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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..575411c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67655 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67655) diff --git a/old/67655-0.txt b/old/67655-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f39e32b..0000000 --- a/old/67655-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8181 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Jason, Son of Jason, by J. U. Gíesy - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Jason, Son of Jason - -Author: J. U. Gíesy - -Release Date: March 18, 2022 [eBook #67655] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JASON, SON OF JASON *** - - - - - - JASON, SON OF JASON - - By J. U. Gíesy - - - - - CHAPTER I - - THE GATEWAY OF LIFE - - -It was midnight when the night superintendent called and told me No. 27 -had died. I rose. The thing was no surprise. I had known it was going -to happen. No. 27 had told me so himself. None the less, I went to -his room. Routine in the mental hospital had nothing to do with that -strange secret held in common between myself and the man--that strange -state of affairs which had enabled him to predicate his own death so -accurately. - -And yet as I mounted the stairs to the room where his body now lay as -a worn-out husk I had none of the feeling which so customarily assails -the average mortal in such an hour. To me it was not as though he had -died. To my mind in those moments it was no more than the casting aside -by the activating spirit of that instrument which for its own ends it -had used. The body then was a husk indeed--an emaciated, worn-out thing -which, because of our mutual secret, I knew had been kept alive by the -sheer force of the spiritual tenant, now removed. - -I stood looking down upon it, with very much the same sensations one -might have in viewing the tool once plied by the hand of a friend. It -was nothing more than that really. Jason Croft had used it while he had -need of its manipulation, and when his need was accomplished he had -simply laid it down. - -Jason Croft. Dead? I felt an impulse to smile in most improper fashion. -Not at all. The man was not only not dead, but I knew--as positively -as I knew I was presently going to leave the room where his dead shell -lay on a hospital bed and return to my own quarters--exactly where he -had gone. - -The statement sounds a bit as though I were better qualified as an -inmate than the superintendent of an institution for the care of the -insane. And I don't suppose it will help any for me to add that I had -seen Jason Croft die before--or that he had informed me on the former -occasion, though in less specific fashion, of his approaching end. - -That was after he had told me a most remarkable tale, which, in -spite of its almost incredible nature, I found myself strongly -inclined to believe. It had concerned Croft's adventures on another -planet--Palos--one of the spheres in the universe of the Dog Star -Sirius, to which he had traveled first by astral projection, but on -which he had found means to establish an actual existence in the flesh. - -"Unbelievable--can a man be dead and yet live again?" you will say. -Well, yes, but--Croft's earth body died just as he had told me it -would, and was buried, and time passed, and this patient No. 27 was -committed to the institution of which I was the head; and when I went -to examine and inspect him, he asked me to dismiss the attendants, and -then he spoke to me in the voice of Jason Croft. - -More than that, he took up the story of his adventures where he had -left off in the previous instance, admitted freely that he had reversed -the experiment by which he had gained material existence on Palos, and, -driven by the necessity of gaining knowledge for use in his new estate, -had deliberately returned to earth. Unbelievable, you will say again. -And again I answer: - -"Yes--but wait." - -Croft was a physician, even as am I. He was a scientific man. In -addition he was a student of the occult--the science of the mind, the -spirit, and its control of the physical forces of life. - -He was an earth-born man. The home in which I first met him contained -the greatest private collection of works on the subject I have ever -seen. In dying he left them to me--I have them all about me. They are -mine. According to his statements and his notations on margins, he had -gone so far in his investigations that he could project the astral -consciousness anywhere at will. And when I say anywhere, I mean it in -the literal sense. - -Many men have mastered the astral control on the earthly plane. Croft -had carried it to an ultimate degree. He shook off the envelope of -the earth atmosphere, led thereto, as he frankly confessed in our -conversations, by the attraction of a feminine spirit, though he did -not know it at the time, and recognized it only when he first viewed -Naia--Princess of Tamarizia--on a distant star. - -I had dabbled in the occult to some extent myself. Hence when he spoke -of the doctrine of twin souls he had no further need to explain. He -alleged that since a child the Dog Star had called him subtly through -the years in a way he could not explain. Once having come into her -presence, however, he knew that it was Naia--the feminine counterpart -of his nature--whose existence on the other planet had called across -the void to him. Or so he claimed. And certainly his portrayal of the -events on Palos were characterized by a detail that made the atmosphere -of his alleged other existence most vividly plain. - -To an accomplishment of his marrying her, Croft declared that he had -done a weirdly wonderful thing. Discovering a Palosian dying of a -mental rather than a physical ailment, he had waited until his death -occurred, then appropriated the still physically viable body to -himself, as he most comprehensively explained, describing his act in a -scientific way that counseled belief while staggering the mind. - -Over that body he obtained absolute control, exactly as he had gained -the same ability with his own. For a time thereafter he led a sort of -dual existence, sometimes on Palos, sometimes on earth, until he had -fully shaped his plans. Then, and then only, did he voluntarily forsake -the mundane life to enter that other and fuller existence he felt that -Naia of Aphur could make complete. - - * * * * * - -I questioned him closely. I was faced by a most amazing thing. I took -up first the question of time required in passing from earth to Palos. -He smiled and replied that outside the mental atmosphere a man's time -ceased to exist; that it was man's measure of a portion of eternity, -and nothing more, and that he could not use what was non-existent, -hence reached Palos as quickly in the astral condition as I could -span the gulf between that member of the Dog Star's Pack and earth in -thought. All other points I raised he met. Even so it was a good deal -of a shock to find my new patient speaking to me with Croft's evident -understanding, looking at me out of what seemed oddly like Croft's eyes. - -But in the end I was convinced. The man knew too much. He was too -utterly conversant with Croft's accomplishments, his aims and ambitions -and hopes, to be anyone but Croft himself. And, too, he naïvely -explained that it was a poor rule that would not work two ways, and -that he had therefore repeated his experiment in gaining a Palosian -body when he felt the pressing need of a return to earth. - -This night, earlier in the evening, he had bidden me goodbye--told me -he was going back to Naia, the woman he had dared so much to win, his -mate who ere long was to bear him, Jason Croft of Earth, a child. And -now--well, now as before, it would seem he had kept his word. Jason -Croft was dead _again_. - -Is it any wonder that I felt that strange, almost amused desire to -smile? Dead! Why, Croft, in so far as I knew him, could practically -laugh at death--he was a man who had actually demonstrated, if one -believed his narrative, of course, the truth of the saying that the -spirit is the life. He was a man, who, because of the needs of his -spirit, had deliberately switched his existence from one to the other -of two spheres. - -I gave what directions were needed for the disposal of No. 27's body, -returned to my bed, and stretched myself out. But I didn't sleep all -that morning. I buried myself in thought. - -Both the narratives to which I had listened--first from the man I knew -to be Jason Croft really, secondly from the pitiable wreck he had -employed on his return, that worn-out husk which had just died--had -produced on me a somewhat odd effect. So clearly had he portrayed -the events and emotions which had swayed him in his almost undreamed -courtship of the Aphurian princess that I had come to accept the -characters he mentioned as actually existent persons, acquaintances -almost, just as, in spite of all established precedent, I still -regarded Croft himself as alive. - -Naia of Aphur--many a time as I listened to his account of their -association I had thrilled to the picture of that supple girl with her -crown of golden hair, her crimson lips, her violet-purple eyes. So real -she had come to seem that I had felt I would know her had I seen her -with my physical rather than my mental vision. So real indeed was her -mental picture that when he told me she was about to become a mother -I had cried out, on impulse, that I wished as a medical man I might -attend her--would be glad to see the light in her eyes when they first -beheld his, Jason's, child. - -And Croft had replied, "Man, I could love you for that," and he flashed -me an understanding smile. - -So now that he was gone back to her--I lay on my bed unsleeping, and -let all he had told me unroll in a sort of mental panorama, dealing -wholy with the Palosian world. - -Tamarizia! It was into the empire Croft blundered blindly when he went -to Palos first--a series of principalities surrounding the shore of a -vast inland sea, with the exception of a central state--the seat of -the imperial capital, embracing the island of Hiranur located in the -sea itself, and Nodhur to the west and south. From the central sea a -narrow strait led into an outer ocean to the west. - -This was known as the Gateway. To the north was Cathur, a rugged, -mountainous state, the seat of national learning, in its university -at the capital city of Scira, and east of Cathur was Mazhur, known as -the Lost State at the time of Croft's first arrival, because it had -been wrested from the empire some fifty years before, in a war with -Zollaria, a hostile nation to the north. - -Croft, after gaining physical life on Palos, succeeded in winning it -back, and in gaining thereby the consent of Naia's father, Prince -Lakkon, and her uncle, Jadgor, King of Aphur, to their marriage. It was -at this point his narrative had ended first. - -East of Mazhur, still hugging the sea and extending into the hinterland -of the continent was Bithur. And Milidhur joined Bithur to the south. -West of Milidhur, completing the circle, was Aphur--the name meaning -literally "the land to the west" or "toward the sun." Aphur was -the southern pillar of the Gateway, ending at the western strait. -Nodhur lay south of Aphur, gaining access to the sea by the navigable -river Na, on whose yellow flood moved a steady stream of commerce -driven by sail and oar until Croft revolutionized transportation by -producing alcohol-driven motors. And--if I were to believe his second -account--since then he had actually electrified the nation, harnessing -mountain streams to generate the force. - -Except for the waterways, traffic prior to Croft's innovations was by -conveyances drawn by the gnuppa--a creature half deer, half horse, -in appearance--or by means of caravans of the enormous beast called -sarpelca, resembling some huge Silurian lizard, twice the size of an -elephant, with a pointed tail, scale-armored back, camel-like neck, and -the head of a marine serpent tentacle-fringed about the mouth. - -They were driven by reins affixed to these fleshy appendages, and -streamed across the Palosian deserts, bearing huge merchandise cargoes -upon their massive backs. - - * * * * * - -Indeed, it was a wonderful world into which Croft had projected -himself. Babylonian in seeming he had described it to me at first. - -North of Tamarizia was Zollaria, inhabited by a far more warlike race. -Its despotic government had long cast a covetous eye on the Central -Sea, through which, and the rivers emptying into its expanse, most of -the profitable trade lanes were reached. Tamarizia, controlling the -western Gateway, had remained master even after the fall of Mazhur, -collecting toll from the Zollarian craft on her rivers despite the -foothold gained on her northern coast. - -East of Tamarizia, beyond Bithur and