pon him again and again from either
end of the cave. A strange sensation came over him. His heart began to
quicken; a cold chill seized him. He threw off the feeling. He cursed
his timidity and superstition. "On, on!" he cried. "Revenge is near." He
reached the silken curtain that formed the door of the fairies' room. He
drew it aside, gloating over the thought of the terror which his sudden
appearance would excite. A single lantern burned upon the wall, and by
its light he saw that the room was empty! Signs of confusion were
everywhere. The stand lay just where it had fallen, and under it the
"Wisdom of the Pixies" was outspread upon the floor.

"Faith! Sophia!" he shouted. The voice died away among the arches. There
was a faint noise at his side. He turned quickly. There stood Tigrina.
Her face was gaunt, her cheeks hollow, her eyes burned like balls of
fire.

"Hag! fiend! wretch!" yelled Spite. "What have you done with the
Nurses?" He drew his sword and took a step toward the old Pixinee.

"Oho!" said Tigrina, uttering a harsh cackling laugh. "You have come at
last, have you? The pretty Nurses! Where are they? Ha, ha, ha! That is
good--good! You didn't know that the Brownies had been here, hey? Didn't
know that Faith and Sophia are safe in the Brownie camp, hey? Oh, no!
that is very good--very! You didn't know that I had been left here
sealed up in the cave--oh, no, not you!"

Spite stopped, then staggered backward as though he had been struck a
violent blow. The whole truth flashed upon him. He understood now the
mysterious outburst of joy in Brownie camp and fleet. Faith and Sophia
were gone,--safe from his power and revenge among their own friends!
Fortune had again failed him. His breast was torn by a tempest of
passions. This last defeat was even worse than the loss of his camp and
the rout of his army. He broke forth into wild, blasphemous reproaches
of Tigrina for failing to keep the fairies in her charge. Again he
lifted his sword and again he started toward the Pixinee.

There was something in the attitude of Tigrina which caused him suddenly
to pause. Her eyes shone in the dim light of the cave; her sharp, long
fangs swayed back and forth, touching each other with a grating sound;
her back curved; she sank into a stooping posture. Spite felt her hot
breath strike his face as it hissed through her clattering teeth. He
knew too well what all this meant. The "blind fury" had seized the
Pixinee!

Fly, Sp