The works of Edgar Allan Poe; newly collected and edited, with a memoir, critical introductions, and notes, by Edmund Clarence Stedman and George Edward Woodberry; the illustrations by Albert Edward Sterner.

THE DOMAIN OF ARNHEIM

to fancy a panoramic cataract of rubies, sapphires,
opals and golden onyxes, rolling silently out of the sky.
The visitor, shooting suddenly into this bay from
out the gloom of the ravine, is delighted but astounded
by the full orb of the declining sun, which he had
supposed to be already far below the horizon, but
which now confronts him, and forms the sole termination of an otherwise limitless vista seen through
another chasm-like rift in the hills.
But here the voyager quits the vessel which has
borne him so far, and descends into a light canoe of
ivory, stained with arabesque devices in vivid scarlet,
both within and without. The poop and beak of this
boat rise high above the water, with sharp points, so
that the general form is that of an irregular crescent.
It lies on the surface of the bay with the proud grace
of a swan. On its ermined floor reposes a single
feathery paddle of satin-wood; but no oarsman or
attendant is to be seen. The guest is bidden to be
of good cheer —that the fates will take care of him.
The larger vessel disappears, and he is left alone in
the canoe, which lies apparently motionless in the
middle of the lake. While he considers what course
to pursue, however, he becomes aware of a gentle
movement in the fairy bark. It slowly swings itself
around until its prow points toward the sun. It
advances with a gentle but gradually accelerated
velocity, while the slight ripples it creates seem to
break about the ivory sides in divinest melody - seem
to offer the only possible explanation of the soothing
yet melancholy music for whose unseen origin the
bewildered voyager looks around him in vain.
The canoe steadily proceeds, and the rocky gate of
the vista is approached, so that its depths can be more
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