front of the red glare in the sky, but nothing more. Even
the dry throats of the suitors in the courtyard hardly mustered a husky
cry of welcome as the cavalcade trooped into the enclosure, and then
the shadows enfolded them up in silence, and, too hot and listless to
care much what the morrow brought forth, I threw myself on the bare
floor, tossing and turning in a vain endeavour to sleep until dawn came
once more.

A thin mist which fell with daybreak drew a veil over the horrible
glare in the west for an hour or two, and taking advantage of the
slight alleviation of heat, I rose and went into the gardens to enjoy a
dip in a pool, making, with its surrounding jungle of flowers, one of
the pleasantest things about the wood-king's forest citadel. The very
earth seemed scorched and baking underfoot--and the pool was gone! It
had run as dry as a limekiln; nothing remained of the pretty fall which
had fed it but a miserable trickle of drops from the cascade above.
Down beyond the town shone a gleam of water where the bitter canal
steamed and simmered in the first grey of the morning, but up here six
months of scorching drought could not have worked more havoc. The very
leaves were dropping from the trees, and the luxuriant growths of the
day before looked as though a simoon had played upon them.

I staggered back in disgust, and found some show of official activity
about the palace. It was the king's custom, it appeared, to hear
petitions and redress wrongs as soon after his return as possible, but
today the ceremony was to be cut short as his majesty was going out
with all his court to a neighbouring mountain to "pray away the comet,"
which by this time was causing dire alarm all through the city.

"Heaven's own particular blessing on his prayers, my friend," I said to
the man who told me this. "Unless his majesty's orisons are fruitful,
we shall all be cooked like baked potatoes before nightfall, and though
I have faced many kinds of death, that is not the one I would choose by
preference. Is there a chance of myself being heard at the throne?
Your peculiar climate tempts me to hurry up with my business and begone
if I may."

"Not only may you be heard, sir, but you are summoned. The king has
heard of you somehow, and sent me to find and bring you into his
presence at once."

"So be it," I said, too hot to care what happened. "I have no levee
dress with me. I lost my luggage check some time ago, but if you