hat to do, or perhaps they had learned to fear the magic
powers of these adventurers from Pingaree and were unwilling to attack
them unless their King ordered them to.

The coast on the western side of the Island of Regos was very uneven and
Zella, who knew fairly well the location of the mines from the inland
forest path, was puzzled to decide which mountain they now viewed from
the sea was the one where the entrance to the underground caverns was
located. First she thought it was this peak, and then she guessed it was
that; so considerable time was lost through her uncertainty.

They finally decided to land and explore the country, to see where they
were, so Inga ran the boat into a little rocky cove where they all
disembarked. For an hour they searched for the path without finding any
trace of it and now Zella believed they had gone too far to the north
and must return to another mountain that was nearer to the city.

Once again they entered the boat and followed the winding coast south
until they thought they had reached the right place. By this time,
however, it was growing dark, for the entire day had been spent in the
search for the entrance to the mines, and Zella warned them that it
would be safer to spend the night in the boat than on the land, where
wild beasts were sure to disturb them. None of them realized at this
time how fatal this day of search had been to their plans and perhaps if
Inga had realized what was going on he would have landed and fought all
the wild beasts in the forest rather than quietly remain in the boat
until morning.

However, knowing nothing of the cunning plans of Queen Cor and King Gos,
they anchored their boat in a little bay and cheerfully ate their
dinner, finding plenty of food and drink in the boat's lockers. In the
evening the stars came out in the sky and tipped the waves around their
boat with silver. All around them was delightfully still save for the
occasional snarl of a beast on the neighboring shore.

They talked together quietly of their adventures and their future plans
and Zella told them her simple history and how hard her poor father was
obliged to work, burning charcoal to sell for enough money to support
his wife and child. Nikobob might be the humblest man in all Regos, but
Zella declared he was a good man, and honest, and it was not his fault
that his country was ruled by so wicked a King.

Then Rinkitink, to amuse them, offered to sing a song, and althou