The hoarse voice of the storm was hushed, and a gentler light than the fire of the elements spread itself over the face of the now cloudless sky. The calm moon shone forth in the midst of the firmament, and the little stars seemed rejoicing in their brightness. The giant had descended to the earth, and approaching the place where we stood trembling he made three circles in the air with his flaming scimitar, and then lifted his hand to strike. Just then we heard a loud voice saying: ‘Genius, I command thee to forbear!’ We looked round and saw a figure so tall that the Genius seemed to be but a diminutive dwarf. It cast one joyful glance on us and disappeared. CHAPTER III THE DESERT The building of our city went on prosperously. The Hall of Justice was finished, the fortifications were completed, the Grand Inn was begun, the Great Tower was ended. One night when we were assembled in the Hall of Justice, Arthur Wellesley, at that time a common trumpeter, suddenly exclaimed, while we were talking of our happiness: ‘Does not the King of the Blacks view our prosperity with other eyes than ours? Would not the best way be to send immediately to England, tell them of the new world we have discovered and of the riches that are in it; and do you not think they would send us an army?’ Francis Stewart immediately rose and said: ‘Young man, think before you speak! How could we send to England? Who would be found hardy enough to traverse again the Atlantic? Do you not remember the storm which drove us on the shores of Trinidad?’ Arthur Wellesley answered: ‘It is with all due deference that I venture to contradict the opinions of older and more experienced men than I am; and it is after much consideration that I have ventured to say what I have said. Well do I remember that storm which forced us to seek refuge amongst foreigners. I am not so rash as to suppose that we of ourselves could cross the ocean on the damaged and leaky vessel we possess, or that we could build another in time to avert the danger which I fear is coming. But in what a short time have we built the city we are now in! How long has it taken to rear the Grand Hall where we now are? Have not those marble pillars and that solemn dome been built by supernatural power? If you view the city from this Gothic window and see the beams of the morn gilding the battlements of the mighty towers, and the pillars of the splendid palaces which have been reared in a few months, can you doubt that magic has been used in their construction?’ Here he paused. We were all convinced that the genii had helped us to build our town. He went on: ‘Now, if the genii have built us our city, will they not likewise help us to call our countrymen to defend what they have built against the assaults of the enemy?’ He stopped again, for the roof shook and the hall was filled with smoke. The ground opened, and we heard a voice saying: