king
of tongues, while the Gnomes raced ahead, behind, all about the two,
capering like pet animals, showing these strangers the way into the
tunnel.

As they entered it, Sarka tried to discover whence came the bluish
glow. The floor seemed to be of bluish sandstone, though its color,
too, might have been caused by the glow. It was warm, too, so warm
that perspiration was breaking out on the cheeks of Sarka.

Whence came the glow? Apparently from the very walls of the tunnel, or
its roof; but surely from somewhere, surely from some secret place,
whence it was diffused all over.

"And Jaska," said Sarka, "the Moon, according to my father's
researches, is literally honeycombed with craters like this one!"

Again, as he thought, that strange, sudden cessation of the clucking
of the Gnomes. Whither were they leading them? It was plain to be seen
that the Gnomes were heading for some destination, almost herding
Sarka and Jaska toward it. Capering creatures, who behaved witlessly,
yet were far from witless. If Sarka were not sadly mistaken, these
were Moon-men--and women, too, perhaps, since he could not tell the
sex of them--and those gleaming cubes were their outer guards, perhaps
slaves.

If the cubes were really of metal--they had felt warm to Sarka's
touch--then these Moon-men had gone further in science than
Earthlings, as they had imbued at least some metals, or stones, with
intelligence sufficiently advanced for them to perform actions
independently of their masters' wills.

* * * * *

Sarka, too, was remembering another thing: that he had touched one of
these Gnomes, to remove it from Jaska--and had felt a distinct shock
that was patently electrical!

The bluish glow was increasing, becoming more soft and mellow, shading
gradually into golden, as they advanced--shading still as they
preceded until it was almost white, almost blinding, in its radiance.

Then, of a sudden, the clucking of the Gnomes ended, and the creatures
ceased their capering, fell into something that might have been an
ordered military formation, and with Jaska and Sarka in the midst of
them, moved straight toward a broad expanse of the tunnel wall, in the
face of which appeared three long lines, deeply cut in the shape of a
triangle.

The Gnome who had first leaped upon Jaska advanced to the wall, paused
with his face almost against the lower line of the triangle, and
remained there, intently staring, w