Хребти божевілля
IX
Probablywehadnotgivenupourzealtoglimpsetheabyssitself,thoughtherewasinterposedanewgoalintheformofthatgreatcircularplaceshownonthecrumpledsketcheswehadfound. Wehadatoncerecognizeditasamonstrouscylindricaltowerfiguringintheveryearliestcarvings,butappearingonlyasaprodigiousroundaperturefromabove. Somethingabouttheimpressivenessofitsrendering,eveninthesehastydiagrams,madeusthinkthatitssubglaciallevelsmuststillformafeatureofpeculiarimportance. Perhapsitembodiedarchitecturalmarvelsasyetunencounteredbyus. Itwascertainlyofincredibleageaccordingtothesculpturesinwhichitfigured—beingindeedamongthefirstthingsbuiltinthecity. Itscarvings,ifpreserved,couldnotbutbehighlysignificant. Moreover,itmightformagoodpresentlinkwiththeupperworld—ashorterroutethantheoneweweresocarefullyblazing,andprobablythatbywhichthoseothershaddescended.
Atanyrate,thethingwedidwastostudytheterriblesketches—whichquiteperfectlyconfirmedourown—andstartbackovertheindicatedcoursetothecircularplace;thecoursewhichournamelesspredecessorsmusthavetraversedtwicebeforeus. Theotherneighboringgatetotheabysswouldliebeyondthat. Ineednotspeakofourjourney—duringwhichwecontinuedtoleaveaneconomicaltrailofpaper—foritwaspreciselythesameinkindasthatbywhichwehadreachedthecul-desac; exceptthatittendedtoadheremorecloselytothegroundlevelandevendescendtobasementcorridors. Everynowandthenwecouldtracecertaindisturbingmarksinthedebrisorlitterunderfoot;andafterwehadpassedoutsidetheradiusofthegasolinescent,wewereagainfaintlyconscious—spasmodically—ofthatmorehideousandmorepersistentscent.
