for all the cold empty vastness of the space , the air felt queer and very close , as though some share of that weight were bearing down on his own shoulders ; laurence could not help but envision the cataclysm of an eventual collapse : the distant vault of the ceiling disintegrating brick by brick , until one day the arches could no longer hold up their heads and all , houses , streets , palace , mosques , the shining domes , came tumbling down , and drowned ten thousand in this waiting charnel-house .