heads bent, ever so slightly--and I gasped, and Larry grew a little
white as Lakla nodded--

"They say, Larry," she said, "that there you touch one side of the
heart of the matter--for it is through the way of fear the Silent Ones
hope to strike at the very life of the Shining One!"

The visage Larry turned to me was eloquent of wonder; and mine
reflected it--for what _really_ were this Three to whom our minds were
but open pages, so easily read? Not long could we conjecture; Lakla
broke the little silence.

"This, they say, is what is to happen. First will come upon us Lugur
and Yolara with all their host. Because of fear the Shining One will
lurk behind within its lair; for despite all, the Dweller _does_ dread
the Three, and only them. With this host the Voice and the priestess
will strive to conquer. And if they do, then will they be strong
enough, too, to destroy us all. For if they take the abode they banish
from the Dweller all fear and sound the end of the Three.

"Then will the Shining One be all free indeed; free to go out into the
world, free to do there as it wills!

"But if they do not conquer--and the Shining One comes not to their
aid, abandoning them even as it abandoned its own _Taithu_--then will
the Three be loosed from a part of their doom, and they will go
through the Portal, seek the Shining One beyond the Veil, and,
piercing it through fear's opening, destroy it."

"That's quite clear," murmured the O'Keefe in my ear. "Weaken the