CHAPTER6
TheEmeraldFatherandsonhadseatedthemselvesonaprojectingpieceofrockatacornerwherethreegalleriesmet—theonetheyhadcomealongfromtheirwork，onetotherightleadingoutofthemountain，andtheothertotheleftleadingfarintoaportionofitwhichhadbeenlongdisused。Sincetheinundationcausedbythegoblins，ithadindeedbeenrenderedimpassablebythesettlementofaquantityofthewater，formingasmallbutverydeeplake，inapartwheretherewasaconsiderabledescent。
Theyhadjustrisenandwereturningtotheright，whenagleamcaughttheireyes，andmadethemlookalongthewholegallery。Faruptheysawapalegreenlight，whenceissuingtheycouldnottell，abouthalfwaybetweenfloorandroofofthepassage。Theysawnothingbutthelight，whichwaslikealargestar，withapointofdarkercolouryetbrighterradianceintheheartofit，whencetherestofthelightshotoutinraysthatfadedtowardtheendsuntiltheyvanished。Itshedhardlyanylightaroundit，althoughinitselfitwassobrightastostingtheeyesthatbeheldit。
Wonderfulstorieshadfromagesgonebeencurrentintheminesaboutcertainmagicgemswhichgaveoutlightofthemselves，andthislightlookedjustlikewhatmightbesupposedtoshootfromtheheartofsuchagem。
Theywentuptheoldgallerytofindoutwhatitcouldbe。Totheirsurprisetheyfound，however，that，aftergoingsomedistance，theywerenonearertoit，sofarastheycouldjudge，thanwhentheystarted。Itdidnotseemtomove，andyettheymovingdidnotapproachit。Stilltheypersevered，foritwasfartoowonderfulathingtolosesightof，solongastheycouldkeepit。Atlengththeydrewnearthehollowwherethewaterlay，andstillwerenonearerthelight。Wheretheyexpectedtobestoppedbythewater，however，waterwasnone：somethinghadtakenplaceinsomepartoftheminethathaddraineditoff，andthegallerylayopenasinformertimes。