"Aye, you are tired, poor child." Gaya rose, crossed to the other couch, and took the girl's golden head inside her arms. "Come, talk no more at present. I shall call Bela, my own maid, who shall attend you. You shall bathe, and afterward she shall anoint your flesh with sweet-smelling oils, and you will sleep and awaken refreshed. She has a soothing touch beyond any I have ever found. She shall wait upon you." She reached out to the table and struck a small metal gong.
"Refreshed," said Naia slowly. Once more her eyes were fastened on the sun-kissed water. "Aye, I shall bathe, gentle Gaya. I shall find rest in your pool."
She rose slowly. Her eyes were wide; her face was very white. Turning, she walked to the edge of the sunken basin. For a moment she stood there in the attitude of one who listens.
Her lips moved. "Zilla," she whispered and smiled.
And then her voice raised, rang out sharply: "Zilla, I hear thy answer!"
Her arms lifted, stretched upward. She plunged face downward into the pool and sank without a struggle into its transparent depths.
CHAPTER X
ASTRAL UNDERSTANDING
And now began one of the most amazing parts of Croft's whole tale.