shadows thrown upward from them by the torches, made the sides of
the
chamber look as if they were crowded with statues upon brackets and
pedestals, reaching in irregular tiers from floor to roof. The walls
themselves were, in many parts, of gloriously shining substances, some
of them gorgeously colored besides, which powerfully contrasted with
the shadows. Curdie could not help wondering whether his rhymes
would be
of any use against such a multitude of goblins as filled the floor of
the hall, and indeed felt considerably tempted to begin his shout of
_One, two, three!_ but as there was no reason for routing them, and
much
for endeavoring to discover their designs, he kept himself perfectly
quiet, and peeping round the edge of the doorway, listened with both
his
sharp ears.
At the other end of the hall, high above the heads of the multitude, was
a terrace-like ledge of considerable height, caused by the receding of
the upper part of the cavern wall. Upon this sat the king and his court,
the king on a throne hollowed out of a huge block of green copper ore,
and his court upon lower seats around it. The king had been making
them
Madhuri Noah
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