Maskull burst out laughing. "The toad's come into the light to some
purpose, Haunte. Who would have expected it?"

Haunte, after staring hard at Corpang for two or three minutes,
suddenly uttered a strange cry, like an evil spirit, and flung
himself upon him. The two men began to wrestle like wildcats. They
were as often on the floor as on their legs, and Maskull could not
see who was getting the better of it. He made no attempt to separate
them. A thought came into his head and, snatching up the two male
stones, he ran with them, laughing, through the upper doorway, into
the open night air.

The door overlooked an abyss on another face of the mountain. A
narrow ledge, sprinkled with green snow, wound along the cliff to the
right; it was the only available path. He pitched the pebbles over
the edge of the chasm. Although hard and heavy in his hand, they
sank more like feathers than stones, and left a long trail of vapour
behind. While Maskull was still watching them disappear, Haunte came
rushing out of the cavern, followed by Corpang. He gripped Maskull's
arm excitedly.

"What in Krag's name have you done?"

"Overboard they have gone," replied Maskull, renewing his laughter.

"You accursed madman!"

Haunte's luminous colour came and went, just as though his internal
light were breathing. Then he grew suddenly calm, by a supreme