s mistress'
carriage door until the boat pushed off. Then he sat down on the steps
below the flagstaff and lit a pipe. It was, perhaps, an idle morning
with Smith. He seemed in no hurry to go back to his work. He sat
smoking and watched the boat as she crossed the harbour. He saw her
reach the mouth of the cave and disappear into its depths. Soon
afterwards another boat put off from the beach below the village.
Smith watched it too. There was one man on board. It also headed for
the mouth of the cave. Smith knocked the ashes out of his pipe, stood
up and went into the palace.

Kalliope poled the boat through the narrow part of the cave, rowed
her briskly across the lagoon within and beached her on the steep
slope beyond. Phillips leaped ashore and held out his hand to the
Queen. They stumbled a little on the round stones. It is very
difficult to walk steadily over stones which roll under the feet. The
Queen laid her hand on Phillips' arm. She went more securely with this
support, so she held to it, leaning a good deal of her weight on it.

"There!" she said. "Look at them. Aren't they the most ridiculous
things you ever saw?"

No doubt the tanks, with their grey fronts and great spouts sticking
out of them, had an absurd appearance. They reminded Phillips of the
prehistoric monsters which artists sometimes draw in our comic papers.
They had the same look of stupid largeness. There was the same
suggestion of gaping malevolence. In the cool blue light of the cave
they looked grotesquely inappropriate. Phillips' first impulse was to
laugh aloud. But he was a young man with a conscience. It was his duty
to examine the cisterns, to find out if possible what they were, not
to make fun of them.

He walked up to the nearest one and turned on the tap. Nothing came
out. He tried the next one with the same result. He walked along the
whole line of tanks and turned on every tap. The tanks were apparently
empty. Mr. Phillips picked up a stone and struck each tank several
times. The sound was hollow. If there had been any doubt about that
the echoes would have convinced him. There was a fusillade of hollow
tappings.

Phillips, placing his foot on the tap of one of the tanks, climbed up.

"Well," said the Queen from below. "What have you found?"

"They're very large," said Phillips. "They go back a long way. They'd
hold gallons and gallons of whatever they're supposed to hold, and
there are round lids with handles to lift the