I hope to see you back again, some day soon. A
pleasant journey to you!"
While he was speaking, the bell of the engine rang, and we dashed
away, after dropping a few passengers, but receiving no new ones.
Rattling onward through the Valley, we were dazzled with the
fiercely gleaming gas-lamps, as before. But sometimes, in the dark
of intense brightness, grim faces, that bore the aspect and expression
of individual sins, or evil passions, seemed to thrust themselves
through the veil of light, glaring upon us, and stretching forth a
great dusky hand, as if to impede our progress. I almost thought, that
they were my own sins that appalled me there. These were freaks of
imagination- nothing more, certainly- mere delusions, which I ought to
be heartily ashamed of- but, all through the Dark Valley, I was
tormented, and pestered, and dolefully bewildered, with the same
kind of waking dreams. The mephitic gases of that region intoxicate
the brain. As the light of natural day, however, began to struggle
with the glow of the lanterns, these vain imaginations lost their
vividness, and finally vanished with the first ray of sunshine that
greeted our escape from the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Ere we
had gone a mile beyond it, I could well nigh have taken my oath,
that this whole gloomy passage was a dream.
Pages:
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27