Thus a radiance
has been created, even out of the fiery and sulphurous curse that
rests for ever upon the Valley; a radiance hurtful, however, to the
eyes, and somewhat bewildering, as I discovered by the changes which
it wrought in the visages of my companions. In this respect, as
compared with natural daylight, there is the same difference as
between truth and falsehood; but if the reader have ever travelled
through the dark Valley, he will have learned to be thankful for any
light that he could get; if not from the sky above, then from the
blasted soil beneath. Such was the red brilliancy of these lamps, that
they appeared to build walls of fire on both sides of the track,
between which we held our course at lightning speed, while a
reverberating thunder filled the Valley with its echoes. Had the
engine run off the track- a catastrophe, it is whispered, by no
means unprecedented- the bottomless pit, if there be any such place,
would undoubtedly have received us. Just as some dismal fooleries of
this nature had made my heart quake, there came a tremendous shriek,
careering along the Valley as if a thousand devils had burst their
lungs to utter it, but which proved to be merely the whistle of the
engine, on arriving at a stopping-place.
The spot, where we had now paused, is the same that our friend
Bunyan- truthful man, but infected with many fantastic notions- has
designated, in terms plainer than I like to repeat, as the mouth of
the infernal region.
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