Only far above me I heard a continual soughing, as though winged souls passed to and fro.

Never in my life had I felt so much alone, never so much afraid.
"At length the dawn broke, and oh, glad was I to see its light, for fear lest I should die in darkness! Now I saw that I was on a hilltop where grew great groves of cedar trees, and that set amid them was a black-tiled temple, surrounded by a wall built of black brick.
"It was not a great place, although the gateway, which was surmounted by two black dragons of stone or iron, was very great, so great that a tall ship could have sailed through it and left its arch untouched.
"I kneeled down and prayed to the blessed Saints and the guardian angels to protect me.

Then I arose, crossed myself to scare off all evil things by that holy sign, and set forward toward the mighty gateway.

Oh, never, never till that hour had I understood how lowly a thing is man! On that broad road, travelling toward the awful, dragon-guarded arch, beyond which lay I knew not what, it seemed to me that I was the only man left in the world, I, whose hour had come to enter the portals of destruction.
"I passed into the cold shadow of the gateway, unchallenged by any watchman, and found myself in a courtyard surrounded by a wall also built of black brick, which had doors in it that seemed to be of dark stone or iron.

Whither these doors led I do not know, since the wall cut off the sight of any buildings that may have lain beyond.