"There were also, in side caverns to which I was led, combinations of sounds and scenes in which floating strains and fleeting figures were interwoven and interlaced so closely that the senses of both sight and hearing became blended into a single sense, new, weird, strange, and inexpressible. As flavor is the combination of odor and taste, and is neither taste nor odor, so these sounds and scenes combined were neither scenes nor sounds, but a complex sensation, new, delicious. Sometimes I begged to be permitted to stop and live forever 'mid those heavenly charms, but with as firm a hand as when helping me through the chambers of mire, ooze, and creeping reptiles, my guide drew me onward. "But to return to the subject. As to my guide being a cavern-bred monstrosity, I do not remember to have said that he was cavern-bred, and if I have forgotten a fact, I regret my short memory. Did I say that he was always a cavern being? Did I assert that he had never lived among mortals of upper earth? If so, I do not remember our conversation on that subject. He was surely a sage in knowledge, as you have experienced from my feeble efforts in explaining the nature of phenomena that were to you unknown, and yet have been gained by me largely through his instruction. He was a metaphysician, as you assert; you are surely right; he was a sincere, earnest reasoner and teacher. He was a conscientious student, and did not by any word lead me to feel that he did not respect all religions, and bow to the Creator of the universe, its sciences, and its religions. His demeanor was most considerate, his methods faultless, his love of nature deep, his patience inexhaustible, his sincerity unimpeachable. Yes," the old man said; "you are right in your admiration of this lovely personage, and when you come to meet this being as you are destined yet to do--for know now that you too will some day pass from surface earth, and leave only your name in connection with this story of myself--you will surely then form a still greater love and a deeper respect for one so gifted, and yet so self-sacrificing." "Old man," I cried, "you mock me. I spoke facetiously, and you answer literally. Know that I have no confidence in your sailor-like tales, your Marco Polo history." "Ah! You discredit Marco Polo? And why do you doubt?" "Because I have never seen such phenomena, I have never witnessed such occurrences. I must see a thing to believe it." "And so you believe only what you see?" he queried. "Yes." "Now answer promptly," he commanded, and his manner changed as by magic to that of a master. "Did you ever see Greenland?" "No." "Iceland?" "No." "A geyser?" "No." "A whale?" "No." "England?" "No." "France?" "No." "A walrus?" "No." "Then you do not believe that these conditions, countries, and animals have an existence?" "Of course they have." "Why?" "Others have seen them."