d dogging her; even that is scarce changed. Belike the fire
was an earth-fire, and for the rest we saw wrong in the moonlight."

Spake the first man again, and his voice quavered yet more: "Nay nay,
Otter, it is not so. Lo you the skeleton and the bones and the grey
stones! And the fire, here this minute, there the next. O Otter, this
is an evil place of an evil deed! Let us go seek elsewhere; let us
depart, lest a worse thing befall us." And so with no more ado he
turned his horse and smote his spurs into him and galloped off by the
way he had come, and the others followed, nothing loth; only Otter
tarried a little, and looked around him and laughed and said: "There
goes my Lord's nephew; like my Lord he is not over bold, save in
dealing with a shackled man. Well, for my part if those others have
sunk into the earth, or gone up into the air, they are welcome to their
wizardry, and I am glad of it. For I know not how I should have done
to have seen my mate that out-tilted me made a gelded wretch of; and it
would have irked me to see that fair woman in the hands of the
tormentors, though forsooth I have oft seen such sights. Well, it is
good; but better were it to ride with my mate than serve the Devil and
his Nephew."

Therewith he turned rein and galloped off after the others, and in a
little while the sound of them had died off utterly into the night, and
they heard but the voices of the wild things, and the wimbrel laughing
from the hill-sides. Then came the Sage and drew the cloak from those
two, and laughed on them and said: "Now may ye sleep soundly, when I
have mended our fire; for ye will see no more of Utterbol for this
time, and it yet lacks three hours of dawn: sleep ye then and dream of
each other." Then they arose and thanked the Sage with whole hearts and
praised his wisdom. But while the old man mended the fire Ralph went
up to Ursula and took her hand, and said: "Welcome to life,
fellow-farer!" and he gazed earnestly into her eyes, as though he would
have her fall into his arms: but whereas she rather shrank from him,
though she looked on him lovingly, if somewhat shyly, he but kissed her
hand, and laid him down again, when he had seen her lying in her place.
And therewith they fell asleep and slept sweetly.

CHAPTER 8

They Come to the Sea of Molten Rocks

When they woke again the sun was high above their heads, and they saw
the Sage dighting their breakfast. So they arose and wash