y we came in," answered the
child. "If we could get Sacho to lead us back through the maze, we
would follow that long tunnel to the open ocean, and--"

"And there would be the sea devils waitin' for us," added Cap'n Bill
with a shake of his bald head. "They'd drive us back inter the
tunnel like they did the first time, Trot. It won't do, mate, it
won't do."

"Have you a suggestion, Clia?" inquired the Queen.

"I have thought of an undertaking," replied the pretty princess,
"but it is a bold plan, your Majesty, and you may not care to risk
it."

"Let us hear it, anyway," said Aquareine encouragingly.

"It is to destroy Zog himself and put him out of the world forever.
Then we would be free to go home whenever we pleased."

"Can you suggest a way to destroy Zog?" asked Aquareine.

"No, your Majesty," Clia answered. "I must leave the way for you to
determine."

"In the old days," said the Queen thoughtfully, "the mighty King
Anko could not destroy this monster. He succeeded in defeating Zog
and drove him into this great cavern, but even Anko could not
destroy him."

"I have heard the sea serpent explain that it was because he could
not reach the magician," returned Clia. "If King Anko could have
seized Zog in his coils, he would have made an end of the wicked
monster quickly. Zog knows this, and that is why he does not venture
forth from his retreat. Anko is the enemy he constantly dreads. But
with you, my queen, the case is different. You may easily reach Zog,
and the only question is whether your power is sufficient to destroy
him."

For a while Aquareine remained silent. "I am not sure of my power
over him," she said at last, "and for that reason I hesitate to
attack him personally. His slaves and his allies, the sea devils, I
can easily conquer, so I prefer to find a way to overcome the guards
at the entrances rather than to encounter their terrible master. But
even the guards have been given strength and power by the magician,
as we have already discovered, so I must procure a weapon with which
to fight them."

"A weapon, ma'am?" said Cap'n Bill, and then he took a jackknife
from his coat pocket and opened the big blade, afterward handing it
to the queen. "That ain't a bad weapon," he announced.

"But it is useless in this case," she replied, smiling at the old
sailor's earnestness. "For my purpose I must have a golden sword."

"Well, there's plenty of gold around this castle," said Trot,
looking ar