opportunity of escape,
began to lose hope of doing so. Never again, he feared, would he see
Phyllida. One day, with Eye-o and Ear-o by his side, he sat on a great
boulder and gazed gloomily down on the plain. Spring was just ripening
into early summer, the plain was at its very greenest and loveliest, and
here and there a little blue wood-smoke hung over the tiny villages.
Giles thought of Phyllida far, far away, and a terrible loneliness
poured into his heart. Eye-o and Ear-o sitting beside him, their long,
strange arms clasped about their knees, looked on with sympathy.
Presently Ear-o's right ear turned itself about, and after a moment's
silence, the elf said:--

"I hear voices telling of war. I hear the Robber King of the Black Lakes
summoning his terrible army. He is preparing a secret attack on the
people of the plain."

"I see him! I see him!" cried Eye-o. "He is talking to the Grand
Chamberlain Scelerato."

"Listen," said Ear-o; "he is saying, 'We will sweep the land at dawn,
steal the grain, and destroy every village to its foundation.'"

"I see the robbers gathering," said Eye-o. "They are hiding in the dark
pine forests, lest they be seen by the people of the plain. The sunlight
pierces here and there through the thick branches and shines on the
breastplates of the armed men."

At this terrible news, Giles was stricken to the heart with anxiety and
fear. What was to become of Phyllida and the people of the plain? If he
could only hurry down the mountain and warn them! If he could only
escape! And he looked round eagerly, as he had looked a thousand times
before, for any avenue of escape; but his gaze met only the great
precipices of the mountain and the guarded stairs.

What could he do? His heart became like ice, and he feared to gaze upon
the plain lest he see the smoke of burning villages. All night long he
never closed his eyes. At dawn he rose and hurried to the top of the
gate which overlooked the cloud-bowl. For two whole weeks, not a cloud
had been allowed to roam the sky, and it seemed to Giles that the mists
were angry, and that a darkness brooded upon them. Turning toward the
plain, Giles saw, at the edge of the land, a little glow of fire. The
robbers had invaded the plain!

Presently Eye-o came clambering up the steps.

"I see a village in flames," said the elf. "The inhabitants are fleeing
down the roads. The news is spreading, and the people of the plain are
hurrying to seek refuge i