Then could I see, at a glance, the whole under-ground dominions stretching their borders far, wide, and deep. There was a small empire of groveling imps, each bent on the work of his particular branch. “Look thou now into the apartments of those ponderous wheels,” directed my glorious guide. Neither metal nor granite obstructed my vision. I saw delicate and complex machinery, and half-human creatures in league with mortal man, all bending to their tasks. “They all work in league with the Devil’s Optical College. The inventive genius of Hell hath contrived, in these graded departments, all the modern lenses that are so terribly warping the vision of an alarming number in the church and the world. “And seest thou,” continued the angel, as he pointed to a far section of the city, “those inventors plying their ingenuity in behalf of Satan’s Medical Colleges and Hospitals? “And also witness, in that nearer section, the viler groups at work inventing snares and traps for Satan’s allies to use in catching Heaven-bound pilgrims. “Also behold,” he continued, turning to another part of the city, “that special class of geniuses who work for Satan’s general emissaries as they journey far and wide to do exploits. How terribly they influence the weaker servants of our King!” Then I stood gazing, as the angel continued his interpreting, until I had seen the foul workings of this whole city. I was so filled with a mixture of grief and indignation that I cried out in painful anguish: “Why does not God send thunderbolts from his eternal throne, and smite this city to fragments?” Then the sweet angel calmly answered: “Not until the worm ceaseth to crawl, and thistles no more infest the ground. Till then the patience of God endureth and his sunshine falleth on the temples of Virtue and of Vice.” “And what comes at the end of patience?” “Then shall the taint of sin be purged from the earth, for every temple and pest-hole of Satan, including this whole Wizard City, will be consumed by an awful fire whose lurid light will glimmer long after the metals and granites of this great Tower shall have been reduced to ashes amidst the general ruin.” CHAPTER XVIII. THE FESTIVAL. 1. The whole scheme of merchandising in the church is laid bare as Satan explains the origin of the word “Festival.” Looking once again through the open door, I saw that Mr. World and Miss Church-Member, after leaving the Wizard City, had gained admission to the auditorium where the Ways and Means Committee was in session. Miss Church-Member at once retired to the waiting-room in the rear, and sat quietly perusing a book while her companion remained in the large hall and listened to the proceedings. An agent of Satan occupied the chair. He was dressed in pleasing costume, and controlled the assemblage with parliamentary dignity.