"You'll never make him hear you," said the Big Business Man, as the Very
Young Man began shouting at the top of his voice.

"We've got to," said the Very Young Man breathlessly. "Look at that
ring. We can't get to it now. We're stranded here. Good Lord! What's the
matter with him--can't he see us?" he added, and began shouting again.

"He's getting up," said the Doctor. They could see the figure of the
Banker towering in the air a thousand feet above the ring, and then with
a swoop of his enormous face come down to them as he knelt upon the
floor.

With his hands to his mouth, the Very Young Man shouted up: "It's too
far away. We can't make it--we're too small." They waited. Suddenly,
without warning, a great wooden oval bowl fifteen or twenty feet across
came at them with tremendous speed. They scattered hastily in terror.

"Not that--the ring!" shouted the Very Young Man, as he realized it was
the spoon in the Banker's hand that had frightened them.

A moment more and the ring was before them, lying at the edge of the
handkerchief--a circular pit of rough yellow rock breast high. They ran
over to it and climbed upon its top.

Another minute and the ring had grown until its top became a narrow
curving path upon which they could stand. They got upon their feet and
looked around curiously.

"Well, we're here," remarked the Very Young Man. "Everything's O.K. so
far. Let's get right around after that scratch."

"Keep together," cautioned the Doctor, and they started off along the
path, following its inner edge.

As they progressed, the top of the ring steadily became broader; the
surface underfoot became rougher. The Big Business Man, walking nearest
the edge, pulled his companion towards him. "Look there!" he said. They
stood cautiously at the edge and looked down.

Beneath them the ring bulged out. Over the bulge they could see the
black of the handkerchief--a sheer hundred-feet drop. The ring curved
sharply to the left; they could follow its wall all the way around; it
formed a circular pit some two hundred and fifty feet in diameter.

A gentle breeze fanned their faces as they walked. The Very Young Man
looked up into the gray of the distance overhead. A little behind, over
his shoulder he saw above him in the sky a great, gleaming light many
times bigger than the sun. It cast on the ground before him an opaque
shadow, blurred about the edges.

"Pretty good day, at that," remarked the Very Young Man, thro