As fast as he produced it he put it in a metal box, shaped like a
snuffbox, and covertly he showed it to us. It consisted of brilliant
black grains, finer than millet seeds.
"Every one of those minute grains," he told us, "is packed with as much
potential energy as that of a ton's weight suspended a mile above the
earth."
But while the little box was being gradually filled with crystallized
powder, we, who could lend no aid in the fabrication of Edmund's miracle,
improved the opportunity to make acquaintance with the beauties of the
surrounding country. Ala had returned to the capital, leaving an air ship
at our disposal, and, of all persons in the world, _Ingra in command_! We
refused all invitations to accompany him in the air ship, preferring to
make our excursions on foot, accompanied at first by some of the
attendants that Ala had left. Edmund did not share our fears that Ingra
meditated mischief.
"He doesn't dare," was his reply to all our representations. But nothing
could induce Jack and me to trust to Ingra's tender mercies.
Among the favorite spots which we had found to visit in the neighborhood
of the mine was a little knoll crowned with a group of the most beautiful
trees that I ever saw, and washed at its base by a brook of exquisitely
transparent water which tinkled over a bed of white and clear-yellow
pebbles, sparkling like jewels.
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