cal with her last directions. There had been
no time for her to tell us anything about herself. Alan had asked her
why she had come here and how she had gotten the drugs. She waved him
away:

"On the journey down. Plenty of time, then."

"How long?" Alan demanded.

"Not too long. If we are careful with managing the trip, what you
might call ten hours."

* * * * *

And now as we were ready to start, she told us calmly:

"I will give you each your share of the drugs, but them you take only
as I tell you."

She produced from her robe several small vials a few inches long. They
were tightly stoppered. The feel of them was cool and sleek; they
seemed of some strange, polished metal. Some of them were tinted black
while the others glowed opalescent. She gave each of us one vial of
each kind.

"The light ones are for diminishing," she said. "We take them very
carefully, one small pellet only at first."

Alan was opening one of his, but she checked him.

"Wait! The drug evaporates very quickly. I have more to say, first. We
sit here together. Then you follow me to the white slab. We climb upon
the little rock."

She laid her hands on our arms. Her blue eyes regarded us earnestly.
Her manner was naive; childlike. But I could not mistake her
intelligence; the force of character stamped on her face for all its
dainty, ethereal beauty.

"Alan--" She smiled at him, and tossed back a straying lock of her
hair which was annoying her. "You pay attention, Alan. You are very
young, reckless. You listen. We must not be separated. You understand
that, both of you? We will be always in that little piece of rock. But
there will be miles of distance. And to be lost in size--"

Strange journey upon which now we were starting! Lost in size?

"You understand me? Lost in size. If that happens, we might never find
each other. And if we come upon the Doctor Polter and the girl he
holds captive--if we can overtake them--"

"We must!" I exclaimed. "And we must start, Glora!"

"Yes. Now!"

* * * * *

She showed us which pellet to select. They were of several sizes, I
found. And as she afterward told us, the larger ones were not only
larger but of an intensified strength. We took the smallest. It was
barely a thousandth part of the strength of the largest. In unison we
placed the pellets on our tongues, and hastily swallowed.

The first sensations were as before. An