{"id":"01KG8AKMH9A2BA7GH4VHWG7E77","cid":"bafkreifvpt6mgwlwtuz6iowqjryim7wiei2k6wd27weso45tzejvethxc4","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":1629,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:09.927Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1954N2G0NAERBNJXEX9","start_line":1527,"text":"Like a Hindoo pagoda, this bamboo edifice rose story above story; its\r\nmany angles and points decorated with pearl-shells suspended by cords.\r\nBut the uppermost story, some ten toises in the air, was closely\r\nthatched from apex to floor; which summit was gained by a series of\r\nascents.\r\n\r\nWhat eremite dwelleth here, like St. Stylites at the top of his\r\ncolumn?—a question which Mohi seemed all eagerness to have answered.\r\n\r\nDropping upon his knees, he gave a peculiar low call: no response.\r\nAnother: all was silent. Marching up to the pagoda, and again dropping\r\nupon his knees, he shook the bamboos till the edifice rocked, and its\r\npearl-shells jingled, as if a troop of Andalusian mules, with bells\r\nround their necks, were galloping along the defile.\r\n\r\nAt length the thatch aloft was thrown open, and a head was thrust\r\nforth. It was that of an old, old man; with steel-gray eyes, hair and\r\nbeard, and a horrible necklace of jaw-bones.\r\n\r\nNow, issuing from the pagoda, Mohi turned about to gain a view of the\r\nghost he had raised; and no sooner did he behold it, than with King\r\nMedia and the rest, he made a marked salutation.\r\n\r\nPresently, the eremite pointed to where Yoomy was standing; and waved\r\nhis hand upward; when Mohi informed the minstrel, that it was St.\r\nStylites’ pleasure, that he should pay him a visit.\r\n\r\nWondering what was to come, Yoomy proceeded to mount; and at last\r\narriving toward the top of the pagoda, was met by an opening, from\r\nwhich an encouraging arm assisted him to gain the ultimate landing.\r\n\r\nHere, all was murky enough; for the aperture from which the head of the\r\napparition had been thrust, was now closed; and what little twilight\r\nthere was, came up through the opening in the floor.\r\n\r\nIn this dismal seclusion, silently the hermit confronted the minstrel;\r\nhis gray hair, eyes, and beard all gleaming, as if streaked with\r\nphosphorus; while his ghastly gorget grinned hideously, with all its\r\njaws.\r\n\r\nMutely Yoomy waited to be addressed; but hearing no sound, and becoming\r\nalive to the strangeness of his situation, he meditated whether it\r\nwould not be well to subside out of sight, even as he had come—through\r\nthe floor. An intention which the eremite must have anticipated; for of\r\na sudden, something was slid over the opening; and the apparition\r\nseating itself thereupon, the twain were in darkness complete.\r\n\r\nShut up thus, with an inscrutable stranger posted at the only aperture\r\nof escape, poor Yoomy fell into something like a panic; hardly knowing\r\nwhat step to take next. As for endeavoring to force his way out, it was\r\nalarming to think of; for aught he knew, the eremite, availing himself\r\nof the gloom, might be bristling all over with javelin points.\r\n\r\nAt last, the silence was broken.\r\n\r\n“What see you, mortal?”\r\n\r\n“Chiefly darkness,” said Yoomy, wondering at the audacity of the\r\nquestion.\r\n\r\n“I dwell in it. But what else see you, mortal?”\r\n\r\n“The dim gleaming of thy gorget.”\r\n\r\n“But that is not me. What else dost thou see?”\r\n\r\n“Nothing.”\r\n\r\n“Then thou hast found me out, and seen all! Descend.”\r\n\r\nAnd with that, the passage-way opened, and groping through the\r\ntwilight, Yoomy obeyed the mandate, and retreated; full of vexation at\r\nhis enigmatical reception.\r\n\r\nOn his alighting, Mohi inquired whether the hermit was not a wonderful\r\npersonage.\r\n\r\nBut thinking some sage waggery lurked in the question; and at present\r\ntoo indignant to enter into details, the minstrel made some impatient\r\nreply; and winding through a defile, the party resumed its journey.\r\n\r\nStraggling behind, to survey the strange plants and flowers in his\r\npath, Yoomy became so absorbed, as almost to forget the scene in the\r\npagoda; yet every moment expected to be nearing the stately abode of\r\nthe Pontiff.\r\n\r\nBut suddenly, the scene around grew familiar; the path seemed that\r\nwhich had been followed just after leaving the canoes; and at length,\r\nthe place of debarkation was in sight.\r\n\r\nSurprised that the object of our visit should have been thus abandoned,\r\nthe minstrel ran forward, and sought an explanation.\r\n\r\nWhereupon, Mohi lifted his hands in amazement; exclaiming at the\r\nblindness of the eyes, which had beheld the supreme Pontiff of Maramma,\r\nwithout knowing it.\r\n\r\nThe old hermit was no other than the dread Hivohitee; the pagoda, the\r\ninmost oracle of the isle.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQ13BDK91849MWT5SA42","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1954N2G0NAERBNJXEX9","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKMH9WA7H00VKQSXGR3WG","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:10.793Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:20.286Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}