"Where did you learn it?"
"I don't know. In the Black Forest, I suppose. I don't remember."
The girl made an impatient gesture. She quieted as Brown glanced at her.
"From the Zarno, Garth?"
"_I don't know!_ There's no proof the Zarno even exist!"
"If you've gone far enough into the Black Forest--"
Garth said angrily, "Remember what I told you about the Noctoli? The
effect of the pollen? When I got back to Oreport here I had amnesia.
I--" He hesitated. "I don't remember. I never did remember what
happened in the Black Forest."
"Um-m." Brown rubbed his cheek again. "A lost race of savages no
outsiders have ever seen--a race speaking the tongue of the Ancients.
How could they live around those Noctoli flowers of yours?"
"Natural immunity," Garth said. "Built up over a period of generations.
I didn't have that--then."
* * * * *
The girl leaned forward, ignoring Brown. "Mr. Garth," she said swiftly,
"I think I'd better explain a bit more. Shut up, Carver!" She frowned
at Brown. "There've been too many mysteries. Here's the set-up. I've
got half of a--a map. It shows the location of something in the Black
Forest that's immensely valuable--the greatest treasure the System's
ever known. I don't know what it is. The original inscription, in the
Ancient's language, is cryptic as the devil. But the Ancients thought
this treasure important enough to be worth hiding in the Black Forest.
They set the Zarno to guard it. See?"