"Silence!" Lepraylya commanded. "Silence, croaker of evil! One would almost think, O Brendaldoombro, that you know more about the angels of the Evil One than you do about God's own. Hear now my word: "When Lord Bill and Lord Milton can answer the charge that they are demons masquerading in the shapes of men, then, O Brendaldoombro, and not before, shall they be brought to trial--if, indeed, you will prefer that charge against them _then_. "Such is my word to you, O Brendaldoombro, and to you, ladies and lords all, and on the majesty of the Droman law and of the dread law of God it stands." Chapter 43 DRORATHUSA And so it was that we reached, there in the palace of the Droman queen, our journey's and--certainly a stranger journey than any I ever have heard of and one that ought to prove of even greater interest to scientists than to the world in general. If, however, what they tell of the region is true, an expedition to the mysterious land that the Dromans call Grawngrograr would make our journey to Drome look like a promenade to fairyland. But our journey ended there in the palace, and now it is that my story rapidly draws to a close. Probably you will think that, there under the aegis of Lathendra Lepraylya, we found ourselves in clover. And, in a way, this was undoubtedly so. We were given each a splendid suite of rooms in the palace itself, and our lives were as the lives of princes, save that the close protective guard always kept over us was a reminder that there was such a personage in the world as one Brendaldoombro. If it had not been for that vulture-shadow, how wonderful those days would have been! But that shadow was there, and it never lifted. And the worst of it was that everything was involved in the deepest gloom and mystery, what with our ignorance of the Droman language. Forsooth, however, had we been masters of that language, we could not have known the plots that were hatching in the dark skull of Brendaldoombro. As for the language, we were studying it with diligence, and we really had cause to be astonished at the rapidity of our progress. As to the high priest, crafty and consummate villain though he was, that worthy found that Lathendra Lepraylya was quite his match and more than his match, as, indeed, was Drorathusa. Against the queen he was, of course, powerless to take any repressive measure; but the case was very different with regard to Drorathusa. He could act in this way, and he did.