en brought from the
watercourse.

The plain statement given Bara Miyan that the Myzab and the Black
Stone must be left on the grass until the Feringi had again flown away
toward their own country, had duly impressed the Arabs. They had seen
two sticks of the explosive laid on the holy objects, and well had
understood that any treachery would result in the annihilation of the
most sacred objects of their faith.

The Master felt, as well he might, that he absolutely held the whip
hand of the Jannati Shahr people. Elation shone in his face and in the
faces of all. The problem now had simplified itself to just this:
What weight of jewels and of gold could _Nissr_, by jettisoning every
dispensable thing, whatsoever, carry out of El Barr, over the Iron
Mountains and the Arabian Desert, back to the civilization that would
surely make peace with the Legion which would bring such incalculable
wealth?

Even the Master's level head swam a little, and his cool nerves
tingled, as he sat on his galloping white horse, riding beside the
Olema, with the thunder of the rushing squadrons--Arabs and his own
men--like music of vast power in his ears.

He did not, however, lose the coldly analytic faculty that weighed
all contingencies. The adventure still was critical; but the scales
of success seemed lowering in favor of the Legion. The feel, in his
breast pocket, of the leather sack containing Kaukab el Durri, which
he had again taken possession of after the magic tests, gave added
encouragement. This, the third gift, was to be delivered only at the
last moment, just before _Nissr_ should roar aloft.

"I think," reflected the Master, "the Pearl Star is an important
factor. It certainly will put the final seal of success on this
extraordinary bargain."

While his thoughts were busy with the pros and cons of the
soul-shaking adventure now coming to its climax, his eyes were busy
with the city wall and towers every moment closer, closer still.

The Master's knowledge of geology gave him the key to the otherwise
inexplicable character of Jannati Shahr. This gold, in incredible
masses, had not been mined and brought hither to be fashioned into a
great city.

Quite the contrary, it formed part of the cliffs and black mountains
themselves. Some stupendous volcanic upheaval of the remote past had
cleft the mountain wall, and had extruded through the "fault" a huge
"dyke" of virgin metal--to use technical terms. This golden dyke, two
a