who fly down from heaven. One called Dawson. At the trading-post. Dawson talked about you to our men, and to our neighbors."

"You stick to your own business," Ardelan interposed, quietly. "He will stick to his. He is an outlaw from his own people. Naturally, his enemies try to harm him."

The snarling saint listened. He and Ardelan eyed each other. What unspoken thought passed between them was beyond Verrill's guessing; yet it must have had force, for Kwangtan offered no objection when Ardelan said, "Verrill, come in with me and bow to the flame."

The interior of the shrine was much larger than the front had suggested. This was because of a grotto in the overhang of the cliff. From a rift in the natural shelf of rock came hissing jets of fire. They wavered, varied, blending into each other and separating again.

Behind the low barrier of flames was a monstrous ruby, uncut, yet a perfect hexagonal crystal, with edges clean and sharp. This was not from any alluvial deposit, else the faces would have been dulled and the edges chipped.

Whether or not the stone had been polished, Verrill could not even surmise. At all events, this was a ruby that had come from the original matrix, the rocky birthplace of gems. It collected all the wavering light, transformed it, and poured it back again, transmuted into living red. The crystal seemed to pulsate with a life of its own.

The beauty and the splendor made Verrill picture the Fire of Skanderbek against Linda's white skin—and the wonder of it must have showed in his face, rather than the resolve to have the gem at any cost, for Kwangtan's radiant hostility softened perceptibly. Verrill imitated Ardelan's gesture and bow: and the two withdrew from the shrine.

"I don't doubt," said Ardelan, once he was in the saddle, and Verrill tramping alongside, "that you'd steal it if you could get out of here with it. Don't try it. Maybe I could—but probably I could not—save your life."

"You'd not try any too hard."

"You are wrong," the chief countered, earnestly. "Slitting that kid's gullet and not hurting him was something I'd never heard about. Maybe you can be useful around here."

"Not with what Kwangtan thinks of me."

"It really depends on the women—though quite a few of the men believe in the fire god."

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