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"Pym scarcely heard the word 'farewell; for he was crossing the threshold of the house as Masusaelili uttered it, and Peters was turning to follow. They ran as rapidly as the snow and the cutting wind would permit, and had covered the necessary three miles in about half an hour. The air was growing intensely cold.
If I do not overtax your time and your patience, I should like to ask you, Diregus, to suggest to your father and to Masusaelili this thought: Since the termination of those extended surveys which the State inaugurated and terminated after the departure of that ship which visited us about two hundred and fifty years ago, we have been aware that Hili-li is situated in a great inland sea, about twelve hundred miles in diameter, which sea contains from two hundred to three hundred islands, and in which our main island occupies a position some three hundred miles from the nearest mainland in one direction, and some nine hundred miles from the nearest mainland in another direction.
"'None but God, said Masusaelili, 'knows of a certainty the future. Truly wise men, and the lower animals, when they would penetrate the future, use not the crude instrument termed reason; but rather do they nestle close to the bosom of what now call ye Him? Thine ancestors, the barbarians of Britannia, when I was with them, named Him God. Thus, and only thus, may the future become known to thee.
Masusaelili took an interest in the unfortunate young man, and allowed him at first to be brought occasionally to the studio which the reader has already visited, and later to become an assistant in his researches.
Feel'st thou not with thine hand the heat escape? Again I say, go hence, vain youth. "Pym stood for a moment, meditating; and then something perhaps something connected with the words several months before whispered into his ear by Masusaelili impelled him to say: "'Good sir, we meant you no harm. Tell me, Allwise One, can you read the future?
We have not forgotten the strange power which Masusaelili is able to exert over a limited number of persons at one time.
"'If thou hast aught of importance to impart, 'continued the voice that of Masusaelili still stridulous, but now having also the quality possessed by a voice heard through a speaking-tube, 'put thy mouth near to the spigot-hole, and disclose thine errand.
"When the party had made Ahpilus as comfortable as possible in the bottom of the boat, and had seated themselves preparatory to their return, Medosus stepped down to the shore, and asked Diregus if he would convey for the exiles a message to the King and Councillors of Hili-li, and also to the aged mystic, Masusaelili, who, though not an official, was in reality the chief adviser of those who did control the kingdom.
None knew how old he was they, the rulers, knew not; or if they did, on that subject they were silent. Some said that on the ship which brought the nucleus of their race from Rome, came Masusaelili with the others an aged man, the oldest on the vessel. There he stood before the visitors, his white beard trailing on the tiling at his feet, his shrunken form erect. But, whence the terror?
Pym and Peters were motioned to seats in the hallway, the Duke remarking, in hushed tones, 'The home of Masusaelili, as he and Diregus passed through a broken and decaying doorway into apartments beyond. Soon Diregus returned, and, escorting Pym and Peters through several disordered rooms, finally paused before a large curtained doorway.
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