I knew that it would need all my
strength to close this door which I had opened.
"I will spare you and myself the details of our parting. I passed
out from the City of Fire in the darkest hour of the night,
through a long winding tunnel, half a mile in length. I had
protested to Naida that the secret mark might be painted upon my
arm and not branded, but she had assured me that the latter was a
necessity, and this now became evident; for, not only three times
was it subjected to scrutiny, but by the last of the guards,
posted near the outer end of the tunnel, it was tested with some
kind of solution.
"Silence and the salutation with the moistened finger tips,
together with the brand upon my arm, won me freedom from the
abode of Fire-Tongue.
"From a village situated upon one of the tributaries of the
Ganges I readily obtained a guide, to whom such silent,
yellow-robed figures as mine were evidently not unfamiliar; and,
crossing the east of Nepal, I entered Bengal, bearing a strange
secret. I found myself in an empty world--a world which had
nothing to offer me. For every step south took me farther from
all that made life worth living."
CHAPTER XXXIV. NICOL BRINN'S STORY (CONCLUDED)
"The incidents of the next seven years do not concern you,
gentlemen. I had one aim in life--to forget. I earned an
unenviable reputation for foolhardy enterprises. Until this very
hour, no man has known why I did the things that I did do.
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