The Washington times., 1906-02-04

and she gave Us some salve that stood
upon shelf. and rub il on your eyes
ANA the smart Will pass away"
SO We did. and tne pain wcut from
them. though, for hours attcrWard.
mine remained red as blood
And what these wonders / asked
her. presently II thou mednest that
ulbcaIa1le dame
NAY. 1 mean what is born at the
flame, as, in thine ignorance. thou dost
call That mighty agent, Look now
ami she po uted 10 the meta lie lump she
had brought with her. which. still
SlgamIHE family, lay upon the floor.
Nay. IL has uu heat Tuinkest thou
that / would wish To burn my tender
hands and 80 make them UusiEhtlys 2
Touch il. Holly"
Bat would not. who thought to nv
self that Ayesha might be well accus-
TONED 10 the hottest nreS, and feared
her lmp-sh mischief. 1 looked, how
ever. long ana earnestly.
Nell, what lS IT. Holly
God, i said. then corrected myself
ana added. copper for the duh red
glow might have been that of either
Nay nay" she answered, 1t is gold.
pure gold"
The ore in this place must be rich.
speak any more.
Yes. my Leo the iron ore is rich"
IRON ore and he looked al her.
surely" she answered FOR from
great Masses Iron ore. beloved that
by my alchemy l change to gold. which
soon shall serve us in our need.
Now Leo stared and ! groaned, for 1
ala not believe that IL was gold, and
stll less that she coulC make that metal
IHeI, reading my thought. she grew
very angry
Ply natures selfv' she cried. vert
thou not my friend. Holly. the fool
whom il pleases me 10 cherish. I would
bind that right hand Of thine in those
secret rays Till the very bones within Il
were turned t. gold Nay. why should
i be veNed with thee. who are both blind
and deaf2 Yet thou shalt be persuaded %
and, leaving us. she passed down the
passages, called something 10 the priests
who We're laborins IN the workshop. then
Presently they followed her. carrying
on a kind Of stretcher between them an
insct OF iron ore that seemed 10 he as
much as they could lift.
Now she said. "hOW wilt thou that
] mark this mass which as thou must
admit. is only irOn2 With the sign OF
life2 Good and at her bidding the
priests took cold-chisels and hammers
and roughly cut upon its surface the
symbol II the looped cross-the CrUX
AUsata
1T : not enough" she said. when
they hid finished. Holly, lend me that
knife af thine, tomorrow I viii return
fl TO thee. and of more value
So 7 crew my hunting knife, an In
dian-made thing. that had a handle Of
steel and gave it her.
Thou kuOweSt the marks on II. and
Sho pointed 10 various dents and to the
makers name upon the blade for
though the hlIt was IUdian work, the
steel WIS of Sheffield manufacture.
T nodded. Then she bade the priests
put ON the ray-p~oCI armor that We
had discarded, and told US 10 go with
out the chamber and lie in the darkness
Of the passage with our faces against
the floor.
This we did. and remained so until. n
few minutes later. she called US again.
We rose and returned into the cham
ber To End the priests who had re-
moved the protecting garments. gasp
ing and rubbing the saIve Gpon their
eyes, TO find also that the lump Of iron
ore and my knife were Eone. Next
she commanded them to place the block
of goId-ColoTed metal upon their
stretchcr and hiring il with them. They
obeyrd. and We noted that, although
those priests were both Of them strong
men. -hCy groaned beneath its weight
How came IT," said Leo. that thou.
"a woman, couldst carry what these men
find So heavy
1t Is one of the properties of that
force which thou callest fire" she an
swcreJ. swcetIy. ITO make what has
been exposed Of it, If for little while
only, lis light as thistle-down- Else.
how could /. who am so frail. have
bo--c yunder block Of Gold?"
quite so. I understand now an
sV cred Lee.
Vel, that was the end Of it The
iuHir of metal was hid away in kind
1f rock pit with an iron cover, and
we returned To Ayesha's apartments.
so all wealth is thine. as well as
all power" s9Id Leo. presently.
1T seems So she answered, Wearily.
since centuries ago 1 discovered that
-reat secret though until ye came |
had put it 10 no use. Holly here. after
his common fashion. believes that this
IS magic. but ] tell thee again that
here is no magic, only knowledge which
have chanced to win
"Of course said Leo looked at in
he right way, that is in thy way. the q
hing is simple" I think he would have
iked 10 add. "as lying" but as the
phrase would have involved explana-
ions, did not. Yet. Ayesha, - he went
IN, hast thou thought that this dis
,oVery of thine win wreck the world?"
Lea she answered. IS there, then.
nothing that 1 can do which viii not ,
wreck this world, for which thou hast