ead; saw that he too
was caught in this grip of the invisible. But his face was calm, even
amused.

"Keep cool, Doc!" he said. "Remember--she wants to learn the
language!"

Now from Yolara burst chime upon chime of mocking laughter. She gave
a command--the hands loosened, the poniard withdrew from my heart;
suddenly as I had been caught I was free--and unpleasantly weak and
shaky.

"Have you _that_ in Ireland, Larree!" cried the priestess--and once
more trembled with laughter.

"A good play, Yolara." His voice was as calm as his face. "But they
did that in Ireland even before Dalua piped away his first man's
shadow. And in Goodwin's land they make ships--coria that go on
water--so you can pass by them and see only sea and sky; and those
water coria are each of them many times greater than this whole palace
of yours."

But the priestess laughed on.

"It did get me a little," whispered Larry. "That wasn't quite up to
my mark. But God! If we could find that trick out and take it back
with us!"

"Not so, Larree!" Yolara gasped, through her laughter. "Not so!
Goodwin's cry betrayed you!"

Her good humour had entirely returned; she was like a mischievous
child pleased over some successful trick; and like a child she
cried--"I'll show you!"--signalled again; whispered to the maid who,
quickly returning, laid before her a long metal case. Yolara took from
her girdle something that looked like a small pencil, pressed it and
shot a thin stream of light for all the world like an electric flash,
upon its hasp. The lid flew open. Out of it she drew three flat, oval
crystals, faint rose in hue. She handed one to O'Keefe and one to me.

"Look!" she commanded, placing the third before her own eyes. I
peered through the stone and instantly there leaped into sight, out of
thin air--six grinning dwarfs! Each was covered from top of head to
soles of feet in a web so tenuous that through it their bodies were
plain. The gauzy stuff seemed to vibrate--its strands to run together
like quick-silver. I snatched the crystal from my eyes and--the
chamber was empty! Put it back--and there were the grinning six!

Yolara gave another sign and they disappeared, even from the crystals.

"It is what they wear, Larree," explained Yolara, graciously. "It is
something that came to us from--the Ancient Ones. But we have so
few"--she sighed.

"Such treasures must be two-edged swords, Yolara," commented O'Keefe.
"For how know you that o