tcal station at Bolvangar and floo troubled.

    In tmospurbances t folloo stay exan aeronaut, but Serafina ossed o t soon came rolling in from t Lord AsriePs experiment orn in the sky.

    o control  once more,  t rue one, lorek Byrnison, nor of er t.

    So so searcinged air on otle, soaring for several urbulent range lights and shadows.

    Serafina Pekkala knetling tingle of t on  it came from another world.

    After some time ;Look! A c...quot;

    Serafina Pekkala looked tern, circling and crying in ty ligoed up in alarm, but Serafina Pekkala signaled friendshem.

    Serafina Pekkala said, quot; clan are you from?quot;

    quot;taymyr,quot; old ;My cured. Our companions !quot;

    quot;ured your c;

    quot;t;

    quot;as your clan allied ters?quot;

    quot;Yes, until  er t at Bolvangar t my caken prisoner. t can I do? So me and I cant find ;

    quot;Quiet,quot; said Kaisa, t;Listen do;

    tening  t of a gas engine, muffled by the fog.

    quot;t navigate a s; Kaisa said. quot; are t;

    quot;Its a smaller engine t,quot; said Serafina Pekkala, and as s direction: a loal, s, like some immense sea creature calling from t roared for several seconds and topped abruptly.

    quot;t; said Serafina Pekkala.

    ter and cast about again for t, for to c density, and tced up out of sig in time as a launcer ant to rise.

    tern daemon keeping close like a co its motceersman adjust tly as t mounted on t all it lit up .

    Serafina Pekkala said to t daemon: quot;Did you say till some c;

    quot;I tcoo,quot; old ; are you going to do? ill you look for my c;

    quot;Yes. But stay ;

    Serafina Pekkala fleo of siged on ter just beeersman. urned to look.

    quot;You taken your time, ent you?quot; ;Get up a side.quot;

    Sook off again at once. It ill c s , s lig about in til s its ed back and ions to teersman, o a crao t  above ter line.

    teersman called, and a sailor to make it fast to the launch.

    Serafina Pekkala fleo treated to ts. Sc trolling t to do.

    Belo as it reacly up on ting malevolence. Serafina cauger.

    A dark-clot on deck to greet ing someone else as well.

    quot;Lord Boreal—quot; he began.

    But Mrs. Coulter interrupted: quot;arted torture?quot;

    quot;Yes, Mrs. Coulter,quot; ;but—quot;

    quot;I ordered to ,quot; s;aken to disobeying me? Per;

    S: proud, passionate, and, to tch, so young.

    quot;c; she demanded.

    t;All gone, maam. Red to t;

    quot;But a c; said Mrs. Coulter. quot;;

    Serafina s est state of t Mrs. Coulter oo impatient, and after a cursory glance above and along t cast a yellohe man followed.

    Serafina Pekkala looked around to cion. Silator on tral superstructure of t port on t o t and tc and beginning to freeze into stiffness. No one could see Serafina o see any more, so leave her hiding place.

    t oo bad. it. Silator and slipped along til s  ion and impossible to see to the shadows again.

    tant, because it ely risky, and it  it seemed t y al magic, a kind of fiercely y t could make t invisible but simply unnoticed.

    degree of intensity, sary traveler,  being seen.

    So noion to bear on tter of altering to deflect attention completely. It took some minutes before s. Sested it by stepping out of o tools. epped aside to avoid  looking at her once.

    S to tly lit saloon and opened it, finding ty. S ter door ajar so t s if so, and sa t opened on to a fligairs leading doo te-painted pipeed s, h sides.

    Sly along, listening, until s sounded as if some kind of council was in session.

    She door and walked in.

    A dozen or so people ed around a large table. One or t, gazed at ly, and forgot  once. Sood quietly near tcing o be clerics of one sort or anot from Mrs. Coulter, er  of terior.

    Serafina Pekkala looked around carefully and saed to one side at a table laden  at first t ary, until s ently gazing at a golden instrument like a large copping every minute or so to note  dooo and turning back to trument.

    Serafina looked back to t table, because sch.

    quot;S t; said one of t;S sc ;

    quot;I am er kno; said t;Is told us before, I ;

    quot;You ,quot; said Mrs. Coulter icily. quot;You forget I am a  so subtle as a prince of t is trut I s t;

    t  apologetically:

    quot;It seems t t concerns ter. All tances of o begin ians kno oo—terms of cian men to Bolvangar. And tonis of deposing tell us more, per;

    ter, er.

    quot;You may be a ter left, apart from t; ;All troyed, by order of terium. I learn from trument t ter of Jordan College, and t so read it by  s  t o disbelieve ter, I o use trument  to me. It takes decades of diligent study to reac of understanding. So read it , and noe mastery. S;

    quot;; said the Cardinal.

    quot;In t; said Fra Pavel. quot;It is already late.quot;

    quot;tc; said anot dasmon gna a pencil. quot;Its all in place but for tcestimony! I say ure ;

    quot; is t; demanded Mrs. Coulter, ; from me?quot;

    able, and none of the face.

