I was soon at the outer edge of Palin-mâ-Talin and to tell the truth I felt my heavy heart grow light again. Bulger too, showed his delight at being once more in the warm sunshine. Breaking out into the wildest barking he raced hither and thither with the joyous air of a boy set free from long and irksome task.
As Benè-agâ had described to me, I now found myself standing upon a lofty parapet, overlooking a delightful valley, thro’ which I longed to wander, after my long stay in Benè-agâ’s cave and the gloomy trail through Palin-mâ-Talin’s depths.
Walking along the edge of the cliff I was not long in coming upon the Stair of the Evil Spirit or Bōga-Drappa as it was called.
It was jagged, irregular and tilted here and there; and yet, quite even and stair-like when one considered that it was of nature’s building. As the blind hermit had warned me the treacherous slime covered Bōga-Drappa’s entire length, forever renewed by the impure waters which trickled down its steps.
To attempt to descend would have been worse than madness.
No human foot was sure enough to tread those slippery stones and reach the bottom.
Although I was impelled by the strongest desire to hasten forward I saw that a single rash act might end my life.
Ordinary obstacles have no terror for me. But when nature sets a threatening barrier in my way I halt, but do not surrender.
And, therefore, I sat calmly down to ponder over the problem that faced me.
For three days I tarried on this parapet and each day I visited Bōga-Drappa and gazed long and fixedly upon its far-reaching flight of rocky steps.