But if the Atlantean industries were arranged with a regard for the welfare and esthetic sensibilities of the people as a whole, scarcely less pains had been taken to insure the health and convenience of the workers. I will not speak of the safety devices, which had been so perfected that accidents were virtually unknown; I will not dwell upon the precautions to vary the monotony even of the two-or three-hour working day, to make possible individual initiative, to guard against fatigue and excessive strain, or to render the surroundings pleasant to the eye and mind. But what I must mention, because it impressed me as unique, is the fact that the workers were housed in dwellings not less imposing than the most stately city homes. The road took us through half a dozen villages reserved for the factory workers; and each of these seemed to be in itself a work of art, with many-columned residences, arches and marble portals and connecting colonnades, flowered parks and statuary and fountains, all co-ordinated in a tasteful and elegant design. CHAPTER XXI The Wall and the Wind-makers That evening we were lodged in the city of Arvon, a moderately large town which differed strikingly from anything we had yet seen. Its scattered houses were huddled amid vegetation so thick that from a distance it resembled a forest; and even at close range one could not lose sight of its sylvan aspect, since all the buildings were vine-covered and painted a green and brown that harmonized ideally with the woodland colors. But I must not devote too much space to the strange appearance of this town--still stranger sights were to greet me on the following day. For then I was to reach a turning-point in my journey, and to penetrate some of the salient mysteries of Atlantis. Even though I did not know what interesting discoveries were before me, I had a hint of something unusual very early in the morning. We had hardly left Arvon when I observed that the golden-lighted dome seemed lower and nearer than usual, and curved gradually down to westward until it appeared to merge with the ground. “There’s where the glass wall begins,” said one of the tutors, pointing; and I looked eagerly, hopeful that we would soon reach the wall itself. A little further on, the road curved abruptly southward, and for several miles we merely paralleled the wall. Then, to my joy, a familiar gurgling met my ears--we were back again near the Salty River. Straight across the stream we passed on an arching bridge dominated by a crystalline pale-blue colonnade; and, on the further side, we again turned westward, and followed the river directly toward the green glass wall.