Gabriel had no difficulty in finding the brown door, and following his instructions, he knocked three times at regular intervals.
The door opened as if of itself, but a hand seized Gabriel's in the darkness within, and a voice said,—
"Do not enter, for you cannot see clearly."
"I have my light with me," replied Gabriel, following the formula prescribed by the letter.
"Enter, then," said the voice, "and follow the hand that guides you."
Gabriel obeyed, and took a few steps in that way; then the hand released its hold, and the voice said,—
"Go on by yourself now."
Gabriel felt with his foot the first step of a staircase; he ascended, counting seventeen steps, then stopped.
"What do you seek?" said a different voice.
"What is right," was his reply.