I saw Ala
regarding Ingra with a puzzled look, and no wonder, for Edmund had been
careful that no one else should take enough of the wine to produce more
than the slightest exhilaration of spirits. It is possible that Edmund
had plied Ingra with the idea of rendering him less observant, and it
probably had that effect; but it resulted, as you will see presently, in
a revelation which finally put Edmund on guard against the very danger to
which he had seemed so insensible when I mentioned it to him before our
start.
The place where we now were was, beyond comparison, the most charming
that we had yet seen. A very Eden it seemed, wild, splendid, and remote
from all cultivation. The air was loaded with indescribable fragrance
shed from the thousands of strange blossoms that depended from trees and
shrubs, and starred the rich grass. I learned afterwards from Edmund, who
had it from Ala, that the spot was famous for its beauty and other
attractions, and was sometimes visited in air ships from the capital. But
for them, what took us but a few hours was a trip extending over several
days of time. One would have said that the forest was imbedded in a
garden of the most extraordinary orchids.
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