were observed, avoided,
and passed. Far overhead the little patch of glowing sky was still
always visible; otherwise he had no clue to the time of day. He
continued tramping sullenly down the slope for many damp, slippery
miles--in some places through bogs. When, presently, the twilight seemed
to thin, he guessed that the open world was not far away. The forest
grew more palpable and grey, and now he saw its majesty better. The tree
trunks were like round towers, and so wide were the intervals that they
resembled natural amphitheatres. He could not make out the colour of
the bark. Everything he saw amazed him, but his admiration was of the
growling, grudging kind. The difference in light between the forest
behind him and the forest ahead became so marked that he could no longer
doubt that he was on the point of coming out.

Real light was in front of him; looking back, he found he had a shadow.
The trunks acquired a reddish tint. He quickened his pace. As the
minutes went by, the bright patch ahead grew luminous and vivid; it had
a tinge of blue. He also imagined that he heard the sound of surf.

All that part of the forest toward which he was moving became rich with
colour. The boles of the trees were of a deep, dark red; their leaves,
high above his head, were ulfire-hued; the dead leaves on the ground
were of a colour he could not name. At the same time he discovered the
use of his third eye. By adding a third angle to his sight, every
object he looked at stood out in greater relief. The world looked less
flat--more realistic and significant. He had a stronger attraction
toward his surroundings; he seemed somehow to lose his egotism, and to
become free and thoughtful.

Now through the last trees he saw full daylight. Less than half a mile
separated him from the border of the forest, and, eager to discover
what lay beyond, he broke into a run. He heard the surf louder. It was
a peculiar hissing sound that could proceed only from water, yet was
unlike the sea. Almost immediately he came within sight of an enormous
horizon of dancing waves, which he knew must be the Sinking Sea. He fell
back into a quick walk, continuing to stare hard. The wind that met him
was hot, fresh and sweet.

When he arrived at the final fringe of forest, which joined the wide
sands of the shore without any change of level, he leaned with his back
to a great tree and gazed his fill, motionless, at what lay in front of
him. The sands continue