Yaque."

Then St. George came back with a thrill to actuality. In the press
of the events of this morning, after his awakening in the room of
the tombs, he had completely forgotten the soft fire of gems that
had burned beneath the hands of old Malakh in that dark chamber
under King Abibaal's tomb. He and Amory and Jarvo had, with the
king, left the chamber by the upper passages, and Amory and Jarvo
knew nothing of the jewels. Yet St. George was certain that he could
not have been mistaken, and he listened breathlessly for what the
king would say.

King Otho, with a smile, nodded in perfect imperturbability.

"That is true," he said, "I had forgotten all about it."

They waited for him to speak, the people in amazed silence, Mrs.
Medora Hastings saying unintelligible things in whispers, for which
she had a genius.

"It is true," said King Otho, "that I am responsible for the
disappearance of the Hereditary Treasure. You will find it at this
moment in a basement dungeon of the palace on Mount Khalak. On the
very day, three months ago, that I dined with your prince I had made
a discovery of considerable importance to me, namely, that the
little island of Yaque is richer in most of the radio-active
substances than all the rest of the world. The discovery gave me
keener pleasure than I had known in years--I had suspected it for
some time after I found the noctilucous stars on the ceiling of my
sitting-room at the palace. And in the work-shop of the Princess
Simyra I came upon a quantity of metallic uranium, and a great many
other things which I question the taste of taking the time to
describe. But my experiments there with the very perfect gems of
your admirable collection had evidently been antedated by some of
your own people, for the apparatus was intact. I shall be glad to
show some charming effects to any one who cares to see them. I have
succeeded in causing the diamonds of Darius to phosphoresce most
wonderfully."

The phosphorescence of the diamonds of Darius was to the people far
less important than the joyous fact which they were not slow to
grasp, that the Hereditary Treasure was, if they might believe the
king's words, restored to them, and the burden of the tax averted.
They did not understand, nor did they seek to understand; because
they knew the inefficiency of details and they also knew the value
of mere import.

But the king, child of a social order that wreaks itself on
particularizations, retu