ges, and yet again ten thousand, and it will not have
been worn away," said Rheinfrid. "But when it has been worn away, what
then?"

"Why, then," said the stranger, "Eternity will be no nearer to its end
than it is now. But see! see!"

Rheinfrid looked, and beheld a little blue bird flash across the huge
ball of glimmering adamant, brush it with the tip of a single feather,
and dart onward.

And down in the crater all the faces were turned away again, and the
crowd fell into such confusion as an autumn gale makes among the fallen
leaves in a spinney; and out of the innermost pit the smoke and steam
rose in clouds, till only the jagged ridges were visible; and a long
cry of a myriad voices deadened by the deep distance rose like the
terrible ghost of a cry from the abyss.

And this was one of the Seven Cries of the World.

For the Seven Cries of the World are these: the Cry of the Blood of
Abel, and the Cry of the Deluge of Waters, and the Cry for the
First-born of Egypt, and the Cry of the Cities of the Plain, and the
Cry of Rachel in Ramah, and the Cry in the darkness of the ninth hour,
and, more grievous than any of these, the Cry of the Doom of the Pit.

"Truly," said Rheinfrid, shivering, "one day is as a thousand years in
the sight of the Lord."

"Come with me, and I will guide thee from this place," said the
stranger. And he led the way along the brink of the gulf till they
came to a bridge, high and narrow and fragile, glittering like glass;
but when Rheinfrid touched it he perceived it was built of ice, and
beneath it ran a fierce river of fire, and they felt the heat of the
river on their faces, and the ice of the bridge was dissolving away.

"How shall I pass this without falling?" asked Rheinfrid.

"Follow in my steps," said the stranger, "and all will be well."

He led the way on the slippery ice-work of the bridge, and in great
fear and doubt Rheinfrid followed; but when they reached the crown of
the arch the stranger threw aside his cloak and spread six mighty
wings, and sprang from the bridge to the peak of a high mountain far
beyond the burning river. The bridge cracked and swayed, and pieces
broke away from the icy parapet.

With a shriek of terror Rheinfrid sank down, and called upon God to
help him. Then as he prayed he felt wings growing on his shoulders,
and a terrible eager joy and dread possessed him, for he felt the ice
of the bridge melting away, and the water of the melting