The Ark (1920) was begun shortly after Arnyvelde was conscripted during the Great War and finished after he was demobilized. A deliberately extravagant fantasy, it is a psychological Ark meant to carry him through the Deluge of the war, permitting him-as long as he avoids being killed-to endure the devastation of his personal happy valley. This volume also includes The King of Galade (1910), a fantasy in which the eponymous hero emerges from his idyllic valley kingdom, surrounded by seemingly insurmountable mountains, to explore the outside world and investigate its wonders and vicissitudes.