Milidhur, lay Mazzeria, peopled by -a race little above the aborigine in their social life. Tatar-like, the -Mazzerians shaved their heads of all save a single tuft of hair, with a -most remarkable effect, since the race was blue of complexion and the -prevailing color of their hair was red. - -Mazzeria, at the time of Croft's incursion into the planet's affairs, -was the acknowledged ally of Zollaria, although at peace with -Tamarizia. In earlier times, however, numbers of them had been taken -captive in border wars and brought to both nations as slaves. These, -in so far as Tamarizia was concerned, had later been freed and given -citizenship of a degree constituting in their ranks the lowest or -serving caste. - -Each state was governed by a king, by hereditary succession, in -conjunction with a national assembly consisting of a delegate elected -by each ten thousand or deckerton of civil population. The occupant of -the imperial throne was elected for a period of ten years by vote of -the several states. - -On Croft's advent, Scythys--a dotard--had been king of Cathur, with his -son Kyphallos, the crown prince, a profligate of the worst type, sunk -under the charms of Kalamita, a Zollarian adventuress of great beauty, -with whom he had plotted the surrender of Cathur to her nation in -return for the Tamarizian throne with Kalamita by his side. - -Jadgor of Aphur, scenting the danger, had sought to bind the northern -prince to Tamarizian fealty through a marriage with Naia, his sister's -child. To win Naia and overthrow Zollaria's scheme had been Jason's -task. The introduction of both the motor and firearms enabled him to -overthrow the flower of Zollaria's hosts on a couple of bloody fields. -Victory gained and Zollaria forced to cede Mazhur after fifty years of -occupation, Croft prevailed upon the nation to accept a democratic form -of government, it being at the end of Emperor Tamhys's term. This was -accomplished without too much difficulty. - -As to the Tamarizians themselves, they were a white and well-formed -race. Their women held equal place with men. They believed in the -spirit and a future life. They had made no small progress in the -sciences and arts. They worked metal, gold being as common as iron on -Palos. - -They tempered copper also and used it in innumerable ways. They wove -fabrics of great beauty, one being a blend of vegetable fiber and spun -gold. They cut and polished jewels. They had a system of judiciaries -and courts and a medical and surgical knowledge of sorts. - -They were a fairly moral and naturally modest people. Their clothing -was worn for protection and ornamentation, rather than for any other -purpose. It was donned and doffed as the occasion required, without -comment being aroused. In women it consisted, rich and poor, of a -single garment falling to the knee or just below it, cinctured about -the body and caught over one shoulder by a jeweled or metal boss, -leaving the other shoulder, arm, and upper chest exposed. To this was -added sandals of leather, metal, or wood, held to the foot by a toe and -instep band and lacings running well up the calves. - -Men of wealth and soldiers generally wore metal casings, jointed to -the sandal to permit of motion and extending upward to the knees. Men -of caste wore also a soft shirt or chemise beneath a metal cuirass or -embroidered tunic. Save on formal occasions the serving classes wore a -narrow cincture about the loins. - -Agriculture was highly developed, and they had advanced far in -architecture, painting and sculpture. They lavished much time and -expense in beautifying their homes. They had well-constructed caravan -roads. As Croft had pointed out, he found them an intelligent race -waiting, ready to be trained to a wider craft. - -And among them, in Naia of Aphur, he believed he had found his twin -soul. And he had set about winning her in a fashion such as no other -man, I frankly believe, would have dared. - -He had won her according to his belief and returned to earth, for the -last time, ere he should return and make her his bride. He had told me -about it, and he had cast off his earthly body, severing the last tie -that held him from his life in Palos. He had died. - -He had gone back and found his plans disarranged through the actions -of Zud, the high priest of Zitra, the capital city of Hiranur, where -he had left Naia waiting his return in the Temple of Ga, the Eternal -Mother--the Eternal Woman, in the Zitran pyramid. Zud, moved by -Croft's works and by a story told him by Abbu, a priest who knew -Jason's story, had proclaimed him Mouthpiece of Zitu, thereby raising -an insurmountable barrier, as it seemed, between him and Naia, since -celibacy was one of the tenets of the Tamarizian priests. And yet -Croft had won to her, overcoming all obstacles, even winning a second -war, with all Mazzeria egged on, her armies officered by Zollarians in -disguise this time, ere he gained the goal of his desire. - -These things had been told me inside the last few weeks by No. 27--the -man who had been committed to the institution for a dissociation of -personality, at which he quietly laughed after he had obtained my ear; -because he wished to gain contact with me, who knew his former story, -and win my aid toward the fulfillment of his mission. - -Only he wasn't dead, and I knew it as I lay there with the names of -men and women of the Palosian world buzzing in my head. He had gone -back to them, now that his work was ended--to Naia, his golden-haired, -purple-eyed mate--to Lakkon, her father; to Jadgor, her uncle, and -Robur his son, governor now of Aphur in the palace where his father, -president of the Tamarizian republic, had been king; to Robur, who, -like a second Jonathan, had ever been Croft's loyal assistant and -friend, and Gaya his sweet and matronly wife; to Magur, high priest -of Himyra, the ruling red city of Aphur, by whom Croft and Naia were -bethrothed to Zud himself, to whom he had taught the truth of astral -control. And I found myself portraying them as Croft had described -them, predicating their thoughts and feelings, as I might have done -those of any man or woman I knew on earth. - -Actually I was projecting my intellect, if not my consciousness, to -Palos. The thought came to me. In spirit, if not in perception, I was -there for the moment with my friend. In spirit at least I was bridging -with little effort billions of actual miles. Thought and spirit and -soul. They are strange things. Croft, if I was any judge, had gone back -to Naia--and there was I lying, picturing the scene, where she waited -for his coming in their home high in the western mountains of Aphur, -given to them by Lakkon, a wedding gift, after the war with Mazzeria -was won. Croft had gone back to Palos, and here was I picturing the -thing in my spirit, certainly as plainly as any earth scene I had ever -known. - -His body would be lying there, covered with soft fabrics, waiting for -its tenant on a couch of wine-red wood such as the Tamarizians used--or -perhaps of molded copper. And Naia--the woman who had given him her -life, would be watching, watching for the first stir of his returning. - -Only--I smiled--Croft had told me he could gain Palos as quickly in the -consciousness as I could project myself there in my mind--so, by now, -that stirring of her strong man's limbs, beneath the eyes of the fair -watcher, had occurred, and once more those two were together. - -I smiled again. - -The picture of that reunion appealed. There was nothing else to it at -the instant. For even in my wildest imaginings I did not in the least -suspect what its nearness, its clearness, the vividness of its seeming, -might portend. - - * * * * * - -No, even though I myself had delved more or less deeply into occult -lore, with a resulting knowledge of the subject that had brought about -the sympathetic understanding of all Croft had told me from first to -last, I had little or no conception that night of the inward meaning -of the distinctness with which I could conjure up the scene of his -return to Naia, or to where the ability might lead. Rather, I felt -merely that through his narrative of her wooing he had built up within -my mental cells a picture of the fair girl now his bride, so clear, so -positive in seeming, that to me she appeared no more than a charming -personality--a feminine acquaintance, such as one might on occasion -meet. She was no more removed, so far as my feeling of familiarity with -her was concerned, than had her residence been not on Palos, but simply -across the street. It is so easy to bridge distance in the mind. - -I slept after a time, as one will, drifting from continued thought upon -one subject into slumber. And I woke with the thought of Croft's weird -homecoming still in mind. It stayed with me more or less, too, in the -succeeding days. - -Naia of Aphur! Oddly I dwelt upon her. Jason himself had told me that -she knew me--had actually seen me--that he had brought her to earth -more than once in the astral body--had pointed me out to her as the one -earth man who knew and believed his story--that she looked upon me as a -friend. - -The thing seemed some way to establish a sort of personal bond, just as -the secret Croft and I had kept between us made me feel toward him as I -have never felt toward any other man. - -Jason Croft and Naia of Aphur--the interplanetary lovers. It was -certainly odd. I knew her, even though I had never seen her; save -through the instrumentality of his description of her, and the -resultant picture printed on my mind. Yet I could close my eyes at will -and see her, slender, golden-haired, with her lips of flaming scarlet, -and her violet-purple eyes. - -And I knew her home. I could lift it into my conscious perception as a -familiar scene. I could imagine her moving about it, young, vibrant, -happy, alone or with Croft by her side. I could fancy her bathing -in the sun-warmed waters of the private bath in the garden--the -gleam of her form against the clear yellow stone of which it was -constructed--until she seemed the little silver fish Croft had called -her, disporting in a bowl of gold, behind the white, screening, -vine-clad walls. Or I could dream of her walking about the grounds, -with the giant Canor--the huge, doglike creature she called Hupor, who -was at once her pet, her companion, and guard. Distant? Why, she seemed -no more distant to me in the days after Croft had gone back to be with -her when her child would be born than some fair maid of earth waiting -for the coming of her lover across a dividing wall in an adjacent yard. - -And yet so blind is the objective mind, that even then I did not -suspect I had established a sympathetic chain of interest between the -atmosphere of her existence and myself, capable of stretching out to a -most peculiar climax in the end. Then, one night something over a month -after No. 27 had died and been laid away, I dreamed. - -I don't say I thought of it as a dream at the time. Then it was all too -seriously, too grippingly, real to seem other than the actual thing. -It was only after it was over that I thought of it as a dream--perhaps -because, despite the occurrence and all Croft had told me, I was still -not fully convinced. - -Later--well, that's the story. I'll let it unfold itself. - -I went to bed that night and fell asleep. How long I slept I do not -know. But a voice disturbed my slumbers after a time. At least it -disturbed the restful unconsciousness of my spirit. To this day I am -not sure whether or not my body moved. - -"Murray--Murray." I heard it, dimly at first, but insistent. It kept -repeating itself over and over. Beyond doubt someone was demanding my -attention. I sought to rouse. - -"Murray--in the name of Zitu--and Azil--" - -I stiffened my attention. It was nothing short of startling to hear -those words spoken. - -Zitu was God in the Tamarizian language, as I knew, and Azil was the -Angel of Life--as Ga was the Virgin Mother. Ga and Azil--the mother and -the life-bringer--they were the ones to whom the Tamarizian women most -frequently prayed. I gave over my endeavor to waken my sleeping body -and lay straining the ears of my spirit to the voice. - -It came again. Whoever the speaker was, he seemed to know he had -stirred my conscious perception. - -"Murray--I need your advice--your council. Naia needs you. It's life -and death, Murray. You told me you would gladly render her assistance -as a physician. Murray--will you come?" - -My spirit staggered. It was most amazing. For now I knew that the -speaker was Jason Croft. - -I knew that he was appealing to me in the name of Zitu and Azil--in the -name of motherhood--that he was calling on me as a brother physician, -by the oath of my profession--in the name of all that was highest and -holiest in life. - -I knew that Naia's hour was upon her--and I knew it as clearly as if -the