The speed of the planets, appeared to increase; and, presently, I was watching the sun, all ringed about with hair-like circles of different colored fire--the paths of the planets, hurtling at mighty speed, about the central flame.... "... the sun grew vast, as though it leapt to meet me.... And now I was within the circling of the outer planets, and flitting swiftly, toward the place where the earth, glimmering through the blue splendor of its orbit, as though a fiery mist, circled the sun at a monstrous speed...." [3] _XV_ THE NOISE IN THE NIGHT And now, I come to the strangest of all the strange happenings that have befallen me in this house of mysteries. It occurred quite lately--within the month; and I have little doubt but that what I saw was in reality the end of all things. However, to my story. I do not know how it is; but, up to the present, I have never been able to write these things down, directly they happened. It is as though I have to wait a time, recovering my just balance, and digesting--as it were--the things I have heard or seen. No doubt, this is as it should be; for, by waiting, I see the incidents more truly, and write of them in a calmer and more judicial frame of mind. This by the way. It is now the end of November. My story relates to what happened in the first week of the month. It was night, about eleven o'clock. Pepper and I kept one another company in the study--that great, old room of mine, where I read and work. I was reading, curiously enough, the Bible. I have begun, in these later days, to take a growing interest in that great and ancient book. Suddenly, a distinct tremor shook the house, and there came a faint and distant, whirring buzz, that grew rapidly into a far, muffled screaming. It reminded me, in a queer, gigantic way, of the noise that a clock makes, when the catch is released, and it is allowed to run down. The sound appeared to come from some remote height--somewhere up in the night. There was no repetition of the shock. I looked across at Pepper. He was sleeping peacefully. Gradually, the whirring noise decreased, and there came a long silence.