A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine, February 1950 — page 56: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

56 _ A. MERRITT’S FANTASY was golden, “To the traveler, all that he has left seemeth fair. And the eye of the mind is very kind, Alice, when it looks back upon the homeland.” “Well,” said Alice, “I came to be amused, and I am amused, indeed!” “Vou think that, I’m lying faster than a clock ticks,” said I, “but that’s always the way. If I wanted to lie to you about my country, I’d paint it down, not up. I know that the truth about it is too big for you to swallow.” “Like a poet, Sylvia,” said the girl, “he speaks of truth as a thing to swallow. Perhaps thou wouldest find it heavy. and hard of digestion, sir!” And she laughed at me. She was a saucy minx, but I liked her. She made a free fight of a conversation, and I like that, too. It’s a great deal better to be damned in the open than behind your back. I could see that she would give me a sigtied opinion of myself before I had been with her very long. Well, I was ready to try to shift the talk and to bring in that lovely, gentle, patient Sylvia, when in came a messenger on the run, a slim, handsome slip of a boy in hiplength tights, and a puff around the’ hips, and a brush of red curls, and a hat with a feather in it stuck on one side. He dropped to his knee and gave Sylvia a biggish fold of what looked like the sheen and the stiffness of old parchment, to my eye. There was a big seal on it, and the girl stood up and raised the parchment in both her hands, and said: “In the name of the goddess, the name- less!’ Then she sat down and broke the seal, and read what was inside, and shook her head. After that, she looked up at me, and sighed, “Thou hast come far,” she said. I nodded, on fire with eagerness. “And thou hast come for the sake of a friend?” “Ves,” said I. “What about Darrell?” For a moment, she had no answer to give me. Her face was troubled and she could not find words to say. I saw all this, and waited with fear tugging at my heart. She read out loud: “Thou wilt say to the stranger that what he would find may be found, but that the way to it leads by the Foun- — tain of Life.” And she dropped the parchment into her lap and sat there taking compassion on me with her gentle eyes. CHAPTER 16 The Fountain of Life HE Fountain of Life!” muttered the captain of the guard, with a nervous awe in his voice. “The Fountain of Life!” Alice gasped, losing her pertness for the first time. “Tt turns out that ’m right, and that Darrell ts here,” I said. “I don’t care where the trail goes, because I’m taking it. If you’ll tell me where it begins, I’ll try to finish it off!” “Wilt thou attempt it?” says Sylvia. “He never has seen the Fountain,” said Alice, “or the way that leads by it. Otherwise, his heart would surely shrink and wither at the thought of such a thing.” “Nay, Alice,” said the priestess, “for friendship is a mighty thing, and it flies to the stars, and anon it reaches to the center of the earth. Thou shalt behold the way, and I myself shall show it to thee. Alice, wilt thou come?” The pert Alice shook her head until her fancy headdress tinkled like small bells. “I have seen it once,” said she, “as we all must do, and once is enough for my spirit. The horrid dream of it follows me by night. I have seen the Fountain of Life, and one sight of it is enough. Wilt thou go down willingly, even to the entrance to the monstrous place, Sylvia?” “Behold, my will is even the will of the goddess,” said Syliva, “and I feel that she leadeth me now.” So she stood up, and we left Alice be- hind us in the garden, still calling after Sylvia, imploring her not to be rash; but the priestess was as calm and steady as a statue. We had for an escort on the beginning of this strange journey—the strangest, surely, that ever a man could make—two _ pairs of halberdiers, led by the gallant captain. We marched by long, descending chambers, halls, and narrow corridors, sometimes along inclines, sometimes over interminable flights of steps carved in the