77 



He was gone so long that I began 

 to feel worried; then he came back 

 looking triumphant and a little sheep- 

 ish. Without a word he thrust an 

 envelope into my hand with some- 

 thing written on it. Mushrooms 

 grow best in dark detritus, the edel- 

 weiss scorns all but the most rugged 

 spot in which to flower, Nimrod 

 in a pigsty e had produced this: 



"A thousand miles the continent upheav- 

 ing 



Thro storms of sand, of rain, of driving snow, 



And then a sudden pause upon an awful 

 hidden brink 



Where all upheaval seemed to fail, an inch 

 before your very feet. 



The reason lost, the universe forgot, in 

 mists unknown, immeasurable. 



And then a change: 



This way and that the Powers uproll the 



veil; 

 An inch beyond your very foot a great 



abyss. 

 Down! down! down! the mists are rolled 



away, 

 Thousands upon thousands of headlong 



dizzy feet. 

 Down ! down ! down ! with piney forests on 



their nearest side, 

 More small than moss, 

 Down 1 down ! down ! to blue eternity. 