thing were taking place somewhere within a neighboring home on -earth. I lay and let the knowledge beat in upon me. I recalled in a -flash all he had told me concerning medical knowledge on Palos. If some -complication in the birth of their child impended, there would be none -on that far planet to whom he could turn for aid. He knew more than all -the physicians of Palos put together, but-- - -"Murray!" the voice repeated. "Murray, in the name of God!" - - * * * * * - -There was a desperate urge--a desperate plaint about it. I reached a -decision. I had never married. There was no one dependent upon me. With -a strange thrill I realized the fact. If I failed to return from this -strangest of calls to which a medical man was ever bidden, if the body -of me were not to be revived, I would be little missed. - -So what did it matter? A man--or most men--surely could die but once; -and how better than in performing the duty of a physician, in an -endeavor to save other life? I recall now that such thoughts flitted -swiftly through my brain, and left me ready to dare the venture -suggested by Croft's voice, if thereby I might render an intimate -service to him and Naia of Aphur, in spirit if not in the flesh. - -"Murray!" - -Again the agony of a strong man's appeal for all he held dearest in -existence. - -I think the lips of my sleeping material being must have moved at last. -Be that as it may, I know I answered: - -"Yes." - -And I know Croft sensed my acquiescence, for his response was beating -into my consciousness in a flash. - -"Then--fix your mind on our home in the western mountains, visualize -it, Murray, as I have described it to you. Will your conscious presence -within it. I shall be waiting for you. Call up the scene and demand -that our will be granted. Think of nothing else." - -Save for the directions for reaching to him, the thing was as real as a -telephone message, and the assurance that the husband of your patient -would be waiting your arrival at his house. But there was about Croft's -promise to await my coming a definite note of conviction in my ability -to encompass our mutual purpose that aided me most materially in what -followed, as I now confess. - -He was so seemingly sure that I would not fail them--that what -assistance I could render would be granted--that for the time being -it overthrew all doubt of success. Too, I had grown so accustomed to -thinking of Naia of Aphur as a woman--a palpitant creature of radiant -flesh and blood--that the very reality of her seeming robbed somewhat -of its weirdness, its eery quality, the fact that I was about to -respond in the astral body to an urgent medical call. Consciously then -I sought to follow Croft's directions. - -I fastened my thought on his Aphurian home. - -I strove to exclude everything else from my mind. I brought up the -picture of it as a thing at the end of a distant vista, down which I -must pass to attain it, and--all at once that picture moved! - -I say it moved, because that is how it at first appeared. At all -events, it seemed to come toward me with amazing swiftness. - -For an instant my comprehension faltered, and then I knew. I knew I -had gained my purpose--that I was astrally out of my body, even though -I had not known the instant when I had left it; that I was speeding -with incredible rapidity toward the scene into which I had wished to be -projected; that darkness was all about me, like an impenetrable wall; -that I was like one in an infinite, an interminable tunnel, with the -lighted picture I had conjured up at the end. - -Then that too faded, dissolved, lost its comprehensive quality, and -gave place to more finite detail, and--I was in a room. But it was not -strange. I knew it--recognized it instantly, thanks to Croft's previous -words. - -Its walls were hung with purple hangings shot through with threads of -gold. There was a shallow pool of water in its center edged round with -white and golden tiles. Beside it on a pedestal of wine-red wood there -stood a figure--the form of a man straining upward as if for flight, -with outstretched arms and uplifted wings, translucent--formed of a -substance not unlike alabaster--the shape of Azil. - -That too I recognized in a flash, and I seemed to catch my breath. -At last I was on Palos! This was Azil, the Angel of Life, before -me--poised by the mirror pool in the chamber of Naia of Aphur--ablaze -now with the light of many incandescent bulbs in copper sconces against -the walls. All this I saw, and became conscious that, as well as light, -the chamber was now full of life. - -Naia of Aphur! She lay before me on a copper-moulded couch--and I -turned my eyes upon her, her body beneath coverings of silklike fabric. - -A woman, of whom two were in attendance, wearing the blue garment -embroidered with a scarlet heart above the left breast--the badge of -the nursing craft, as Jason had told me--spoke to Naia in soothing -accents the words of which I could not understand. - -"Murray!" - -Whirling, I beheld Jason Croft. Rather, I seemed to see two Jason -Crofts, instead of one. One sat in a chair of the same wine-red wood -of which the pedestal supporting Azil was formed, in the posture of a -man in more than mortal slumber. One floated toward me, ghostlike--a -shimmering, shifting, vaporlike semblance of the other as to physical -shape. - -And it was this second Croft that seemed to speak. - -I say seemed, because as I recall the episode now I know that -communication was in reality by thought transference, although it -appeared then to reach the understanding in the form of spoken words. -It came over me instantly that Jason had purposely assumed the astral -condition to welcome me on my arrival here. - - * * * * * - -I had been too much occupied with my surroundings until then to give -thought to my own possible appearance. But as I put out a hand in -answer to his single word of greeting, I found it no more than a thin -diaphanous cloud. I was even as he was--a nebulous something. Still, -that was to be expected. I put it aside and considered the man before -me. The features of his astral presence were actually haggard, marked -by a suffering plainly mental, yet akin in its way to the lines that -contorted Naia of Aphur's face in her present mortal woe. - -"Croft, in God's name what is the trouble?" I asked as once more a low -sound of smothered anguish came from the couch behind me. - -Nor do I think I overshot the mark in declaring what followed to have -been the most remarkable medical consultation mortal man might know. He -lost no time in explaining the situation. It wasn't his way. - -He gave me at once an exact and scientific understanding of her -condition, ending his narration simply: - -"Murray, you know how I love her. I faced the thing as long as I -could have alone. And then--knowing all that depended on me--I became -unnerved, and called for you. There was no one else--and you'd said -you'd be glad to attend her. Can you blame me, my friend, now that you -see her?" - -I shook my head in negation, turning it for an instant toward the -glorious woman shape on the copper bed. "Can she see me? Does she know -I am here? Can I speak with her?" I questioned. - -"She will sense your presence at least," Croft said. "I shall revivify -my body and draw the chair in which it is sitting close beside the -couch. You will sit there, Murray, and I shall tell her you are -present, watching, nerving me to my task, before I set to work. She -knows I called you, Murray, and now you must help us both. Your brain -must use my hands to save her. Come--what do you advise me to do, -Murray?" - -I told him as soon as he had brought his almost panting response to -an end. His exposition of the problem we faced had made it dreadfully -plain. - -He heard me out and then nodded with set lips. - -"I--I'll do it, Murray," he said. "I--I felt it was the thing, -but--without counsel--simply on my own judgment, I could not do it. -And--you must coach me. I'll work in a purely subjective condition. -That way, even in the body, I'll be able to sense the guiding impulse -of your brain. God, man, how I need you! Come!" - -The form beside me vanished. The body in the chair flung up its head -and rose. It pushed the chair it had occupied quite to the side of the -copper couch, and bent to speak to the woman who lay upon it. - -I followed. I sank into the seat provided. Croft straightened. Naia -turned her head directly toward me. - -I looked for the first time into her violet-purple eyes. - -They were clear, steadfast, flawless as a perfect amethyst, though -darkened by the ordeal through which she was passing--the eyes of a -true woman, high-spirited, brave, loyal, and pure. They strained toward -me. And suddenly she threw out a perfectly rounded arm, a slender -hand, as one who asks for succor. Her lips parted, and once more she -smiled, a smile so wistfully yearning that my whole heart answered its -appeal. - -This was Naia of Aphur--wife of my friend Jason Croft. In that instant -I felt she was worth all that he had dared to win her. This was Naia, -the woman who months ago had told him that in the silence of the night -she had heard the beating of the wings of Azil, the bringer of new -life, because of which I was here now beside her in that holiest of -moments in a medical man's existence, when with hand and brain he waits -to welcome a new life's birth. - -Her lips moved. Distinctly I heard her speak: - -"Dr. Murray--good friend of my beloved, who tells me of your presence -in response to his appeal for your assistance to us--I bid you welcome -to our home. Thrice welcome are you, upon whose coming depends, as he -tells me also, our future happiness together, as well as the life of -our child." - -She addressed me most surprisingly in English, until I bethought me -that Croft had doubtless taught her the tongue, exactly as he had -taught her so much else; to fly the first airplane in Palos, the -control of the astral body itself. Her words moved me oddly. I rose to -answer: - -"I am more than happy to be here, Princess Naia, and to bid you be of -good cheer, remembering that even now Azil stands close by the gateway -of life, in charge of a newborn soul." - -And then I sank back, confused. I had spoken wholly on impulse, voicing -the inmost emotions of my heart, forgetting my nebulous condition -entirely for the instant, in the spell of what seemed so real. With a -feeling akin to acute annoyance at my inability to speak thus to her -directly I resumed my chair. - -But even so, it seemed that I had reached her--that in some way akin to -that in which Croft had assured me he would be able to follow my mental -direction while working, she had sensed my meaning and intention. Women -are intuitive by nature, more susceptible to the waves of a personal or -thought vibration. Her lips moved again as I ceased speaking. - -"Azil," she whispered. "But--that new soul is so long in passing, my -friend." - -I turned to Croft. - -"Come," I hurled my thought force toward him. "Let us spare her more -bodily anguish than must be endured. Let us make an end." - -Of what followed I shall say no word. Suffice it to state that Jason -Croft labored, grim of lips and pallid of feature; that I sat in that -weirdest position of assistance capable of conception; that the lights -burned on in that room where the pale form of Azil spread his wings on -the pedestal of wine-red wood; that the eyes of Naia of Aphur widened -until they were two dark pools no more than fringed by the purple -iris; that the two female attendants waited, intent on naught save the -catching, the rendering of obedience to each of Croft's intense though -low-pitched words. - -And then suddenly the man turned to me a face transfigured past -anything I had ever pictured--a thread of sound--a wailing, trailing -vibration--the first note of waking vocal strings, pulsed through the -room--and Jason Croft the physician, the father, was kneeling beside -that couch of copper, no longer the iron-nerved worker, the laborer for -unborn life, but the husband, the lover, clasping the slender body of -Naia of Aphur in his arms, and shaken by a strong man's sobs. I turned -away my eyes. - -And then his voice boomed out, strangely exalted and triumphant: - -"Murray--we win--win, man--thanks to you and--God!" - -I turned back. Croft spoke to one of the attendants. She crossed to -a curtained doorway and lifted the purple drapings. There stole into -the room a girl of Mazzeria--a graceful creature, for all the odd blue -color of her skin. Twin braids of ruddy hair fell from her head to her -waist. Her figure held all the untrammeled litheness of a panther as -she advanced. Across her outstretched arms she bore a pure white cloth. - -Upon it, the child of Jason Croft and Naia of Aphur was placed. - -She wrapped the fabric about it, cradling it against her breast. She -turned to Naia, smiling, sinking down beside her on her supple rounded -thighs. - -And then--for one brief instant I saw the light of the Madonna flame in -those wonderful eyes--the light with which Naia the mother looked first -on Jason's--son. - -Croft addressed me. - -"Maia," he said softly. "I've described her to you before if you -remember, Murray. She asked that you might be permitted to attend -the--the little one." - -His voice broke. His face was weary, overstrained, worn. I understood. -The graceful girl was Naia's personal attendant--the Mazzerian woman, -who had aided her mistress in saving Croft's life at a time when he was -taken captive during the Mazzerian war. I nodded my comprehension. He -bent again as though by irresistible attraction above the couch where -the blue girl still was kneeling, and Naia seemed waiting his undivided -attention. Once more I turned my head. It was the holy moment--the hour -of realization between man and woman. - -Through the half-drawn curtains of a window, light stole into the room. -It shamed the incandescents in their sconces. A finger of golden glory -touched the tips of the upflung wings of Azil. With a start, I realized -that the night of anguish was ended--that new life had come into the -house of Jason--with the dawn. