ed all the air and sky.

It all seemed very familiar to Teddy, and he had a feeling that he had
seen it before.

Stepping to the nearest cavern he looked in, and there he saw the whole
inside of the mountain was hollowed out into forges that opened into
each other be means of rocky arches. In every forge were little dwarfs
dressed in leather and hammering at pieces of red-hot iron that lay on
the anvils.

As Teddy stood looking in he was so tall that his head almost touched
the top of the doorway. He was dressed in a long red cloak, and under
that he wore a robe fastened about the waist with a girdle of rubies
that shone and sparkled in the light; upon his hand was a ruby ring.
The stone of the ring was turned inward toward the palm, but it was so
bright that the light shone through his fingers, and he drew his cloak
over his hand that the dwarfs might not see it, for it was not yet time
for them to know that he was King Fireheart.

After a while the iron that the little men were beating had to be put in
the fire again to heat, and then they turned and looked at Teddy.

"Good-day," said he.

"Good-day," answered the dwarfs, staring hard at him.

"What are you making there?" asked Teddy.

"A link," answered the dwarfs.

"A link!" said Teddy. "What for?"

"For a chain," answered the dwarfs, and then the iron was hot and they
took it out again and laid it on the anvil. Clink-clank! clink-clank!
clink-clank! went their hammers.

Teddy watched them at their work for a while, and then he went on to
the next forge, and there it was the same thing--more little dwarfs
hammering away at their anvils as if their lives depended on it.

"Good-day," said Teddy, as soon as they paused to heat the iron.

"Good-day," said the dwarfs.

"What are you making there?" asked Teddy.

"A link," answered the dwarfs.

"What for?" said Teddy.

"For a chain," answered the dwarfs, and then they set to work again.

Teddy went on and on through the forges, and in every one of them were
little dwarfs hammering away on links.

When he came to the last forge of all, they were just finishing a link,
and as they threw it into a tank of water a cloud of steam rose, almost
hiding them from view. They were so busy that they paid no attention to
Teddy when he spoke. "Make haste! Make haste!" they cried to each other.
"It is growing late and she will soon be here."

In a great hurry the dwarfs caught up the link from the water and laid