She went with a swift, eager step, and on reaching the outer hall was unexpectedly confronted by the dumb negro who had at first admitted her to the Château. He made her a sign to follow him, and she obeyed. Down a long, winding, rather dark passage they went till their further progress was stopped by a huge door made of some iridescent metal which glowed as with interior fire. It was so enormously thick, and wide and lofty, and clamped with such weighty bars and mysteriously designed fastenings, that it might have been the door imagined by Dante when he wrote: “All hope abandon, ye who enter here.” Diana felt her heart beating a little more quickly, but she kept a good grip on her nerves, and looked questioningly at her guide. His dark face gave no sign in response; he merely laid one hand on the centre panel of the door with a light pressure. “Come in!” said the voice of Dimitrius. “Don’t hesitate!” At that moment the whole door lifted itself as it were from a deep socket in the ground and swung upwards like the portcullis of an ancient bridge, only without any noise, disclosing a vast circular space covered in by a dome of glass, or some substance clearer than glass, through which the afternoon glory of the September sunshine blazed with an almost blinding intensity. Immediately under the dome, and in the exact centre of the circular floor, was a wonderful looking piece of mechanism, a great wheel which swept round and round incessantly and rapidly, casting from its rim millions and millions of sparks of light or fire. “Come in!” again called Dimitrius. “Why do you stand waiting there?” Diana looked back for a second,--the great metal door had closed behind her,--the negro attendant had disappeared,--she was shut within this great weird chamber with Dimitrius and that whirling Wheel! A sudden giddiness overcame her--she stretched out her hands blindly for support--they were instantly caught in a firm, kind grasp. “Keep steady! That’s right!” This, as she rallied her forces and tried to look up. “It’s not easy to watch any sort of Spherical Motion without wanting to go with it among ‘the dancing stars!’ There! Better?” “Indeed, yes! I’m so sorry and ashamed!” she said. “Such a stupid weakness! But I have never seen anything like it----” “No, I’m sure you have not!” And Dimitrius released her hands and stood beside her. “To give you greater relief, I would stop the Wheel if I could--but I cannot!” “You cannot?”