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - THE CHRISTENING - - -I went toward the curtains and stood looking out between them, removing -so far as I could even my invisible presence from the tableau behind me. - -The attendants were moving about. I heard the soft pad of their -gnuppa-hide sandaled feet, the softened tones of their voices. I heard -Naia speaking and Croft's deeply quivering answer, and once more the -wail of the child. - -"Murray," Jason was speaking to me. I sensed his touch on my arm. Again -he was in astral form. "Come, while the women perform their task." - -My glance shot beyond him to where his physical body was seemingly -lost in a lethargy of exhaustion, once more in the red wood chair. It -did more. It fell on Naia. The ray of sunlight had lowered as Sirius -had mounted above the eastern horizon. It made her golden tresses seem -more than ever an aureole about her face on the pillow--a face grown -exquisitely tender, lighted not merely with the sun of morning, but by -the inner, the newly ignited glow of motherhood. I turned from it and -followed Croft through the curtained doorway of the chamber, onto the -balcony, along which one approached the room. - -He had described it minutely to me, but even so I marveled at it as -we stood together, sensing its proportions, its brilliant yet not -offensive blendings of yellow and white and red. White was the balcony -rail about it, red and yellow the alternating tiles that paved its -floors. Red and yellow, too, were the steps of the stairs that mounted -to the balcony from either end of the court, and red the carven pillars -that supported the balcony on a series of arches, between which pure -white examples of Palosian sculpture showed. Golden were the plates of -glass in the roof above us--open mainly now to the air of heaven, that -the flowers and plants and shrubs which dotted the unpaved portions of -the court beneath us might breathe. - -And then I think I must have started very much as Croft himself had -done the first time he beheld such a sight, as I became conscious of a -man, blue as the blue girl of Mazzeria in the room behind me, wearing -upon his shaven poll a single flaming tuft of red. He was a stalwart -man, and he bore a skin equipped with a sprinkling-nozzle upon his back -while he sprayed the beds of growing vegetation--accompanied in his -occupation by a slow-stalking beast remarkably like a hound. - -Croft noted the direction of my glance and manner. "Mitlos--our -majordomo, and Hupor," he said and smiled. "Zitu man, when I told you -about them, the last thing I dreamed was that some day you should see -them." - -"And now?" I returned with a strange inclination to chuckle as I -thought that Jason was no longer alone in being the first mortal to -reach Palos in the astral presence, even though his potent will had -helped me to my present position. - -"And now"--he laughed in a tone of exultation--"you see not only them, -but me, husband of Tamarizia's most beautiful woman, and thanks to -you--the father of her child." - -"Nonsense," I exclaimed, doubly abashed by his praise and my thoughts -of a moment before, "I did nothing--what can a ghost accomplish?" - -He turned fully toward me. His eyes burned with the strong fire of his -spirit. - -"I came here even as you are, Murray, and"--he waved a hand in a -comprehensive gesture--"I have accomplished this, and other things -besides--yet not so much that this morning--the most wonderful of -all my span of existence, I have either words or deeds in which the -assistance your presence within the last few hours gave me, may be -repaid." - -And no matter how he voiced it, I knew he meant it. The sincerity of -his feeling forced itself upon me. - -"Let us not speak of payment," I said--and I confess I felt embarrassed -by the value he seemed to place upon what was no more than my agreement -with his own valuation of a now favorably passed condition. "As it -happens, Croft, my presence here was no more than the granting of an -expressed wish." - -He nodded. "The thought is father to the deed--isn't it, Murray? I -thought of that last night. Come--I'll show you about the place." - -Turning he led the way along the balcony to one end. We went down the -red and yellow stairs. - -At their foot was a group of sculptures--the figure of a man straining -to defend a crouching woman from the fangs of a rending beast. It was -of heroic size and wonderfully perfect in detail. I recalled it from -Croft's description of it, and how once he had told Naia that so he -would defend her were his right to do so granted. Well--last night I -had seen him do it. I had seen him strain body and soul to guard her -from the yawning jaws of death. I said as much. - -He gave me a glance. "You're an odd sort, Murray. You've a lot of the -symbolism, the mysticism of life in your make-up. Come along. Let's get -a breath of the morning air outside." - - * * * * * - -Once more I followed his lead across the red and yellow court where -unknown plants bloomed about us on every side. Mitlos, intent on his -duties, knew not of our passing, but Hupor sensed us, I think, and -turned his huge head toward us, and stood looking at us out of amber -eyes. Then we were outside the arch of a doorway at the head of a -flight of pure white steps, on a far-reaching esplanade. - -On every hand there were mountains, wooded on their sides. The house -stood on one side of a natural mountain valley, in the emerald cup of -which was a tiny lake, its waters gilded now by the rays of the Dog -Star. And winding past it, and off along the flank of the hills in a -series of perfect tangents was a wonderfully metaled road. I followed -its turnings until I lost them, and my vision found itself baffled by -a further reach of the landscape, blanketed as it seemed beneath a -singular dun-colored haze. - -In its way the scene was not unlike that of a morning on earth. I -turned my eyes back to the dim shape of Croft beside me. He lifted -an arm. "Over there is Himyra," he said, pointing, "but a ground fog -is hiding the desert. If you'll look across it, however, you'll see a -silver sort of shimmer. That's the Central Sea." - -Himyra--the capital of Aphur--the Central Sea. And this was Palos. -The weirdness of the whole adventure came upon me. It was hard to -realize. And the sun up there was Sirius and not the sun to which I was -accustomed. - -Abruptly Jason chuckled. "Murray--do you remember the night my -housekeeper thought I had died, and routed you out in a storm, and you -came to my house and compelled me to return from Palos by the infernal -insistence of your will? Well, tit for tat, old man. That night I did -your bidding, but last night I called you here." - -"Quite so," I assented, smiling. In a way his remark seemed to lighten -the atmosphere between us. I caught sight of a rapidly moving object. -"Look there, Croft--that's one of your motors or some or sort of speedy -contraption coming up the road." - -He glanced down the course of what I could not but agree he had done -well at first to compare to the ancient highways of the Romans because -of its permanent type of construction. - -"Lakkon, by Zitu!" he exclaimed. "I telephoned him last night, but--I'd -forgotten all about him. He said he'd drive out the first thing in the -morning, and he seems to be burning the wind. See here--I'll have to -leave you, Murray, long enough to welcome grandpa, if you don't mind." - -I nodded. Lakkon was Naia's father. And it was no more than natural -surely that he should be hastening to her, especially as she was the -old noble's only child. - -"Run along," I said. "There's plenty to look at. I'll amuse myself." -Then, as an afterthought, I added, "Only don't spend too much time with -him. I've got to be getting out of here, Croft, or someone's likely to -fancy Dr. Murray is dead." - -It had just occurred to me that it was morning also on earth and that -unless I returned to my body, I couldn't tell what might happen in the -institution of which I was the head. - -Croft understood my meaning. - -"You're right. I'll be as brief as possible," he agreed and vanished, -leaving me quite to my own devices. - -I smiled. If one considered it was rather odd to be telling a man to -go get back inside his own body in order to welcome his father-in-law -in the flesh--or to contemplate a return flight across billions of -ethereal miles to accomplish a reunion between my material body and -myself. Myself. I took a deep breath of the mountain air--at least, -I went through the conscious effort with all the satisfaction of -fulfillment. I was myself, really. I felt it, knew it--and I felt a -buoyancy, a lightness, such as I had never known before now that the -weight, the restraint of the body was removed. - -I stood and watched Lakkon's motor arrive. I saw Croft's material form -stalk forth to meet him at the head of the stairs. I saw Lakkon descend -from his car and hurry upward, the strong figure of a man with graying -hair, an expectant light in his beardless face. I marked his dress. - -It consisted of a tunic of purple, embroidered with an intricate design -in small green stones, skirted, falling to just above the knees, and -the metal, ankle-jointed combination of greaves and sandals Croft had -described, plainly fashioned of gold, and reaching above the bulge of -his muscular calves. - -He met Croft and crashed his flat palm upon his shoulder with an -exultant gesture. Croft extended his arm and laid his hand on Lakkon's -shoulder. The two men passed inside. - -I turned away. There was something vastly formal, vastly ancient, -about that greeting--an old world atmosphere--that spoke of age-long -custom, despite the throbbing motor in which the noble had reached -the house of his daughter. There was almost something Biblical about -it, the thought came to me. They had met and laid their hands on each -other's shoulders--two strong men, and looked into one another's eyes. -I knew it the Tamarizian greeting of unfaltering friendship, no more a -greeting than a pledge. - -Well, then, Lakkon had gone to see his daughter. I gave a glance to -the driver of his motor--a chap dressed plainly in blue unembroidered -tunic, and copper leg-casings, with a fillet supporting a sun screening -drape of purple fabric, about his head. Then I turned and made my way -into the garden. It had occurred to me to examine the private bath. - -I found it, screened behind vine-clad walls, and slipped inside it, -past a staggered entrance wall that screened its gate. It lay before -me, a limpid pool in a basin of lemon stone like onyx save that it was -neither mottled nor veined. It shimmered in the Sirian ray, an oblong -of water as brilliant as a bit of polished silver, inside the expanse -of the enclosure, paved with alternating squares of rock-crystal and -pure white stone. I stood gazing upon it, recalling that it was here -Croft had once met Naia of Aphur--the first time when in defiance of -all social custom on Palos, she had yielded him her lips. - - * * * * * - -Then I went back to the front of the house, and seated myself on a -carven stone bench. I lifted my eyes to the light-filled heavens. This -was Palos--and up there somewhere or down or sidewise--or however you -chose to call it--was earth. It was like Omar as to direction when he -says: - - "For Is and Is not though with rule and line - And Up and Down without, I can define--" - -Anyway, out there somewhere in the void there floated the mundane -sphere, where the body of me might even now be exciting consternation -among the staff of the hospital, where it had been moved