Копи царя Соломона
Solomon’s Road
Ishookmyhead,Icouldmakenothingofthething.
"Ihaveit!"saidGood; "theroadnodoubtranrightovertherangeandacrossthedesertontheotherside,butthesandtherehascovereditup,andaboveusithasbeenobliteratedbysomevolcaniceruptionofmoltenlava."
Thisseemedagoodsuggestion;atanyrate,weacceptedit,andproceededdownthemountain. Itprovedaverydifferentbusinesstravellingalongdownhillonthatmagnificentpathwaywithfullstomachsfromwhatitwastravellinguphilloverthesnowquitestarvedandalmostfrozen. Indeed,haditnotbeenformelancholyrecollectionsofpoorVentvögel’ssadfate,andofthatgrimcavewherehekeptcompanywiththeoldDom,weshouldhavefeltpositivelycheerful,notwithstandingthesenseofunknowndangersbeforeus. Everymilewewalkedtheatmospheregrewsofterandbalmier,andthecountrybeforeusshonewithayetmoreluminousbeauty. Asfortheroaditself,Ineversawsuchanengineeringwork,thoughSirHenrysaidthatthegreatroadovertheSt.GothardinSwitzerlandisverysimilar. NodifficultyhadbeentoogreatfortheOldWorldengineerwholaiditout. Atoneplacewecametoaravinethreehundredfeetbroadandatleastahundredfeetdeep. Thisvastgulfwasactuallyfilledinwithhugeblocksofdressedstone,havingarchespiercedthroughthematthebottomforawaterway,overwhichtheroadwentonsublimely.
