Very contending emotions possessed the hearts of the Legionaries, in
different reactions to their diverse temperaments. Only a vast
wonder mirrored itself in some faces, a kind of numb groping after
comprehension, a failure to believe such a thing possible as a city of
pure and solid gold.
Others showed more critical interest, appreciation of the wonderful
artistic effects of the carven gold in all its architectural
developments under the skilled chisels of the Jannati Shahr folk.
Still others manifested only greed. The eyes of such, feverishly
devouring walls, cornices, pillars, seemed to say:
"God! If we only had the smallest of these things, what a fortune that
would mean! What an incredible fortune!"
Each man, reacting under the overwhelming stimulus of this wonder
city, in his own expression betrayed the heart and soul within him.
And thus, each absorbed in his own thoughts and dreams, silently the
Legionaries pondered as they galloped through the enchanted streets.
Some fifteen minutes' riding, with no slackening of the pace and
always on an upward grade toward what seemed the central citadel of
Jannati Shahr, brought the party to an inner wall, forty feet high
and pierced by a triple-arched gate surmounted by a minaret of golden
lacery.
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