and held a -little prestige in its work. And here was I. Suddenly there stole over -me the sensation that the whole thing was a dream excited by Jason's -stories--a feeling that I ought to rouse myself and get about my -business. I rose. I felt all at once restless, vaguely disturbed. I -turned and found Jason beside me. - -"I was longer than I meant to be, Murray," he said. "And, see here--I -know you'll understand me when I tell you it's past ten o'clock on -earth." - -I nodded. It was no time for misunderstanding or niceties of speech. -More and more I was finding myself filled with a vital urge--to be away -from here and about my own affairs. - -"To tell the truth, with all respect to your feelings and those of -Naia, I was getting impatient of your coming," I replied. - -"She sends you her deepest thanks, and the blessings of Zitu and Ga the -Mother," he responded quickly. "I know you know how I feel, old fellow. -Now fix your mind on your body--and try to open its eyes." - -I was ready. I put out a hand and laid it on his shoulder. He did the -same. We looked into one another's faces. - -"Some time--you'll come again," Croft told me. "And--now that we've -established the astral power, I'll come to you, Murray--and when -I speak you will answer. Don't forget it. Man--mayhap we'll build -Tamarizia up together--at least, I can come to you like this from now -on for knowledge--conversation. Can you see where the thing may lead -to?" - -"Yes," I said. "It's big, Croft--big. But if I don't get out of here -now it may lead a very important part of me to the grave. Make my -adieus to Naia. I'd envy you, man, if you weren't my friend. Now--do -what you can to help me, for I'm going to try a pretty broad jump, as -such things are considered." - -I closed my eyes. - -A sound like splintering wood assailed my ears. A blended sound of -voices beat upon them. - -"Murray--Murray--doctor!" - -There was no doubt about it. A very human voice was calling to me--a -hand laid hold upon my shoulder--only it wasn't the hand Jason Croft -had laid upon it in farewell. The thing bit into the flesh. It seemed -trying to shake me. - -With an effort I lifted my lids and stared up into the face of a -hospital orderly, strained and anxious. I was back on earth, there -wasn't any doubt about it. I was on earth, in my room in the mental -hospital and in bed. - -"Yes," I said; "yes." - -The man's breath actually hissed as he let it out. He stammered. -"You'll excuse us, doctor, but you didn't show up and you didn't answer -when we rapped--and--well--we broke in the door at last. It seemed -best." - -His use of the pronoun arrested my attention. I made another effort and -sat up. The orderly had fallen back from my bedside as he spoke, and -beyond him I saw a nurse--a woman--not blue-robed like those I had seen -in Naia of Aphur's apartments, but crisply gowned in white--and back of -her the door of my own chamber, sagging open with a broken lock. - -"It's all right, Hansen," I made answer. "I must have been pretty sound -asleep." There wasn't anything else to say, any use to attempt fuller -explanation. "What time is it?" I asked. - -"Ten thirty," said the nurse, consulting a watch on her wrist. "You're -sure you feel all right, doctor?" - -"Perfectly," I nodded. "If you'll withdraw, I'll get up." - -She left the room and Hansen followed. I rose and began to dress. -Outside a brilliant sunlight was visible through my windows. It showed -me familiar objects. The Palosian landscape had faded. It had been -after ten when Jason had come to me, to, as it were, speed a parting -guest, and now it was half after ten, and I was back on earth. Well, he -had told me the gulf could be bridged by the spirit in a flash. - -Or had he? I fumbled my way into my garments in a somewhat clumsy -fashion. I felt odd. Just what had happened, I asked myself. And it -was then that the thing began to seem like a dream to me, really, no -matter how vividly real it had seemed while it occurred. Save only for -that vividness I think I would have considered it no more than a dream -indeed. - -But dream or not, it continued to go with me through all the familiar -routine of the succeeding days. It kept bobbing up, in all its colorful -details. I kept recalling that gorgeous chamber in which I had seen, -or seemed to see, Naia of Aphur. I could even recall the soft thud of -Lakkon's metal sandals as he mounted toward Jason, waiting to welcome -him at the top of a flight of pure white stairs. And I could see again -that light I had seen in the purple eyes of Naia--that exquisite look -of the Madonna, I had seen in the faces of other new-made mothers, -and in their eyes. Yes, if it had been a dream instead of an actual -occurrence, it had been very, very real. - -For the life of me, I couldn't decide. The mind of me balked no matter -what the spirit decreed. As an actual fact, I wanted to believe I was -in a somewhat similar position to men I have known, who tried to accept -a religion, feeling their salvation depended upon it, and yet could not -quite compass full acceptance in the end. - -At the last I settled down to a sort of compromise with myself, based -on my recollection of Croft's assertion that he would come to me some -time for an astral conversation, similar to those meetings with Naia he -had employed to sway her decision, before he finally won her and that I -myself should visit Palos some time again. If those things happened I -felt I could give credence without reservation. I did a lot of reading -in Croft's books and waited. But he did not come. - -A month passed and a little more, approximately such a span of time as -they called a Zitran on Palos, where the year was a trifle longer than -ours, though divided in similar fashion into twelve periods. I had -about settled back into acceptance of a completely corporeal routine, -and then--once more I had word of Jason's son. - -"Murray--Murray," a voice whispered to me in my slumber. - -It roused me. I sat up, distinctly conscious of an intelligent presence -in my room. - -"Murray--get out of that cloud, and let's talk," what seemed a whisper -prompted. - -Something happened. Suddenly I was intensely awake, and I saw--the -nebulous form of Jason, seated against the metal rail at the foot of my -bed. - -"That's better. How would you like to take another trip to Palos?" he -inquired. - -He smiled as he said it, and I answered in similar fashion. "If I can -make the round trip a little quicker I wouldn't mind it. What's wrong -up there now?" - -"Nothing's wrong up there. Everything's all right." - -His expression quickened. "But what happened?" - -I told him, and he nodded. "Well, this will be different as you'll get -back before morning. Murray, both Naia and I want very much that you -should be present in so far as you can, two nights from now, at the -christening of our son." - -The christening of his son. The thing thrilled me. It was real then, -and not a dream after all. I had really gone to Palos that night over a -month ago, and now--Croft had kept his promise. He was here asking me -to essay the venture again. - -"Of course," he said as I delayed my answer in the grip of full -realization, "you'll see without being seen, but--after it's over--Naia -wants to meet you astrally at least. Will you come?" - -Naia wanted to meet me. After the thing was over and the others were -gone, we three would meet as Croft and I were meeting now and establish -a personal relation. - -"Will I?" I exclaimed. "Well, rather." - -Croft smiled. "It will be a somewhat brilliant spectacle. You'll enjoy -it." - -We talked for an hour after that, before he vanished, and I found -myself sitting bolt upright in bed, staring into the darkness and -filled with the firm conviction that on the second night from this I -would witness the christening of Jason's son. - - * * * * * - -That conviction went with me during the two succeeding days and it was -with the positive expectation of its fulfillment that I locked myself -in my room and stretched myself out on my bed the second night. - -I lay there and fixed my mind on the home of Lakkon in Himyra--the -great red city of Aphur, where Croft had said the ceremony would occur. -I pictured it even as I had pictured Jason's home in the mountains, its -splendid court paved with the purest of rock-crystal--he had fancied it -was glass when first he saw it--its circling balcony reached at either -end of the court by yellow onyxlike stairs. - -I focused every vestige of my will on reaching to it, and--suddenly--it -seemed that I heard Croft calling me just as he had said he would do; -the sense of lightness, of untrammeled freedom I had experienced on the -other occasion came upon me--and--I was there. - -Light, color. They were all around me. The flawless crystal of the -floor caught the radiance from the lights above them in a million -facets, broke it into a myriad flashing pin-points of refraction -until the whole, vast court seemed paved with a shimmering iridescent -carpet. White was the balcony about it, and the pillars on which it was -supported, and the gleaming bits of sculpture between. And the shrubs, -the banks and hedges of vegetation, in the unpaved beds of the court -were green, save that they were blooming, loaded down with colorful -flowers everywhere. - -Tables a-glitter with gold and glass stretched down the central portion -of the sparkling pavement in the form of three sides of a rectangle, -with a purple-draped dais at the closed end. Guests thronged the vast -apartment, seated on chairs of wine-red wood or reclining on couches -interspersed among the beds of flowering vegetation. Nodding plumes of -every hue and shade graced the heads of the women. Of every grade of -richness were their jewel-embroidered robes. Nor were their men-folk -any whit behind them in the lavish ornamentation their tunics or metal -cuirasses displayed. - -Men and women, they were like birds of brilliant plumage, and as the -lights struck down upon them, save for the gleam of the bared arms -and shoulders of the women, the glint of their fair limbs through -the intricate slashings of their leg-casings and sandals of softest -leathers, the rose tint of their knees, they blazed. A babble of -voices--the rhythm of music from concealed harps, was in the room. I -indulged in a single comprehensive glance and looked about for my hosts. - -But I did not find them anywhere among their guests. Nor did Jason -appear to greet me, though that I did not expect. We had arranged -between us that he should summon me just before the ceremony occurred, -and that we would meet only after the departure of the guests. Hence, -failing to sight either Croft or Naia or even Lakkon, I made shift for -myself. - -A trumpet blared with a softened tongue. I became aware of a page in -purple garments, standing with the instrument at his lips, on the -topmost tread of one of the flights of yellow stairs. - -The thrum of the hidden harps quickened. The assembled company rose. -They stood and faced the stairway where, now, something in the nature -of a ceremonial procession showed. - -Naia and Croft came first, Naia in white from the tips of her slender -sandals to the feathers that nodded from a fillet of shimmering -diamondlike jewels in the masses of her golden hair. Croft led her -downward. He was in all his formal harness, golden cuirass, on the -breast of which glowed the cross ansata and the wings of Azil in -azure stones--golden greaves and sandals gem-incrusted, golden helmet -supporting azure plumes. - -And after them came Maia, the blue girl of Mazzeria, bearing on a -purple cushion, the child. - -Lakkon followed, walking side by side with a man, stalwart, grizzled, -strong-faced, clad in a cuirass of silver, rarest of all Tamarizian -metals, wearing the circle and cross of Zitra, the capital city of the -nation, done in more of the diamondlike stones upon his armor. - -Jadgor, I thought; Jadgor, president of the Tamarizian republic, -recognizing him from Croft's former descriptions and the quality of his -dress. - -Behind them, azure-clad--the cross ansata on his breast, a flame of -vivid scarlet gems--stalked a man, white-haired and most benign of -appearance in company with a second, more stalwart, also in azure -robes. They carried staves tipped with the looped cross and were -followed by a boy supporting a tray of silver, on which were two silver -flasks and a tiny, blazing lamp. - -A man with a cuirass, on which showed a rayed sun, and wearing plumes -of scarlet, and a woman, scarlet-robed, with the same ruddy feathers -above her soft brown hair brought up the rear. - -Zud and Magur, and a temple boy, Robur and Gaya, his wife--high priest -of Zitra and his deputy of Himyra, governor of Aphur and his consort, I -named them to myself. - - * * * * * - -While the company kept silent and the harps filled all the air with a -sort of