No reply was made; only the father, putting out
one of his hands, touched a handle or key near him, whereupon one of the
brass globes began slowly revolving. A low murmur of sound arose, and
seemed to pass like a wave through the room, dying away in the distance,
soon to be succeeded by another, and then another, each marked by an
increase of power; and often as this solemn sound died away, faint
flute-like notes were heard as if approaching, but still at a great
distance, and in the ensuing wave of sound from the great globes they
would cease to be distinguishable. Still the mysterious coming sounds
continued at intervals to grow louder and clearer, joined by other tones
as they progressed, now altogether bursting out in joyous chorus, then
one purest liquid note soaring bird-like alone, but whether from voices
or wind-instruments I was unable to tell, until the whole air about me
was filled and palpitating with the strange, exquisite harmony, which
passed onwards, the tones growing fewer and fainter by degrees until
they almost died out of hearing in the opposite direction.
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