The Night Land

And I spoke much with Naani concerning this matter of their position;

yet neither she nor her father, the Master Monstruwacan of that Refuge,

had any knowing either of our position; only that the Builder of the

Lesser Redoubt had come out of the Southward World in the Beginning, as

they had knowledge of by the Records.

Also, the father of Naani set that ancient Compass to bear; for, as he

made explanation to us through the Instrument, so great a power of the

Earth-Current must be ours that, perchance it was our force which did

affect the pointer from steadfastness. For, indeed, the needle did swing

in an arc, as we heard, that held between the North and the South;

within the Westward arc; but this it had done ever with them, and so was

a very helpless guide; save that, maybe, as we had thought, the force of

the Earth-Current that was with us, had in truth some power to pull the

needle towards us. And if this were so of verity, we made a reckoning

that set the Lesser Redoubt to the North; and they did likewise, and put

us to the South; yet was it all built upon the sand of guess-work; and

nothing to adventure the life and soul upon.

Now we, of curiosity; though a million times had it been done in the

past ages, set the compass before us, having it from the Great Museum.

But, as ever in that age, it did spin if we but stirred the needle, and

would stop nowheres with surety, for the flow of the Earth-Current from

the "Crack" beneath the Pyramid had a power to affect it away from the

North, and to set it wandering. And this may seem very strange to this

present Age; yet to that, it was most true to the seeming nature of

things; and harder to believe that ever it did once point steadfastly,

to prove a guide of sureness, and unfailing.

For, be it known, we knew the positions of the Land by tradition, coming

from that ancient time when, in the Half-Gloom they had builded the

Pyramid; they having known the use of that ancient compass, and with

sight of the Sun had named the Positions; though we of that far future

day had forgotten the very beginnings of those Names of Direction; and

used them but because our fathers did a million years and more. And

likewise we did the same with the names of the day and the night and the

weeks and the months and the years; though of the visible markings of

these there was nothing but only and always the everlasting night; yet

the same seeming very natural to that people.