ndless wall
is being torn down, and Marentel's forces are placing their explosives.
After this is done an attempt will be made to stop the original break.
There is, however, little hope. The prince has warned the king to be
prepared for the worst."

At this point, the speaker turned as if startled toward the red glare
at his right. He quickly picked up another instrument attached to a wire
and put it to his ear. A look of horror changed his face as he turned
to the audience and began to speak:--"The opening in the wall is not
progressing rapidly. Workmen are drowning and the tunnel of the sun is
filling with water. It will be impossible for the sun to go through to
the east."

Just then there was a far-away crash, and instantly the mirror was void.
There was now no sound except the low groans of women in the audience
and the subdued curses of maddened men. The silence was profound. Then
the mirror began to glow, and the image of another man took Waldmeer's
place.

"It is the Mayor of Telmantio," whispered the princess, "a place near
the western limits of Alpha."

He held a like instrument to the one used by Waldmeer, and through
it spoke:--"Venus, one of the great stars, has been shaken from the
firmament. It fell in the suburbs of Telmantio, and many lives were
lost."

That was all, and the figure vanished. Presently Waldmeer reappeared.
He seemed to be standing nearer the pit, for the entire background was
aflame; volumes of black smoke now and then hid him from view, and a
thick shower of ashes and small stones were falling round him. He
spoke, but his voice was drowned in a deafening explosion, and the
whole landscape about him seemed afire. In the semi-darkness hundreds of
protectors could be seen struggling in the rushing water, moving stones
and building a dam. Waldmeer again faced his far-off audience and
spoke:--"Prince Marentel has turned the course of the stream. All now
depends on the success or failure of his final test with explosives,
which will take place in about half an hour."

"We ought to go outside again," suggested Bernardino, as Waldmeer's
image disappeared; "my father might want us."

Seeing no one in the king's apartment, they passed through it to the
balcony. Half the sky was now covered with mingled fog and smoke, and
the sun could be seen only now and then. A drizzling rain was falling--a
rain that brought down clots of ashes and soot. But this made no
difference to the throngs in t