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 with his finger, though a bluish mark was left on the deck. ("Because he's a Blue Djinn, I suppose," thought Fen, "an' it shines through.") Siddereticus placed in the very middle of the ring a little green saucer, on which he lighted a tiny mound of grayish powder. It burned with one blue ribbon of smoke and a single orange coal at its heart.

Walking with long, silent strides around the magic circle, Siddereticus muttered curious words and passed his hands through the fragrant wisp of smoke, shattering its single blue line into a writhing tangle of misty threads. Now and then he sprinkled the glowing coal with something which made a green flame leap up from it—a flame that burned blue, and orange, and purple, as it flickered lower and then died away with a shower of starry sparks.

Suddenly Siddereticus crouched down