Listen--look--judge!"

The voice ceased. It appeared to have issued from one corner of the
room. Djalma, still in darkness, perceived too late into what a snare he
had fallen, and trembled with rage--almost with alarm.

"Faringhea!" he exclaimed; "where am I? where are you? Open the door on
your life! I would leave this place instantly."

Extending his arms, the prince advanced hastily several steps, but he
only touched a tapestried wall; he followed it, hoping to find the
door, and he at length found it; but it was locked, and resisted all his
efforts. He continued his researches, and came to a fireplace with no
fire in it, and to a second door, equally fast. In a few moments, he
had thus made the circle of the room, and found himself again at the
fireplace. The anxiety of the prince increased more and more. He called
Faringhea, in a voice trembling with passion. There was no answer.
Profound silence reigned without, and complete darkness within. Ere
long, a perfumed vapor, of indescribable sweetness, but very subtle and
penetrating, spread itself insensibly through the little room in which
Djalma was. It might be, that the orifice of a tube, passing through one
of the doors of the room, introduced this balmy current. At the height
of angry and terrible thoughts, Djalma paid no attention to this
odor--but soon the arteries of his temples began to beat violently, a
burning heat seemed to circulate rapidly through his veins, he felt a
sensation of pleasure, his resentment died gradually away, and a mild,
ineffable torpor crept over him, without his being fully conscious of
the mental transformation that was taking place. Yet, by a last effort
of the wavering will, Djalma advanced once more to try and open one
of the doors; he found it indeed, but at this place the vapor was so
strong, that its action redoubled, and, unable to move a step further,
Djalma was obliged to support himself by leaning against the wall.(43)

Then a strange thing happened. A faint light spread itself gradually
through an adjoining apartment, and Djalma now perceived, for the first
time, the existence of a little round window, in the wall of the room in
which he was. On the side of the prince, this opening was protected by
a slight but strong railing, which hardly intercepted the view. On the
other side a thick piece of plate-glass was fixed at the distance of two
or three inches from the railing in question. The room, which Djalma saw
through