rising, and this
mist will speedily be lifted.”

While he was yet speaking a great draught
of air drove the mist before it, and shifted
and lifted it, and rolled it like carded wool,
and in front all was clear; but the light was
of an iron-grey transparency, and Rheinfrid
saw into the depths of the chasm into which
he had well-nigh fallen.

Far down below lay the jagged ridges and
ghastly abysses of a gigantic crater, the black
walls of which were so steep that it was im-
possible to climb them. Smoke and steam
rose in incessant puffs from the innermost
pit of the crater and trailed along the floor
and about the rocky spikes and jagged ridges.

Then, as Rheinfrid gazed, his face grew
pale, and he turned to the stranger.

“What are these,’ he asked, “men, or