triumphant paean, the little procession advanced. It reached -the foot of the stairs and crossed to the dais, mounted its steps. It -formed itself in a shimmering semi-circle, Croft and Naia--and Maia -kneeling before them in the center--the others on either side, and -before them the boy of the temple and the two priests. - -Him I named Zud, because of his bearing and his mane of snowy hair, -raised his stave. The music died. Silence came down for a moment, and -then the voice of Magur rose: - -"Hail Zitu, giver of life, and Ga, through whom life is given, and -Azil, bringer of life, we are met together that a name may be given -unto this new soul thou hast seen fit to assign to the flesh. - -"Greetings to you, Naia, daughter of Ga, and to you, Jason, Hupor, -named Mouthpiece of Zitu among men through whose union Zitu and Ga have -expressed their will that life shall remain eternal, renewing its fire -from generation unto generation, in the name of love. Is it your will -that a name be given this, thy child?" - -"Aye, priest of Zitu." Naia and Jason inclined their heads. - -"And how call you it between yourselves?" - -"Jason, son of Jason," came Croft's voice. - -"Then present him unto Zud, high priest of Zitu, that he may receive -Zitu's blessing at his hands," Magur said. - -The girl of Mazzeria raised the cushion of her arms with the child upon -it. The temple boy advanced his silver tray, and knelt. Zud uncorked -the silver flasks. - -"Jason, son of Jason, in the name of Zitu, the father, and Ga, the -mother, and Azil, the son, I baptize thee with wine and with water -and light," he began. Moistening his fingers from one of the two -flasks, he went on, "With wine I baptize thee, which like the blood, -invigorates the body, and strengthens the heart and makes quick the -brain." Bending, he touched the child on the forehead, poured water -from the other flask into his palm and continued, "I baptize you with -water which nourisheth all life, purifies all with which it comes in -contact, makes all things clean." - -He paused and sprinkled the glowing little body before him, took up the -light and a tiny bit of silver I had not noted before and threw into -the little face a golden reflected beam. "With light I baptize thee -Jason, Son of Jason, since by the will of Zitu it is the light of the -spirit which fills the chambers of the brain. May that light be with -thee ever and forever, nor be absent from thee again." - -Of course I didn't understand it. It was only afterward when Croft -had translated it to me that its inward meaning was plain, but the -solemnity of the ritual, the rhythm of well-balanced words, the quiet -attention of the assembled guests and the reverent voice of the priest -affected me, who stood unseen with the company on the dais, as he -baptized Jason's son. - -And then he took the cushion from the kneeling girl of Mazzeria, lifted -it, turning to face the brilliant assemblage. - -"Jason, Son of Jason," he cried, holding the infant toward them. - -"Hail, Jason, Son of Jason," the guests responded like a well-drilled -chorus, and the thing was done. - -Followed a feast, similar I fancied in every detail to those Croft had -told me he had witnessed at first and been privileged to attend. Men -and women reclined at the tables on padded divans. Blue servitors moved -about, filling the golden and crystal goblets with wine, loading the -golden plates with food. Once more the harps broke forth. And suddenly -from under the farther yellow stairway there broke a band of maidens, -clad in garlands of woven flowers, and danced to the music of the -harps, with a waving of slender arms, a bending of supple, unrestrained -bodies, a flashing of whitely rounded limbs. With dances and music the -feast ran to an end. - -The guests departed, last of them, according to Tamarizian custom, -Jadgor, president of the Republic, the guest of honor, and with him -Gaya and her husband Robur, governor of Aphur and Jadgor's son. Naia -took the child into her arms from the hands of its Mazzerian attendant. -She and Jason moved toward the stairs. I knew that the hour I had -waited had come. - -I followed up the stairway and along the balcony and to a room--hung -here in golden tissues, furnished with wine-red woods and twin couches -of molded copper--with the mirror pool in its center and once more the -figure of Azil close beside it as in Jason's home. - -Naia placed the child on a tiny couch and covered its sleeping form -with a bit of silken fabric. She turned to Jason, her blue eyes -shining. He drew her into his arms and held her, smiling. - -"There is yet one guest, beloved," he said in English. - -"Aye," she responded softly; "but--one who understands the heart both -of the wife, and the mother of Jason's son." - -"And awaits a welcome from her," said Jason. "Come, beloved." He led -her to one of the copper couches and sat down with an arm about her -white-sheathed form. - -From it there crept a lovely thing--an exact replica of it--the very -essence of it, as indeed it was and seemed, as the lights in the -chamber flooded down upon it. And that shape stretched out its slender -hands. It swayed toward me, with Croft's astral presence close behind -it. - -"At last," said Naia of Aphur, "I may welcome you, Dr. Murray, as mine -and Jason's friend." - -"At last, I may converse with Naia of Aphur, and thrill with the glory -of her--a thing I have long desired," I replied, and took her shadowy -hand and raised it to my none less shadowy lips, yet with a distinct -sensation of the contact none the less. - -She smiled, and glanced at Jason. "Beloved, are all the men of earth so -courtly? It was even so if you remember that you met me first in the -flesh." - -Croft chuckled. - -"Life is much the same on earth or Palos," he made answer. "Well, -Murray, what do you think of Palosian life?" - -"Babylonian," I said. "You were right in the simile beyond question. I -was thinking tonight when I watched it that it was almost a pity in one -way you should be changing it all with your innovations." - -He nodded. "In a way I've thought as much myself. I get your meaning. -But I'm going to try and preserve it at least in part." - -"Babylonian?" said Naia in a tone of question. - -Jason and I explained, and she heard us out. - -"Oh, but--things must change, must they not, Dr. Murray?--and the -common people will be so much happier for the knowledge Jason brings to -Palos. And even I--think where I and my child would be now save for -the knowledge possessed by a man of earth. It is to you and Jason that -we owe our lives. Think you not that I carry your name to Ga and Azil -in my prayers--that I have wished to meet you in order to express my -thanks myself?" - - * * * * * - -Her words gave me a feeling of something like exaltation, even while -in a way they embarrassed. "I, too," I faltered, "am very glad of the -meeting, to be able to assure you that it was my happiness to serve -you, and to wish you and Jason the happiness of each other, and your -son a long and useful life." - -She glanced toward the tiny couch and back again, smiling. "Life," she -said softly. "It is so wonderful to hold him--to realize that his life -is but the blending of Jason's and mine. Sometimes I even think that -I understand in a measure what Ga must feel as she guards the eternal -fire." - -And what is one going to say to a wife and mother when she talks like -that? I know I mumbled something to the effect that what Ga probably -felt was an all compelling compassion and love. And then I asked Croft -to translate the words of the baptismal ceremony as voiced by Magur and -Zud the high priest. - -He complied and I questioned him of Jadgor and Gaya and Robur, -confirming my recognition of Naia's relatives and his friends. -Conversation became general for something like an hour, and then Jason -prompted. "Beloved, shall we accompany Murray somewhat--show him Himyra -in passing when he returns?" - -"Aye, as you like," she assented. "And he must come to us again. Now -that our need has rendered possible such communion it will not be -necessary for you to seek earth in the flesh when you need additional -knowledge, or leave me overly long again." - -Croft nodded. "Yes, Murray is going to have his hand in Tamarizian -affairs from now on, and the boy there will know more than any man ever -born on Palos in the end. Well, Murray, want to see Himyra?" - -"I've always wanted to see it since you told me about it first," I -assented. - -"Then come along." - -"But," I added as he led the way with Naia through one of the open -windows of the chamber. "I never expected to see it exactly like this." - -Naia turned her eyes and smiled as we floated free of the house and -upward under Croft's guiding will. "Dear friend," she said, "you know -so much of us that to me it does not seem strange to find you one of us -at last." - -"Behold Himyra," said Croft, and flung out a shadowy arm. - -The city lay beneath us. I saw the double row of lights that fringed -the flood of the Na, the mighty pyramid of Zitu, up-reared against the -skyline, black now instead of red, save where the lights threw ruddy -splashes upon it, banded with white at the apex with the pure white -temple of Zitu upon its truncated top--the long line of the houses of -the nobles of the old regime, fronting a wide street at the top of the -river embankment in an amazing vista, set down each in its private -grounds among night-darkened shrubs and trees, the wide-flung palace -of the governor of Aphur, once the palace of Jadgor, Aphur's king. -The thing swam a shimmering vision before me under the light of the -Palosian moons. I strained my eyes and saw the mighty sweep of Himyra's -shadowy walls. - -It moved me oddly. Already I knew so much of the city's history as -involved in Croft's romance. I turned my eyes. - -"Himyra," I said, "I shall not forget it--nor Naia of Aphur, nor Jason, -mouthpiece of Zitu, nor Jason, Jason's son. Zitu guard you, my friends. -I must be going." - -"Zitu guard thee," Naia answered. - -And suddenly I was back in my own room, remembering her parting smile. - -These things have I narrated in order to show how there was built -up between Croft and Naia of Aphur, his mate, and myself, a subtly -intimate relation that must, as I hope, make what followed plain. - -Life went on pretty much with me after that for some further eight -months, however, before the events I intend to relate occurred. Now and -then during the interval Jason Croft came to me in the astral presence, -and on several occasions I succeeded by my own endeavors in visiting -him and Naia in their home. - -Between them they taught me somewhat of the Tamarizian tongue, Croft -explaining that as all life was the same in reality, and the thought -back of the word similar in intent even though the word itself might -vary in sound, all languages were really one in thought and purpose. -With that as a key, I soon discovered that the spoken words of those -about me were not difficult for one in the astral condition to -understand--that the vibrations of their thought affected the astral -shell in a manner that made their meaning plain. - -I suggested to Croft that it was because of that very thing he had so -readily apprehended the speech of Tamarizia when he first projected -himself to Palos and came down outside Himyra's walls, rather than -because of the similarity of their speech to the Sanscrit, now nearly a -forgotten tongue on earth, and he nodded and smiled. - -"Exactly, Murray," he agreed, "but then I didn't realize it altogether, -and--" He broke off and glanced at his wife. - -"And you had something else to think about," I said, grinning as I -recalled how he had seen Naia that first morning and followed her to -Lakkon's house, drinking in her beauty. - -"It's true I wasn't very logical in my considerations the first time I -heard the language," he replied, and Naia of Aphur dropped her eyes. -The inner fires of her spirit seemed to quicken. I think she would have -blushed had she been in the flesh instead of sitting there with us like -an inexpressibly lovely wraith. - -So at least in those months I acquired a fair understanding of -their speech, and I came more and more to regard their home in the -western mountains of Aphur, across the desert from Himyra, on Palos, -with the same intimacy of feeling I might have experienced for the -home of two friends of earth. My conversations with Jason came more -and more to resemble consultations on modern affairs. He asked me -constantly concerning this and that fresh progress in mundane matters. -He discussed with me his plans for improving material and social -conditions on Palos. - -He had already established a series of public schools for the masses -where, before his arrival, education of a sort had been provided only -for the nobles and men of wealth. Plainly the man was planning to do -more where he had already done so much. He had given them moturs--as -they called them--airplanes, electricity, printing, telephones of -short radius at least, weapons by which Zollaria's schemes had been -overthrown. And now he planned to lead them toward higher standards of -national and commercial and individual life. And but for what occurred -there is no telling what, working together as we were at the time, we -might have accomplished. - -Indeed Croft had established both wireless and telegraphic -communication between Zitra and Himyra, and was planning railways on -which he intended to run motur-driven trains--was dreaming of a great -beltline about the Central Sea, with lateral branches to reach every -part of the nation. - -And then--one night he called me to him as he had called me the night -of Jason's birth--and I found him in the self-same chamber, with the -purple draperies half torn down and trampled--the fair form of Azil -drowned in the mirror pool, beside which the dead body of Mitlos the -Mazzerian majordomo lay sprawled. