She smiled.
"Are there many like you in the world from which you come ?" she asked softly.

"Well, we soon shall--" Lugur interrupted her almost rudely and glowering.
"Best we should know how they came hence," he growled.
She darted a quick look at him, and again the little devils danced in her wondrous eyes.
[Unquestionably there is a subtle difference between time as we know it and time in this subterranean land--its progress there being slower.
This, however, is only in accord with the well-known doctrine of relativity, which predicates both space and time as necessary inventions of the human mind to orient itself to the conditions under which it finds itself.

I tried often to measure this difference, but could never do so to my entire satisfaction.

The closest I can come to it is to say that an hour of our time is the equivalent of an hour and five-eighths in Muria.

For further information upon this matter of relativity the reader may consult any of the numerous books upon the subject .-- W.