This ended the hermit’s story. It is needless to say my interest was aroused, and with all the composure and carelessness I could command I endeavored to adroitly ascertain the whereabouts of the labyrinth. I therefore said:
“And has no one found the secret chamber?”
“No one has found it, and no one has returned, for it is so constructed that, having once entered the labyrinth, there is no way of return, and he who enters wanders until starvation ends him.”
“Is this labyrinth at a great distance?”
“It is the other side of the mountains,” he returned.
“I am exceedingly curious to see what that secret chamber is like,” I remarked, carelessly.
“Let me dissuade you,” said he, “from the undertaking, for it will be fruitless.”
“Why so?” I asked.
“For it is a most wonderful labyrinth. It is full of every imaginable thing in the way of pit-falls and wild-eyed beasts, and it is impossible for any one to succeed. I say this, because a most formidable knight who had faced death in every conceivable form went on the quest a month ago and has not returned. Each day there is a herald sent forth to cry out whether any one has succeeded. A week ago—the last news I had—no one had been crowned. And no one ever will be.”