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - NAIA OF APHUR - - -Violence, conflict. The marks of the thing were on every side. The -ghastly gash in the breast of Mitlos bore dumb testimony to the fact -that the man had battled grimly till he died. - -I gazed into Jason's face, even in its astral semblance haggard. - -"Croft," I stammered, "what in Zitu's name has happened?" - -He jerked out an arm in an all-embracing gesture. - -"Gone, Murray," he told me with a vibration of agony in his answer; -"both of them--both Naia and the--child." - -"Gone?" For a moment my senses seemed whirring. "Croft--what do you -mean? Gone--where?" - -"Into the western mountains, toward the outer ocean--she told me, -Murray. She came and told me as soon as she felt it safe to do so. She -came to me tonight in the Zitran pyramid--astrally, of course. You know -I told you I was going to Zitra to see Jadgor in a matter concerning -the government railroad control--" - -I nodded. - -"She found me there tonight. She had been afraid to leave the body -before, lest something happen to little Jason. It was last night this -thing occurred--and my body's still in Zitra." I sensed the tenseness -of his emotion. "I'm so utterly impotent to help her, Murray. Would -Zitu I were here to follow and wrest her from them." - -"From whom?" I questioned. Plainly he knew more of the matter than I -did--as much at least as Naia had told him. "See here, Croft--" - -He appeared to grip himself as he answered. "Forgive me, Murray. The -Zollarians, of course. It was an armed band of those Sons of Zitemku -that attacked here in my absence. There"--he pointed at the body of -Mitlos--"lies an example of their work." - -His words whipped my attention--brought up a vivid picture of all the -abduction of Naia and her child by men from the northern hostile nation -might embrace. - -"Zollarians?" I said. "She told you?" - -"Yes." He nodded. "They--they must have been planning it, Murray--they -must have been using spies." - -"Unless," I rejoined, "it was merely a wandering band of marauders." -I had a general knowledge of the western coast of Aphur and the -intervening country. Practically uninhabited, wild and rugged, it would -be easy, I thought, for men of such ilk to have landed on its shores. - -"Wandering band?" Croft said with something like impatience. "Murray, -talk sense. They knew enough to seize Naia of Aphur--the fairest woman -of her nation, of its best blood--the wife of the Mouthpiece of Zitu, -who has twice defeated their schemes and their armies--and her child." - -I nodded. He had not lost his ability to judge the situation even then, -and judge it clearly. I ceased offering either suggestions or comment -and asked a question: - -"Then what do you intend?" - -"I intend to follow her--learn what is behind this damnable action -first." - -"Astrally?" I recalled that more than once ere this he had adopted such -means to gain information toward Zollaria's undoing, and I began to -comprehend. - -He gave me a glance. "Of course. It's the only way I can follow with -the cursed hulk of me in Zud's pile of rock in Zitra. And I want you -to go with me tonight. Man, I'm trying to keep as cool as I may, -but--I'm in need of sympathetic support. Before Naia left me she said -they stopped for an hour's rest, but that before daylight faded they -had seen the outer ocean from a hill, and a ship. I think that ship is -waiting for her, Murray--and that once we are on it, to see and not be -seen, hear and not be heard, we shall learn something of the truth." - -"Then let's get on it," I suggested. "This is a terrible ordeal for -her. When she came to you tonight, was she frightened?" - -"Frightened?" Suddenly Croft drew himself up before me. "Naia--Naia of -Aphur frightened--" And then abruptly the force of his thought wave, -beating upon me softened. "Or if she felt fear, Murray, it was for the -child, and not for herself." - -He turned toward the tiny couch where the infant had been wont to sleep -between the twin couches of its parents, and stood brooding down upon -it. "Now Zitemku take the scum of life who have made my house empty," -he burst forth, and seized my hand. "Come." - -In a flash we were outside. And as on that night after the christening -of Jason, Son of Jason, when Croft and Naia showed me Himyra, we -floated upward. Only now there were no lights to fasten the attention, -no mighty piles of architecture, no wide embracing walls. There were -just the tumbled masses of the mountains, their sides cut and gashed -by night-filled ravines and tortuous canyons, and the silvery radiance -of the Palosian moons, and the stars. I recalled that once in the past -Croft had called Naia of Aphur, still then a maiden, forth from her -body and floated thus over Aphur's hills from the house we now were -leaving. - -And then his voice was in my ear. - -"Look, Murray--they've reached the shore-line, and--they're building a -flare." - -I turned my gaze into the west, where low down on what might or might -not be the horizon, but was certainly not the heavens, there winked a -point of light, too ruddy, too unsteady, to be a star. - -We swept toward it. For the first time I saw the Zollarian manhood in -the light of the leaping fire they had built upon a beach. Tawny-haired -they were, for the most part, stalwart, with muscular arms and heavy -limbs, as they stood straining their vision across the water toward -the moonlighted shape of a ship--or perhaps galley were a better term, -since it seemed to be equipped with banks of oars as well as sails. - -So much I saw--the ship, the bodies of the men, the glint of the -firelight on spearheads, and the short metal scabbards of swords, not -unlike the ancient Roman weapons, to judge by their dimensions, and -then Croft led me to where Naia and the blue girl of Mazzeria were -seated, little way apart. - - * * * * * - -Maia was speaking softly as we reached them. "My mistress, you are -quite assured then that the Hupor Jason understands?" - -"Aye." Naia bent her cheek to rest it against the head of the infant. -"Be of good courage, Maia, and fear not." - -"I fear not for myself, but for you and that one against your breast," -the blue girl answered. "Had it been my part to do so, I had done as -Mitlos and died in your defense." - -"I know." Naia stretched out a hand and touched the girl upon the -shoulder. "May Zilla bear Mitlos as tenderly as my thoughts shall hold -him--and did I not name you my sister Maia, after you rendered me aid -in preserving my lord--and did you not insist on coming with me, though -these men did not desire to take you, saying you were the child's -attendant?" - -"I came gladly," the blue girl said quickly, "yet do I not understand -these sleeps in which you lie as dead, and I remember once when Mitlos -and I worked above you thinking Zilla had taken your spirit, before you -were the Hupor Jason's bride--and it was even so with the Hupor himself -in the camp of the Mazzerian army, when we went to save him--" - -"Peace, girl," Naia interrupted, and paused and caught her breath -sharply, as Jason bent the force of his presence on her. - -She smiled, handed the child to Maia, and reclined her body on the warm -sand of the beach. Then she let the fair astral tenant of her body -steal forth! - -"Beloved," said Jason Croft, and drew her close. "Beloved--woman of -gold--we have heard your words, I and our friend of earth." - -Naia turned her head toward me from the shelter of his arms. - -"Once more," she addressed me, "you come to our aid, good friend. Did -Jason, my lord, call you to him?" - -"Aye, Princess of Aphur." I inclined my head, finding the Tamarizian -idiom in that moment best fitted to my tongue. - -She spoke again to Jason. "You have followed me, beloved; what else -lies in your mind?" - -"Naught for the present," Croft told her. "It is plain that they intend -taking you upon yonder ship, and we shall follow you aboard it. It is -our purpose to learn, in so far as we may, what these spawn of Zitemku -and Lith, his filthy consort, have in mind. Yet fear not--though I do -no more than this in the spirit, I shall do much more in the flesh, -once the spirit is informed." - -"I shall not fear," said Naia of Aphur. "Have I not given myself wholly -into your keeping? My part it shall be to meet what Zitu sends upon us -boldly and without fear, and safeguard that smaller Jason, who even -now is a mirror of his father." - -"And thyself, beloved," Croft added quickly. "Look to thyself. It were -hard choice for a father between child and mother, but--" - -"Nay! Say no further," she stayed his almost passionate answer swiftly. -Yet something like an inward fire seemed to light her mistlike form -until it glowed. - -"By Bel--they are awake out there at last," the sound of a rough voice -drifted to my ears. - -Croft turned his head at the same instant, toward the group of -Zollarian raiders and the ship beyond them, between which and the beach -a boat now appeared. - -"Aye," growled another speaker. "And time enough. Look to the women and -the slave." - -"The time is at hand, beloved," I heard Jason speaking. "Return, soul -of my soul, to your beautiful mansion--and think not I shall not be -near." - -For a moment he clasped her closer and sank his lips to hers uplifted, -and then--she was gone and her body stirred, sat up as two of the -Zollarians approached and ordered her to rise. - -"What did they mean by 'the slave'?" I questioned Jason. - -"Wait," he said as another group of Naia's captors led a blue man into -the light of the fire. "Bathos--one of my house servants," he went on. -"Now, for what purpose in Zitu's name have they brought him along?" - -I could offer no suggestion, and I didn't try. The boat had reached the -beach by the time the women and the blue man had been brought to the -edge of the water, and now they were thrust in. Part of the Zollarians -crowded aboard, and the boat shoved off, leaving the rest of the band -to await its return. - -Croft and I followed, as propelled by the straining muscles of -well-nigh naked rowers, it moved across the waves. With a sense of the -bizarreness, the weirdness, of it all, I found myself perching upon a -gunwale, while Croft actually took his place at Naia's side. - -It was an odd sensation to realize myself a part of that strange -archaic scene; wherein a beautiful woman had been abducted, and her -captors, bronzed men dressed more in the fashion of the soldiery -of forgotten empires than anything else, drove their boat across a -moonlight silvered tide. I found myself wondering how they would have -acted could they have seen us seated there among them. But they did -not, and the steady sweep of the oars brought us presently close to -the side of the galley, up which the Zollarians swarmed on down-flung -ladders to reach the deck. - -Naia and Maia followed, climbing a ladder with surprising ease until I -recalled what Croft had told me of the wiry strength in Naia's supple -figure in the past, and I considered the bodily freedom allowed by the -Tamarizian fashion in dress. Last of all to leave the boat, before it -returned to the beach, came Bathos, whom, being blue, the Zollarians -had termed a slave, as were all of his race born of captive parents, in -the nation to the north. - -I glanced about me, recognizing the craft as similar in the main -details at least to those Jason had found in common use on the -Tamarizian rivers and the Central Sea, when he had reached Palos first. -There was a high deck forward, a lower deck in the waist, where the -oarsmen sat on benches, close to a series of ports in the skin of the -vessel, through which were thrust the butts of the heavy oars. Aft -again was a second higher deck, covered by an awning beneath which were -placed padded divans and several quaintly shaped and ornamented chairs. -Indeed, the