[Illustration: ‘I AM MECHANUS, THE GIANT SORCERER’] Raphael, who had crept close in order to hear more clearly what the stranger said, sprang forward. ‘Cassie! Cassie!’ he cried. ‘Wait! Wait!’ The stranger took Cassandra in his round arms. ‘Boy,’ he ordered, ‘go home to bed.’ ‘Who are you?’ demanded Raphael. ‘I am Mechanus, the Giant Sorcerer,’ answered the stranger proudly. Raphael looked at him fearfully. In the moonlight he appeared black and very terrible holding Cassandra so easily. He was taller than any man the boy had ever seen, and his eyes shone like pale electric lights. He was dressed in some light material that merged into the dark shadows. ‘Are you a man?’ whispered Raphael, awed. ‘No,’ said the Sorcerer conversationally. ‘I am a mechanical wonder invented by man to be greater than all men.’ ‘What do you want with Cassandra?’ asked Raphael, taking heart. ‘My boy,’ exclaimed Mechanus, ‘that happens to be my affair. She will go home with me because I want her to.’ She would go home with him, Cassandra, his sister, and he would never see her any more. A mechanical wonder greater than all men blocked the path. ‘You shan’t take Cassie away! I don’t care if you are a sorcerer!’ screamed Raphael desperately and dashed at the stranger. Cold fingers like steel hooks lifted him to one side, and a metallic voice rang in his ears, ‘Be quiet, young fool!’ Raphael felt himself falling slowly into space. CHAPTER II GÆA, THE EARTH MOTHER When Raphael woke, he was lying alone in the moonlight. Cassandra and the stranger had disappeared. The woods were very still. His head ached. Slowly the boy got to his feet and stumbled along the path which led to a small clearing at the top of the hill. Here he sat down on a large stone. Cassie was stolen! Raphael was about to turn and run home when he heard the whistle of wings, and looking up saw a huge bird sail over the black tree-tops and light on the ground before him. Raphael was so astonished he could not move. He sat and stared in numb amazement. ‘Well,’ said the bird sharply, as he peered at him out of one yellow eye. ‘Who are you?’ asked Raphael faintly. ‘I am Empyrean, Chief of All the Eagles in the Sky, General of All the Armies of the Air.’ ‘Oh,’ gasped Raphael. Then, because he felt powerless and lonely, he sniffled, ‘Cassie has been stolen. A sorcerer came and took her away.’ ‘Stop crying!’ ordered the eagle fiercely. Raphael dried his tears on an arm of his pajamas. ‘Tell me what happened,’ demanded the eagle. ‘Mechanus, the Giant Sorcerer, stole Cassie.’ ‘Which way did they go?’ asked the eagle. ‘I don’t know. The Sorcerer knocked me down.’ The eagle said nothing for a moment, but stared straight at Raphael until he felt uncomfortable. ‘We shall find them. Come with me,’ the eagle commanded. ‘But how can I go?’ asked the boy. ‘I shall take you. Climb on my back. Hurry,’ ordered the bird when he saw that Raphael hesitated. ‘I won’t hurt you.’