4 - I Summon a Valet

The room to which I was assigned was regal in its magnificence, and
yet comfortable. Few modern hotels afforded anything like it, and,
tired as I was, I could not venture to rest until I had investigated
it and its contents thoroughly. It was, I should say, about twenty by
thirty feet in its dimensions, and lighted by a soft, mellow glow that
sprang forth from all parts without any visible source of supply. At
the far end was a huge window, before which were drawn porti�res of
rich material in most graceful folds. Pulling these to one side, so
that I might see what the outlook from the window might be, I
staggered back appalled at the infinite grandeur of what lay before my
eyes. It seemed as if all space were there, and yet within the compass
of my vision. Planets which to my eye had hitherto been but twinkling
specks of light in the blackness of the heavens became peopled worlds,
which I could see in detail and recognize. Mars with its canals,
Saturn with its rings--all were there before me, seemingly within
reach of my outstretched hand. The world in which I lived appeared to
have been removed from the middle distance, and those things which had
rested beyond the ken of the mortal mind brought to my very feet, to
be seen and touched and comprehended.

Then I threw the window open, and all was changed. The distant
objects faded, and a beautiful golden city greeted my eyes--the city
of Olympus, in which I was to pass so many happy hours. For the
instant I was puzzled. Why at one moment the treasures of the universe
of space had greeted my vision, and how all that had faded and the
immediate surroundings of a celestial city lay before me, were not
easy to understand. I drew back and closed the window again, and at
once all became clear; the window-glass held the magic properties of
the magnifying-lens, developed to an intensity which annihilated all
space, and I began to see that the development of mortals in
scientific matters was puny beside that of the gods in whose hands lay
all the secrets of the universe, although the principles involved were
in our full possession.

The situation overwhelmed me somewhat, and I drew the porti�res
together again. The feelings that came over me were similar to those
that come to one standing on the edge of a great precipice gazing
downward into the vast, black depths yawning at his feet. The
giddiness that once, many years before, came upon me as I stood on the
brink of the Niagaran cataract, which seemed irresistibly impelling me
to join the mad rush of the waters, surged over me again, and I forced
myself backward into the room, shutting out the sight, lest I should
cast myself forth into the infinite space beyond. I threw myself down
upon a