Chapter 50

Yillah In Ardair

In the verdant glen of Ardair, far in the silent interior of Amma,
shut in by hoar old cliffs, Yillah the maiden abode.

So small and so deep was this glen, so surrounded on all sides by
steep acclivities, and so vividly green its verdure, and deceptive
the shadows that played there; that, from above, it seemed more like
a lake of cool, balmy air, than a glen: its woodlands and grasses
gleaming shadowy all, like sea groves and mosses beneath the calm sea.

Here, none came but Aleema the priest, who at times was absent for
days together. But at certain seasons, an unseen multitude with loud
chants stood upon the verge of the neighboring precipices, and
traversing those shaded wilds, slowly retreated; their voices
lessening and lessening, as they wended their way through the more
distant groves.

At other times, Yillah being immured in the temple of Apo, a band of
men entering the vale, surrounded her retreat, dancing there till
evening came. Meanwhile, heaps of fruit, garlands of flowers, and
baskets of fish, were laid upon an altar without, where stood Aleema,
arrayed in white tappa, and muttering to himself, as the offerings
were laid at his feet.

When Aleema was gone, Yillah went forth into the glen, and wandered
among the trees, and reposed by the banks of the stream. And ever as
she strolled, looked down upon her the grim old cliffs, bearded with
trailing moss.

Toward the lower end of the vale, its lofty walls advancing
and overhanging their base, almost met in mid air. And a great rock,
hurled from an adjacent height, and falling into the space
intercepted, there remained fixed. Aerial trees shot up from its
surface; birds nested in its clefts; and strange vines roved abroad,
overrunning the tops of the trees, lying thereon in coils and
undulations, like anacondas basking in the light. Beneath this rock,
was a lofty wall of ponderous stones. Between its crevices, peeps
were had of a long and leafy arcade, quivering far away to where the
sea rolled in the sun. Lower down, these crevices gave an outlet to
the waters of the brook, which, in a long cascade, poured over
sloping green ledges near the foot of the wall, into a deep shady
pool; whose rocky sides, by the perpetual eddying of the water, had
been worn into a grotesque resemblance to a group of giants, with
heads submerged, indolently reclining about the basin.

In this pool, Yillah would bathe. And once, emerging, she heard the
echoes of a voice, and called aloud. But the only reply, was the
rustling of branches, as some one, invisible, fled down the valley
beyond. Soon after, a stone rolled inward, and Aleema the priest
stood before her; saying that the voice she had heard was his.