He did not, however, lose the coldly analytic faculty that weighed
all contingencies. The adventure still was critical; but the scales
of success seemed lowering in favor of the Legion. The feel, in his
breast pocket, of the leather sack containing Kaukab el Durri, which
he had again taken possession of after the magic tests, gave added
encouragement. This, the third gift, was to be delivered only at the
last moment, just before _Nissr_ should roar aloft.
"I think," reflected the Master, "the Pearl Star is an important
factor. It certainly will put the final seal of success on this
extraordinary bargain."
While his thoughts were busy with the pros and cons of the
soul-shaking adventure now coming to its climax, his eyes were busy
with the city wall and towers every moment closer, closer still.
The Master's knowledge of geology gave him the key to the otherwise
inexplicable character of Jannati Shahr. This gold, in incredible
masses, had not been mined and brought hither to be fashioned into a
great city.
Quite the contrary, it formed part of the cliffs and black mountains
themselves. Some stupendous volcanic upheaval of the remote past had
cleft the mountain wall, and had extruded through the "fault" a huge
"dyke" of virgin metal--to use technical terms.
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