to
John-o'-Groat's house and the Northern Sea. The sea was not frozen; for
all the stars shone as clear out of the deeps below as they shone out
of the deeps above; and as the bearers slid along the blue-gray
surface, with never a furrow in their track, so pure was the water
beneath that the king saw neither surface, bottom, nor substance to it,
and seemed to be gliding only through the blue sphere of heaven, with
the stars above him, and the stars below him, and between the stars and
him nothing but an emptiness, where, for the first time in his life,
his soul felt that it had room enough.

At length they reached the rocky shores of Iceland. There they landed,
still pursuing their journey. All this time the king felt no cold; for
the red stones in his crown kept him warm, and the emerald and sapphire
eyes of the wild beasts kept the frosts from settling upon his litter.

Oftentimes upon their way they had to pass through forests, caverns,
and rock-shadowed paths, where it was so dark that at first the king
feared he should lose his Shadows altogether. But as soon as they
entered such places, the diamond in his sceptre began to shine and
glow, and flash, sending out streams of light of all the colours that
painter's soul could dream of; in which light the Shadows grew livelier
and stronger than ever, speeding through the dark ways with an all but
blinding swiftness. In the light of the diamond, too, some of their
forms became more simple and human, while others seemed only to break
out into a yet more untamable absurdity. Once, as they passed through a
cave, the king actually saw some of their eyes--strange shadow-eyes; he
had never seen any of their eyes before. But at the same moment when he
saw their eyes, he knew their faces too, for they turned them full upon
him for an instant; and the other Shadows, catching sight of these,
shrank and shivered, and nearly vanished. Lovely faces they were; but
the king was very thoughtful after he saw them, and continued rather
troubled all the rest of the journey. He could not account for those
faces being there, and the faces of Shadows, too, with living eyes.

But he soon found that amongst the Shgadows a man must learn never to
be surprised at anything; for if he does not, he will soon grow quite
stupid, in consequence of the endless recurrence of surprises.

At last they climbed up the bed of a little stream, and then, passing
through a narrow rocky defile, came out sudden