“I don’t know what we’re squabbling about,”somebody said. “Waddo’s not even here with the crystal yet.” That commentproduced a brief, embarrassed pause in the pushing and shoving, but they soonresumed.

“Here he comes!” Three people said it atonce. Everybody surged toward Waddo, who carried the crystal on a cushion whosecover his wife had embroidered! “Make way!” That was three different people.

Waddo hadn’t had such an eager,enthusiastic reception since . . . Thinking back on it, Garivald couldn’tremember the firstman ever getting such a reception. But, of course, it wasn’treally for him; it was for the crystal he bore.

“Don’t drop it!” someone told him.

“Set it on a stool,” someone else said. “Thatway, more of us will have a chance to see.”

Waddo took that suggestion, though heignored the other one. “It won’t be more than a few minutes before his Majestyspeaks to us,” he said. “He will set our minds at rest about the many thingsthat trouble us.”

Garivald doubted whether Swemmel would doany such thing. But he shouldered his way through the crowd till he stood inthe second row and could peer at the crystal over the shoulders of the peoplein front of him. Inactive at the moment, the crystal might as well have been anordinary ball of glass.

Then, abruptly, it... changed. Garivaldhad heard stories of crystals in use, of course, but he’d never seen one worktill now. First, light suffused it. Then, as the brief glow faded, he saw KingSwemmel’s long, pale, narrow face looking at him. But the other villagers’exclamations, they all saw the king looking at them, too, even though theysurrounded the crystal. After the magic that made the crystal work, Garivaldsupposed the one that let it be viewed from any direction was a small thing bycomparison. It impressed him just the same.