mon by comparison!"

"Would you dare wear it, Dottie?" asked Margaret.

"_Would_ I? I'd wear it in a minute if I could only get it. It would
take Washington by storm!"

"I'll try to get a piece of it, then," smiled Seaton. "I'll see about it
while we are getting the copper."

"We'd better be careful in choosing what we eat here, Seaton," suggested
DuQuesne, as the Domak himself led them to the table.

"We sure had. With a copper ocean and green teeth, I shouldn't be
surprised if copper, arsenic, and other such trifles formed a regular
part of their diet."

"The girls and I will wait for you two chemists to approve every dish
before we try it, then," said Crane.

Nalboon placed his guests, the light-skinned slaves standing at
attention behind them, and numerous servants, carrying great trays,
appeared. The servants were intermediate in color between the light and
the dark races, with dull, unintelligent faces, but quick and deft in
their movements.

The first course--a thin, light wine, served in metal goblets--was
approved by the chemists, and the dinner was brought on. There were
mighty joints of various kinds of meat; birds and fish, both raw and
cooked in many ways; green, pink, purple, and white vegetables and
fruits. The majordomo held each dish up to Seaton for inspection, the
latter waving away the fish and the darkest green foods, but approving
the others. Heaping plates, or rather metal trays, of food were placed
before the diners, and the attendants behind their chairs handed them
peculiar implements--knives with razor edges, needle-pointed stilettoes
instead of forks, and wide, flexible spatulas, which evidently were to
serve the purposes of both forks and spoons.

"I simply can't eat with these things!" exclaimed Dorothy in dismay,
"and I don't like to drink soup out of a can, so there!"

"That's where my lumberjack training comes in handy," grinned Seaton.
"With this spatula I can eat faster than I could with two forks. What do
you want, girls, forks or spoons, or both?"

"Both, please."

Seaton reached out over the table, seizing forks and spoons from the air
and passing them to the others, while the natives stared in surprise.
The Domak took a bowl filled with brilliant blue crystals from the
major-domo, sprinkled his food liberally with the substance, and passed
it to Seaton, who looked at the crystals attentively.

"Copper sulphate," he said to Crane. "It's a good thing they add it at
t