Excerpt from Ardath the Story of a Dead Self, Vol. 1 of 3 Deep in the heart of the Caucasus mountains a wild storm was gathering. Drear' Shadows drooped and thickened above the Pass of Bariel, - that terrific gorge which like a mere thread seems to hang between the toppling frost-bound heights above and the black abysmal depths below, -clouds, fringed ominously With lurid green and white, drifted heavily yet swiftly across the jagged peaks where, looming largely out of the mist, the snow-capped crest of Mount Kazbek rose coldly white against the darkness Of the threatening sky. Night was approach ing, though away to the west a broad gash of crimson, a seeming wound in the breast of heaven, Showed where the sun had set an hour since. Now and again the rising wind moaned. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.