Miss Church-Member consented to enter only after some hesitancy. It
was indeed a dark school, with long narrow halls where one could only
see the darker side of life. Everything about the place evidenced the
dark designs of Satan. The teachers in this infamous place, by a series
of graded instructions, suggested to their pupils that suicide was the
surest and shortest road to rest. In the darker rooms of the rear I
saw, to my horror, a scene that neither Mr. World nor Miss Church-Member
was permitted to see. _It was the daily graduating class of this school
of suicide._ Each member of the class was instructed by what new method
he might rend the strand of life with his own hand, in the desperate
and sickening hope of finding rest "where their worm dieth not, and
the fire is not quenched."
I quickly turned from this revolting spectacle, and saw that Mr. World
and Miss Church-Member had returned to the station called Rest. They
boarded the first car and were soon speeding on through Dismal Tunnel.
It was a welcome moment when the car emerged from the darkness into
the light of day and took its winding course upward toward the microcosm
of schools, which, as seen from this side of the mountain, also
presented a picture of imposing magnitude.
When the car reached the University station Mr. World and his friend
alighted, and at once entered one of the carriages in waiting. They
were hurried away toward a group of immense structures known as the
"College of the World's Literature;" and yet with all the immensity
of its buildings, it was but a small part of the whole University which
lay far extended over the distant mountain elevations.
As the noiseless carriage sped along I turned toward Blackana, who,
in strange muteness still tarried at my side. "I command you, O Black
Interpreter, to tell me of the origin and management of this College
of Literature." As I spoke he turned his face in a manner that made
me tremble. His sepulchral, husky voice only added to my uneasiness.
"It originated," he explained, "in simpler form, immediately after
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