ilk of molten copper, her strange eyes wide and smiling, the
galaxies of tiny stars sparkling through their gray depths.

And all about her swirled a countless host of the Little Things!

From them came the gem fires piercing the aureate mists. They played
and frolicked about her in scores of swiftly forming, swiftly changing,
goblin shapes. They circled her feet in shining, elfin rings; then
opening into flaming disks and stars, shot up and spun about the white
miracle of her body in great girdles of multi-colored living fires.
Mingled with disk and star were tiny crosses gleaming with sullen, deep
crimsons and smoky orange.

A flash of blue incandescence and a slender pillared shape leaped from
the floor; became a coronet, a whirling, flashing halo toward which
streamed up the flaming tendrilings of her tresses. Other halos circled
her arms and breasts; they spun like bracelets about the outstretched
arms.

Then like a swiftly rushing wave a host of the Little Things thrust
themselves up, covered her, hid her in a coruscating cloud.

I saw an exquisite arm thrust itself from their clinging, wave gaily;
saw her glorious head emerge from the incredible, the seething draperies
of living jewels. I heard her laughter, sweet and golden and far away.

Goddess of the Inexplicable! Madonna of the Metal Babes!

The Nursery of the Metal People!

Norhala was gone, blotted out from our sight! Gone too were the bar of
light and the chamber into which we had been peering. We stared at a
smooth, blank wall. With that same ensorcelled swiftness the wall had
closed even as we had stared through it; closed so quickly that we had
not seen its motion.

I gripped Drake; shrank with him into the farthest corner--for on the
other side of us the wall was opening. First it was only a crack; then
rapidly it widened. There stretched another passageway, luminous and
long; far down it we glimpsed movement. Closer that movement came,
grew plainer. Out of the mistily luminous distances, three abreast and
filling the corridor from side to side, raced upon us a company of the
great spheres!

Back we cowered from their approach--back and back; arms outstretched,
pressing against the barrier, flattening ourselves against the shock of
the destroying impact menacing.

"It's all up," muttered Drake. "No place to run. They're bound to smash
us. Stick close, Doc. Get back to Ruth. Maybe I can stop them!"

Before I could check him, he had leaped