    Only t flinced a foot and scratched her head.

    quot;tced at sometraordinary,quot; t;I dare not believe  means. If its true, it places on us t terrible responsibility men and er—;

    Mrs. Coulter  e h fury.

    quot;errogate me?quot; s. quot;And  youve learned from tc I am keeping sometortured like tco snap your fingers and you could orn apart. But if you searc find one, because I knoever. And I demand t you tell me o kno;

    quot;Please,quot; said anot;Please, Mrs. Coulter, tc spoken yet;  it.quot;

    quot;And suppose tc reveal it?quot; Mrs. Coulter said. quot; t;

    Fra Pavel said, quot;No, because t is tion I am noo put to ter.

    e sc;

    quot;And  take?quot;

    ;A considerable time. It is an immensely complex question.quot;

    quot;But tcell us at once,quot; said Mrs. Coulter.

    And so . As if in aoo. Only ted. Serafina Pekkala stood back, fiercely eetanding on end.

    Mrs. Coulter swung o her shoulder.

    quot;So let us go and ask ; she said.

    Surned and s out into tened to folloo stand quickly aside, urmoil. t to go he Cardinal.

    Serafina took a feo compose ation o make o a smaller room, bare and er: a cigo a steel ced and broken.

    Mrs. Coulter stood over ook up a position by t s stay unseen for long; too hard.

    quot;tell us about tc; said Mrs. Coulter.

    quot;No!quot;

    quot;You ;

    quot;I ;

    quot;Oo come. e  your suffering endlessly. tell us about t; Mrs. Coulter said, and reaco break one of tc snapped easily.

    tc, and for a clear second Serafina Pekkala became visible to everyone, and one or t  trolled urned back to torture.

    Mrs. Coulter ;If you dont ans do you kno tell me.quot;

    quot;All rig;

    quot;Ans;

    time a flood of sobbing broke from tch.

    Serafina Pekkala could hese words, in a shriek:

    quot;No, no! Ill tell you! I beg you, no more! to come ... tc ;

    quot;e kno;

    quot;rue name! tiny!quot;

    quot; is tell me!quot; said Mrs. Coulter.

    quot;No... no...quot;

    quot;And  ;

    quot;test.... If so pick out one spray of cloud-pine from many ot  our consuls  trollesund, ;

    .

    Mrs. Coulter gave a little exclamation of impatience, and there came a loud slap, and a groan.

    quot;But ; Mrs. Coulter  on, and ;And  ;

    Serafina Pekkala moved closer, even among tigc  t end tc train of rembled as sook t.

    tc;Sed and feared o find  ;

    But before serruption.

    tern, mad error, and it beat its  craso truggled up and darted to t of tortured cself against c;Yambe-Akka!

    Come to me, come to me!quot;

    No one but Serafina Pekkala understood. Yambe-Akka o a c to die.

    And Serafina epped fors of joy. tcurned up ear-stained face, and Serafina bent to kiss it and slid ly into tc. tern daemon looked up h dim eyes and vanished.

    And now Serafina Pekkala would o fig.

    till s Mrs. Coulter recovered s almost at once.

    quot;Seize  let ; s Serafina  tring. So the floor.

    Out, along to tairs, turn, nock, loose, and anots clangor.

    Up tairs and out onto t loose! Get ;

    t ood undecided, o dodge past and seize  beilator.

    quot;S ; came a cry in Mrs. Coulters voice from be once ts struck metal and  up like one of er s goose s of to her side.

    quot;o?quot; he said.

    quot;A; s;I  to get tenc of my nose.quot;

    In trut knoo do next. But tain: t s mark in Mrs. Coulters t.

    turned sout troubling otion began to form more clearly in Serafinas mind.  s t urned terious activities.

    t tural ones. Srack any animal, catc berries; and sens entrails, or deciperpret t ture, and told ural truths.

    For kno Lord Asriel, so go elserollesund, tained act o see o endrils of mist drifted glike on ter, and c guided in a large vessel ration. t ancside the harbor. She had never seen so many.

    As t day faded, sapped on to his lips.

    quot;Serafina Pekkala, greetings,quot; ;Come in quickly, and  you ter not stay long.quot;  tains out of a  fronted treet. quot;Youll have some wine?

    Sokay and told  she ship.

    quot;Do you tood ; he asked.

    quot;Not fully, I t tant. As for t woman, Im afraid of her, Dr.

    Lanselius. I s still Im afraid of ;

    quot;Yes,quot; ;So am I.quot;

    And Serafina listened as old   tos o emerge clearly.