ewed from the
bottom of a deep well.

Smaller, too, it seemed, which proved that Sarka's breaking of the
blue column had been but momentary, that the column had almost
instantly regained its contact with the Earth. What was its source,
what the composition of the column?

* * * * *

At the moment there could be no answer to the question. Now the Gnomes
were escorting them into another tunnel, whose glow was even bluer
than that which the two had experienced in the other tunnels. And the
deeper they penetrated, the more distant from the cavern of the Cone,
the deeper in color became that light.

Finally the Gnome who had mentally asked permission of the Radiant
Woman to show her Jaska and Sarka passed before another expanse of
wall, identical in appearance with that of the wall of the triangle
from which the Radiant Woman had appeared.

This time the Gnome managed ingress by a strange clucking sound, with
his triangular lips held close to the base-line of the triangle.

Now the door swung open; but the radiance which now came out was not
clear white, as in the case of the outer door, but deeply, coldly
blue. For the first time the Gnomes used force with their prisoners,
thus proving to them that they were indeed prisoners. Their tiny feet
caught at Sarka and at Jaska, and forced them through the door, which
swung shut behind them.

Sarka looked at Jaska who, in this strange new light, had taken on the
color of indigo, and smiled at her. She did not return his smile, but
her eyes looked deeply, somewhat sorrowfully, into his. As though she
asked him a question he could not understand, to which he could
therefore give no answer.

* * * * *

Sarka was now conscious of the fact that the heat of their
prison-house--whose character they did not as yet know--was becoming
almost unbearable. They were alone, too, for the Gnomes had not
entered the door of triangle. Sarka partially removed his life mask,
and testing the atmosphere of the place, found it capable of being
breathed without the mask. He signalled mentally to Jaska to remove
her mask, and when the girl had done so he took her in his arms and
kissed her on the lips.

She accepted his caress, but did not return it, and her eyes still
peered deeply into his.

"Well, beloved," he said. "I am terribly sorry. But I did not want you
to come because I was afraid that something of this sort would
happ