hers.

"Ah, yes, you can," he told her, "yes, you can."

Then he folded his arms and leaned against the stone prisms again,
looking down at her. Evidently the magician, whoever he was, did not
mind his saying that, for the palace did not crumble or the moon
cease from shining on the white walls.

"Still," she answered, looking toward the sea, "queer things _are_
true in Yaque. It is queer that you are here. Say that it is."

"Heaven knows that it is," assented St. George obediently.

Presently, realizing that the terrace did not intend to turn into a
cloud out-of-hand, they set themselves to talk seriously, and St.
George had not known her so adorable, he was once more certain, as
when she tried to thank him for his pursuit the night before. He had
omitted to mention that he had brought her back alone to the Palace
of the Litany, for that was too exquisite a thing, he decided, to be
spoiled by leaving out the most exquisite part. Besides, there was
enough that was serious to be discussed, in all conscience, in spite
of the moon.

"Tell me," said St. George instead, "what has happened to you since
that breakfast at the Boris. Remember, I have come all the way from
New York to interview you, Mademoiselle the Princess."

So Olivia told him the story of the passage in the submarine which
had arrived in Yaque two days earlier than _The Aloha_; of the first
trip up Mount Khalak in the imperial airship; of Mrs. Hastings'
frantic fear and her utter refusal ever to descend; and of what she
herself had done since her arrival. This included a most practical
account of effort that delighted and amazed St. George. No wonder
Mrs. Hastings had said that she always left everything "executive"
to Olivia. For Olivia had sent wireless messages all over the island
offering an immense reward for information about the king, her
father; she had assigned forty servants of the royal household to
engage in a personal search for such information and to report to
her each night; she had ordered every house in Yaque, not excepting
the House of the Litany and the king's palace itself, to be searched
from dungeon to tower; and, as St. George already knew, she had
brought about a special meeting of the High Council at noon that
day.

"It was very little," said the American princess apologetically,
"but I did what I could."

"What about the meeting of the High Council?" asked St. George
eagerly; "didn't anything come of that?"

"Nothing,"