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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



hurt, but as a compensation the view 

 grows more beautiful every second. 

 At last the top was reached. There was 

 a final swing outward, to get a rebound 

 inward, several pairs of hands were out- 

 stretched to pull the net over to the plat- 

 form, and then came a drop onto the 

 stone floor ! The hook was detached, the 

 meshes opened, and the passenger helped 

 to her feet by the black-robed brothers. 

 They all gathered around with words of 

 welcome and hands ready to be shaken 

 in greeting. 



The first place visited was the chapel. 

 The youngest monk, with full red beard 

 and hair twisted into a psyche at his neck, 

 acted as cicerone. The others straggled 

 on behind. The small chapel was By- 

 zantine in form and in decoration. Fres- 

 coes covered the walls. Silver lamps 

 hung from the ceiling and before pic- 

 tures of saints crowned with silver and 

 many having silver hands extended in 

 blessing. 



With many apologies this brother 

 showed us his cell. A studded door 

 which led to it was so low one had to 

 stoop to look in. Its walls were white- 

 washed and its window grated, but the 

 bed, though narrow, had a gay chintz 

 cover, as did also the table, and around 

 the wall was a shelf of books. Several 

 photographs of other monks indicated 

 his desire for decoration, and even sug- 

 gested that could we have looked into 

 more guarded places we might have 

 found souvenirs of sister or erstwhile 

 sweetheart. 



Washing arrangements there were ab- 

 solutely none. The visitors' parlor and 

 the room reserved for guests to sleep in 

 were scrupulously clean. As we were 

 writing in the visitors' book a lay servant 

 entered with a tray bearing water glasses, 

 liquor glass, and a glass of red jelly with 

 spoons. We took a teaspoonful of jelly 

 made from some wild fruit, and then the 

 monk-made cognac. Both were de- 

 licious, and bore testimony to the fact 

 that even monks, though barred from 

 many pleasures of the world, cater to the 

 pleasures of the stomach. All we had to 

 offer in return for their hospitality were 

 some American postcards. 



The Flatiron Building caused much 

 unintelligible comment, but also the per- 

 fectly understandable remark that "this 

 must be the Meteora of America." Our 

 red-haired friend also made us under- 

 stand the superiority of the original Me- 

 teora in having a net bag to facilitate the 

 mounting. Alas! we could not make hint 

 understand the greater superiority of an 

 electric lift. 



The oldest monk was very cross ; 

 nevertheless he took the postcard and 

 stuck it in the frame of the patron saint 

 which hung above the visitors' book, and 

 when the next American writes his name 

 therein he may gaze with amazement at 

 his home monuments and think indeed 

 that the world is small. 



After having enjoyed their hospitality 

 we finally bade our hosts goodbye and 

 again squatted upon the net. When its 

 meshes were gathered onto the hook and 

 all made ready, there was a sensation of 

 goneness as the final push was given 

 and over the brink went net and passen- 

 ger and below was three hundred feet of 

 space. 



Horses and guides were awaiting our 

 return at the foot of the mountain, and 

 we rode on to the monastery of Saint 

 Stephen. This monastery is perched no 

 lower than that of Trinity, but it is ac- 

 cessible by a bridge across a chasm. 

 At the end of the bridge a nail-studded 

 door was opened to us, and through a 

 low-vaulted stable, where dogs, and pigs, 

 and sheep, and goats evidently took ref- 

 uge, we passed into a courtyard, and on 

 the steps of the cloister stood another 

 monk ready to receive us. 



We had a letter of introduction to him, 

 which told our intention of coming, and 

 he greeted us with dignified cordiality. 



The chapel was first visited, then the 

 visitors' parlor, and finally we were 

 shown our room for the night. White- 

 washed walls tinted blue, grilled win- 

 dows, an open fireplace, raised high 

 from the ground and piled with firewood, 

 and three iron beds offered us hospitality 

 for the night. 



We had the afternoon and evening be- 

 fore us and it promised to be a long one. 

 When our guides and horses left us to 



