Mr. Chambers, once a professor of metaphysics, had for the twenty years since his dismissal lived a reclusive, solitary life, only venturing outside his room for his daily walk and cigar. Then one day, inexplicably, he forgot to buy the cigar, the walk took fifteen minutes less.Determined to make sure he doesn't make the same mistake again and miss the street where he buys his daily cigar he sets out the next day. Then the truth hits him - the street isn't there anymore.
A young, independently wealthy traveller (the narrator), who accidentally finds his way into a subterranean, strange world occupied by beings who seem to resemble angels and call themselves Vril-ya.
One of the chief purposes of psychiatry is to separate fantasy from reality. It is reasonable to expect that future psychiatrists will know more about this borderline than the most learned doctors of today. Yet now and again even the best of them may encounter situations that defy all logic.