ng away
large and black and hideous, they said, over the distant hills, and
had turned round snarling at them, showing his gleaming teeth, and had
stamped, as he went, upon the hill-tops until they rang as though
they had been bronze. And often and again they stopped in their merry
dances and prayed to the God they knew not, saying, 'O, God that we
know not, we thank Thee for sending the thunder back to his hills.'
And I went on and came to the market-place, and lying there upon the
marble pavement I saw the merchant fast asleep and breathing heavily,
with his face and the palms of his hands towards the sky, and slaves
were fanning him to keep away the flies. And from the market-place I
came to a silver temple and then to a palace of onyx, and there were
many wonders in Perdondaris, and I would have stayed and seen them
all, but as I came to the outer wall of the city I suddenly saw in it
a huge ivory gate. For a while I paused and admired it, then I came
nearer and perceived the dreadful truth. The gate was carved out of
one solid piece!

I fled at once through the gateway and down to the ship, and even as I
ran I thought that I heard far off on the hills behind me the tramp of
the fearful beast by whom that mass of ivory was shed, who was perhaps
even then looking for his other tusk. When I was on the ship again I
felt safer, and I said nothing to the sailors of what I had seen.

And now the captain was gradually awakening.

Now night was rolling up from the East and North, and only the
pinnacles of the towers of Perdondaris still took the fallen sunlight.
Then I went to the captain and told him quietly of the thing I had
seen. And he questioned me at once about the gate, in a low voice,
that the sailors might not know; and I told him how the weight of the
thing was such that it could not have been brought from afar, and the
captain knew that it had not been there a year ago. We agreed that
such a beast could never have been killed by any assault of man, and
that the gate must have been a fallen tusk, and one fallen near and
recently. Therefore he decided that it were better to flee at once; so
he commanded, and the sailors went to the sails, and others raised the
anchor to the deck, and just as the highest pinnacle of marble lost
the last rays of the sun we left Perdondaris, that famous city. And
night came down and cloaked Perdondaris and hid it from our eyes,
which as things have happened will never see it again