"My father didn't know what the reaction of the other Envoys would be when they returned, but he felt they would deny the Solar System their gifts unless Chamar were restored to them. He spent the rest of his life in the search. When he died he passed on the responsibility to me. He forced me to swear I'd spend my life in the search. And I have done it willingly, for Earth will receive gifts beyond man's wildest dreaming." "But the myth of the Seven Jewels has been in existence for nearly two hundred years!" Nathan exclaimed. Firebird was silent. They came out of the purple darkness into daylight again. The Envoy was barely visible in the light but the constant, high-pitched note told of his presence. "The legend of Firebird is almost that old, too," she said. "But there are supposed to have been many who called themselves Firebird. Surely you--" Nathan halted and stared at her. "There has been only one Firebird," she said. "Chamar made one gift to my grandfather before the explosion. That was the pool of Luline. When I was only fifteen my father took me to it and I dipped in it for the first time. Besides its miraculous healing properties, the pool slows the rate of decay of animal organisms. It gives a natural life of a thousand years. It changes human tissue. You have seen the light that comes from my flesh, and you have seen me walk unharmed in the flames at Pheme, as well as witnessing my vision in the dark. All these are of the pool of Luline. But in a hundred and fifty years I have aged only ten." The end of the hidden trail brought them out onto the rocky mountainside. They walked until the sharp tinkle of bells swelled upon the air. Their eyes focused in the space ahead of them. At first they could see nothing. Even the Envoy of Plar had become lost in the sunlight. Then they caught the silken sheen of the almost invisible surface of the globe that hung in the air above the trail. The ship of Plar. They knew instinctively that its substance was no material they could identify. Rather, it was a pure field, a segment out of another time, another space that hung there. It was massive, its dimensions uncertain. Then a familiar sound came close to them in midair and they turned quickly. "They have come," Chamar said. "I have given my report and now they are debating your case." "Must they debate?" Firebird's voice was suddenly thin and a strange tremor was in it. "Is there doubt of their granting the gifts which they have?" "Each world must stand upon its own merits." "But you are one of them. Can you not tell us?" "I am not permitted to vote upon a world which I have examined. That is the law." * * * * * The Envoy was suddenly motionless in the air before them, and a wild tinkling seemed to come from within the great invisible ship of Plar. An answering sound came from the Envoy. "Envoy! What is it?" cried Firebird. "They have come to a decision." "The Gifts--?" "Are not to be given."