valley. Before long it flows here, so we
must embark."

"But you've lost all them vallyable things, Perfessor," said Handy
Solomon. "Now, I call that hard luck."

Dr. Schermerhorn snapped his fingers.

"They do not amoundt to that!" he cried. "Here, here, in this leetle box
iss all the treasure! Here iss the labour of ten years! Here iss the
_Laughing Lass_, and the crew, and all the equipmendt comprised. Here iss
the world!"

"I'm a plain seaman, Perfessor, and I suppose I got to believe you; but
she's a main small box for all that."

"With that small box you can haf all your wishes," asserted the Professor,
still in the German lyric strain over his triumph. "It iss the box of
enchantments. You haf but to will the change you would haf taig place--it
iss done. The substance of the rocks, the molecule--all!"

"Could a man make diamonds?" asked Pulz abruptly. I could hear the sharp
intake of the men's breathing as they hung on the reply.

"Much more wonderful changes than that it can accomplish," replied the
doctor, with an indulgent laugh. "That change iss simple. Carbon iss coal;
carbon iss diamond. You see? One has but to change the form, not the
substance."

"Then it'll change coal to diamonds?" asked Handy Solomon.

"Yes, you gather my meanings--"

I heard a sharp squeak like a terrified mouse. Then a long, dreadful
silence; then two dull, heavy blows, spaced with deliberation. A moment
later I caught a glimpse of Handy Solomon bent forward to the labour of
dragging a body toward the sea, his steel claw hooked under the angle of
the jaw as a man handles a fish. Pulz came and threw off my bonds and gag.

"Come along!" said he.

All kept looking fearfully toward the arroyo. A dense white steam marked
its course. The air was now heavy with portent. Successive explosions,
some light, some severe, shook the foundations of the island. Great rocks
and boulders bounded down the hills. The flashes of lightning had become
more frequent. We moved, exaggerated to each other's vision by the strange
light, uncouth and gigantic.

"Let's get out of this!" cried Thrackles.

We turned at the word and ran, Thrackles staggering under the weight of
the chest. All our belongings we abandoned, and set out for the _Laughing
Lass_ with only the tatters in which we stood. Luckily for us a great part
of the ship's stores had been returned to her hold after the last thorough
scrubbing, so we were in subsistence, but all our cl