perhaps fifteen
minutes. Lylda interpreted for us as well as she could, though I must
confess we were all three at times completely at a loss. But Lylda's
bright, intelligent little face, and the resourcefulness of her
gestures, always managed somehow to convey her meaning. The charm and
grace of her manner, all during the talk, her winsomeness, and the
almost spiritual kindness and tenderness that characterized her, made me
feel that she embodied all those qualities with which we of this earth
idealize our own womanhood.

"I found myself falling steadily under the spell of her beauty,
until--well, gentlemen, it's childish for me to enlarge upon this side
of my adventure, you know; but--Lylda means everything to me now, and
I'm going back for her just as soon as I possibly can."

"Bully for you!" cried the Very Young Man. "Why didn't you bring her
with you this time?"

"Let him tell it his own way," remonstrated the Doctor. The Very Young
Man subsided with a sigh.

"During our talk," resumed the Chemist, "I learned from the king that
Lylda had promised him my assistance in overcoming the enemies that
threatened his country. He smilingly told me that our charming little
interpreter had assured him I would be able to do this. Lylda's blushing
face, as she conveyed this meaning to me, was so thoroughly captivating,
that before I knew it, and quite without meaning to, I pulled her up
towards me and kissed her.

"The king was more surprised by far than Lylda, at this extraordinary
behavior. Obviously neither of them had understood what a kiss meant,
although Lylda, by her manner evidently comprehended pretty thoroughly.

"I told them then, as simply as possible to enable Lylda to get my
meaning, that I could, and would gladly aid in their war. I explained
then, that I had the power to change my stature, and could make myself
grow very large or very small in a short space of time.

"This, as Lylda evidently told it to him, seemed quite beyond the king's
understanding. He comprehended finally, or at least he agreed to believe
my statement.

"This led to the consideration of practical questions of how I was to
proceed in their war. I had not considered any details before, but now
they appeared of the utmost simplicity. All I had to do was to make
myself a hundred or two hundred feet high, walk out to the battle-lines,
and scatter the opposing army like a set of small boys' playthings."

"What a quaint idea!" said th