his important matter could be
which could detain the Prince so long, yet in spite of his weariness, he
continued to look away in the direction of the Elf's house.

Growing more and more restless and impatient, he finally rose a little
in his place of concealment and thrust out his head far enough to see
not only the expanse of the Plain and the path up the cliff-side, but
the entrance to the Cave of Darkness as well. What was his astonishment
to see two figures standing before it--one of them the grey-robed Shadow
Witch, whom he knew well, the other a stranger, and clad in those ruddy
garments by which Black Shadow had declared he might recognize Prince
Ember. He could scarcely believe it to be possible that the Shadow Witch
had escaped from her brother--that the Prince had crossed the Plain under
his very eyes unseen. Yet there they were, almost in his grasp. Eager to
snatch at them both, he was about to emerge from his hiding-place,
when, to his discomfiture, they both vanished suddenly from his sight.

That they had gone back into the cavern he did not believe to be
possible. Moreover their faces had been set toward the Plain. There
could be no doubt that they had made themselves invisible, and were now
on their way down the cliff.

Unseen though they were, he knew how he could entrap them, and hold them
in his power. Determined to do this, he wound his form stealthily
upward, and from his right hand he cast forth huge plumes and columns of
smoke, which began to overspread the sky, and traveling swiftly, came on
and on as his hand directed them, until they hung poised far above the
heads of the unsuspecting Prince and his companion.

From his left hand long wreaths and streamers of smoke went out across
the ground, creeping along fast and silently, veiling it so that none
could see where his own feet trod.

Closer and closer from behind these, great smoke walls drew in, but the
faces of the two were set steadily toward the Land of Shadows, and they
knew naught of the danger which was so rapidly overtaking them.

Then, suddenly, by the enchanter's power, a smoke wall, dense and
impenetrable, fell from above directly before the travelers, setting a
barrier between them and the land to which they were bound. All at once
they found themselves in a vast chamber, hemmed in on every hand by the
encompassing smoke.

The Shadow Witch was first to awaken to their peril. Casting her eyes
downward by chance, she all at on