We had an instinct that he could do in any
circumstances what was impossible to ordinary men.
At last the welcome moment came, and we were led forth, free, and
rejoined Edmund, Henry, and Juba in our apartments. Then, for the first,
we learned what we had done, and how narrow had been our escape from a
terrible doom. It was a new chapter of wonder that Edmund opened before
us. I shall tell it in his own words.
"When I returned to the palace and found you missing I was greatly
wrought up. Immediately I applied to Ala for aid in finding you. She was
quickly informed of all the circumstances of your arrest, and I saw at
once, by the expression of her features, that it was a matter of the
utmost gravity. I was not reassured by Ingra's evident joy. I could read
in his face the pleasure that the news gave him, and I perceived that
there was again opposition between him and Ala, and that she was trying,
with less success than I hoped for, to bring him round to her view.
"With no little trouble I finally discovered the nature of your offense.
I understood it the more readily because I had already begun to suspect
the existence among these people of a strange form of idolatry, in some
respects akin to the earth-worship of the cavern dwellers.
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