Cyrus smiled and nodded. "That's what the scientists say. I had no thermometer with me."
"But no human being could live in such a temperature!"
"That is why I stuck to the twilight. And I suspect that is why the cities were built in the cañons."
"Why, of course! That explains it. I was wondering what on earth could induce anybody to want to live in those God-forsaken chasms."
Mr. Bressani, however, had a deeper interest in abnormal gems than in climatic conditions. "Did you find this piece all alone, by itself,—apart from others?"
"No; other pieces were near it."
"But not so large as this."
"Oh, yes! Some were much larger."
Mr. Bressani frowned. "Larger than this?"
"Yes, much larger."