vessel was nothing less than regal, as I perceived. Green -was the awning and the sail on the gilded mast running up between the -banks of rowers' benches. - -Gilded too were the railings of the twin stairs that led up to the -after-deck on either side, from the lower level of the waist. And the -sheathing of the decks seemed to be made of closely fitted strips of -the wine-red wood, customarily used for the fashioning of couches and -divans and chairs. - - * * * * * - -Plainly, then, we had come aboard the craft of someone of more than -ordinary station, I thought, and gave my attention to a man standing on -guard beside a door in the facing of the space between the level of the -after-deck and the waist, where, as I judged, whatever private cabins -there might be on the vessel would be placed. - -Huge he was and florid, muscled like an ox, his mighty thorax banded -with metal, fitting him so closely that the bellies of the shoulder -muscles bulged above their upper edge. Head, shoulders, and arms -were naked, as were his legs save for a short cloth skirt below his -armor, falling half-way down his thighs, and the metal casings on -his heavy calves. Thick-lipped, flat-nosed, bulging of forehead, he -was a veritable giant, his appearance little short of ferocious as he -leaned on the haft of a spear and watched, straightening to attention -only when the captain in charge of the raiding party advanced with his -captives toward him. But only for a moment. Then as the captain paused, -without speaking, he shifted his spear, put out a hand, and opened the -door. - -It gave into a passage, with curtained doorways on either hand and a -lighted apartment at the farther end, toward which Naia, her maid, and -Bathos, with the Zollarians who led them, passed. - -They reached it, and then, in so far as sensation went at least, I -gasped. The room was ablaze with lights that struck back on every hand -from woodwork carved and tooled in most magnificent fashion, hung with -woven fabrics of green shot through with threads of gold. But if the -apartment was amazing in its appearance, its occupant was in no way -overcast. Rather, she seemed the center of all its blended richness -of furnishing and color. I say she because it was a woman who lay -stretched on a couch of what seemed molded-silver. And such a woman! -For a single instant, as I saw her, she seemed more gorgeous in her -voluptuous physical perfection than anything in all that gorgeous place. - -Tawny she was as a lioness, of hair and eyes, as she lay there on that -splendid couch, draped with the mottled hide of some tawny beast; -lithe as a tigress she appeared in all her supple, wonderfully rounded -length, save for a jeweled girdle supporting a drapery of almost -transparent tissue. And as she lifted her fine torso, raising herself -to a sitting position before the captain, who sank with uplifted hand -to a knee before her, one sensed there were tiny bells on the jeweled -bands about her tapering ankles that tinkled as she moved. - -Suspicion, swift as a lance-thrust, came upon me as I saw her, even -before the captain spoke. "Hail to thee, Kalamita, Priestess of Adita, -goddess of beauty; thy servant returns from that mission on which it -was thy pleasure to send him, bringing with him those thou named." - -Kalamita! Kalamita, the Zollarian, magnet of the flesh, by whose -shameless charms and yet more shameless favors Kyphallos, Prince of -Cathur, had been seduced. Well I thought was she named magnet--and one -could fancy how she might draw men to her as irresistibly as the moth -is drawn by the flame, and with equally fatal results. I glanced at -Croft. - -His face was a blended thing of conjecture and consternation on thus -once more beholding Zollaria's lovely magnet of the flesh. But he said -no word, though his hand crept out and touched me as we stood side by -side to watch. - -Kalamita smiled. "'Tis well, Ptoth," she made answer. "Arise. You have -proven faithful, and you shall have your reward. Found you any obstacle -worth naming on your mission?" - -"Nay, Sister of Bandhor," said Ptoth, rising. "None but the house -slaves lay there to oppose us--one we brought with us, since so it was -ordered--the rest were slain." - -I glanced at Croft again, and he nodded. I understand that, although -he had made no mention of it, the fact to him was already known. And -I felt my own anger harden. Mitlos was not the only one of Jason's -retainers who had paid the penalty of their fidelity to his trust. The -entire foray had been a deliberate bit of murder. - -"'Tis well," said Kalamita again, turning her tawny eyes beyond Ptoth -to where Naia and the others stood. "Found you any trace of this -Mouthpiece of Zitu?" - -"Nay," the captain answered, smiling, "but we left him ample trace of -us." - -Kalamita's whole expression darkened. Her amber eyes flashed. "Aye--and -may Adita forsake my beauty and blast it if I give him not another. Let -this woman wait, and bring me his slave." - -Ptoth turned to Bathos, seized him by an arm, and flung him at the feet -of the woman on the couch. - -The blue man groveled. He made no attempt to rise. - -Kalamita put out a pink-nailed foot and touched him. - -"Come, get up," she prompted. "How are you called?" - -"Bathos," the servant faltered, lifting himself on limbs that shook -beneath him, to stand with downcast eyes. - -"Listen, then, Bathos," Kalamita continued. "Canst find the way over -which my captain led you, and return?" - -"Aye, if I be granted the chance." Bathos glanced toward the end of the -passage. - -"It will be granted, provided you will bear a message." - -"Aye, I will bear it," Bathos assented promptly. - -"Then give ear. It is for your lord. Return to his dwelling and from -there to Himyra; seek out one in authority, and bid him send word to -the Hupor Jason that the woman he has taken to wife and her child are -in Kalamita's hands. Say further that they shall be taken to a place I -know of and held until I have received word from him, and that I shall -await his coming in a hunting house, one of my possessions, in the -mountains north of Cathur's border, half a sun's journey, where, when -he comes to listen to my requirements, he will be led by men who will -lie in watch. Repeat now my own words to me, Tamarizian canor, and make -no mistake in the telling. I desire that this Hupor Jason fails not to -understand." - -Bathos complied. He mumbled the message quickly, too fired by the -thoughts of freedom, as it seemed, to resent in the least Kalamita's -use of the word canor, the Tamarizian equivalent of dog. "So shall I -say to the one I find to send word to the Hupor Jason," he made an end. - -Kalamita nodded and turned to Ptoth. "He has his lesson. Take him and -see him put ashore. That done, see that we turn north at once, and say -to Gor that I deny my presence to any, as you pass him. Take also the -blue girl with you. I would deal with the other alone. You may leave -her the child." - -Ptoth threw up an arm in flat-handed salute and bowed, motioned Bathos -to precede him, and caught Maia by an arm. Gor, I fancied, must be the -name of the giant on guard at the outer door. And, too, I fancied that, -under the conditions, Bathos's message was going to be old news when -delivered. - -I glanced at Jason, and found his expression one of intense attention. -He seemed to feel my gaze, however, and shook his head slightly, as -though to say this was no time for anything more than observation. - -I turned back to the two women, now confronting one another. - -Ptoth and his charges had vanished. They were alone, Kalamita, the -Zollarian adventuress, the lure of men, and Naia, Princess of Aphur, -with the son of a man in her arms. - -For a moment each seemed appraising the other. - -Then Kalamita rose. - - * * * * * - -It was like Aphrodite rising, the tissue of the draperies dependent -from the gem-incrusted girdle clasping her rounded body seeming no more -than a white foam, a shimmering streaking of froth, more than half -revealing what it concealed. She went a lithe pace forward and paused, -still holding the woman before her with contemptuous yellow eyes. - -"So," she said, "at last I see Tamarizia's most beautiful woman, and -find her rather pale of feature, rather wide-eyed, possessed of a not -unattractive figure, but scarcely so favored of Adita as I have been -led to believe." - -"Favored rather by Ga, the true woman, Kalamita," Naia returned in -level accents, glancing down at the child in her arms. "You do well to -call on Adita, goddess of the unclean love." - -For the moment the Zollarian made no answer. Once more her yellow eyes -flashed. Scarcely, I thought, had she looked for the cold taunt from -Naia's lips, aimed at her own unsavory reputation. - -Then, "By Bel, you dare such speech to me!" she cried. "Think you I -have it in mind to treat you as my prisoner or a guest?" - -"As prisoner, I pray Zitu," said Naia of Aphur. "Other treatment from -Kalamita were disgrace." - -"By Bel!" Kalamita mouthed again, her face distorted with passion, and -flung herself back on her couch. "You have a bold tongue at least." -I thought she seemed disconcerted. She was breathing deeply. "How -think you your Mouthpiece of Zitu will accept your being prisoner to -Kalamita?" she asked. - -For the first time Naia's pale face twitched. But only for an instant, -before she controlled it and rejoined with proudly upflung head, -"Jason, my lord, will answer that question to Zollaria and Kalamita in -person." - -"Bel grant it." All at once Kalamita laughed. "If so I shall have -something to say to that self-exalted spirit--that panderer to priests, -who scorned the open offer of my favor for the softer affection of -yours." - -Once more I glanced at Croft, and found his face contorted at the -woman's reference to the time he was captive during the Mazzerian -war. And, too, I found myself thinking that, no matter to what extent -Zollaria might be involved in the abduction of Naia and Jason, Son -of Jason, Kalamita as her agent was bent on glutting a personal -revenge--that here was the old situation of a woman scorned. - -Then once more Naia of Aphur was speaking. "Jason, my lord, like to the -wild gnuppa of the mountains, prefers that the fountain at which his -thirst is slaked be clean--and like it once it is captured, when led -to a foul spring, he refused." - -"Thou fool." Kalamita sprang up. The action held all the lithe menace -of a tigress's spring. She began pacing the floor with an undulant -swing of her body, a tinkling of her anklet bells. "Thou fool," she -said again. "Think you not I shall make you repent these words--or -that, save this Mouthpiece give heed to my demands and those of my -nation, he shall return to your arms, or see your offspring again?" - -"Nay," Naia said, as Kalamita came to a panting pause before her, -"these things lie with the gods, Zollarian magnet. Once ere this, when -you fancied you had tricked me to my undoing, the plans of Zollaria -went amiss, and the menace was removed by death. Bzad, the Mazzerian to -whom I was to be betrayed, paid for his attempted aid to you with his -life, and his body was spewed forth from the Central Sea, refused even -by Tamarizian waters, to lie rotting on the shores of Anthra, where it -was your custom to dally with Cathur's prince." - -"Whom you consented to wed," Kalamita sneered with a curling lip. - -"To whom it was planned to give me as a sacrifice," said Naia, "if so -by it were possible to stay his hands from treason and offset the work -of your unholy charms. Tell me, Zollarian, stand I prisoner to all your -nation, or to Kalamita alone?" - -I felt a quiver shake me. For all the scathing tongue-play in which she -had been indulging, Naia of Aphur had herself in hand. She knew Croft -and I were present, that we could see and hear and understand. And she -asked a question, fully aware that our presence was something Kalamita -could not know. - -Nor did she. Something like gloating leaped into her tawny eyes as she -turned again to her couch and sat down. - -"So," she said, smiling coldly, "we begin to stand on common ground. -You stand prisoner to all Zollaria, wife of Jason, you and Jason, Son -of Jason. There be two forms of warfare, Aphur, that of wits as well -as that of arms. Wherefore, in your capture and that of your child, I -serve both the interests of my country and my own. It was so Bandhor, -my brother, and I planned." - -Naia nodded. Her tone became one of musing. "Bandhor and Kalamita, his -sister, on whose beauty he mounted to his position as general of all -Zollaria's armies, rather than by any ability of his own, and the -court of Zollaria at Berla, have planned before." - -"Aye," said Kalamita quickly, "we planned, and had won, save for the -undreamed weapons this Mouthpiece of yours brought against us--weapons -against which no army might stand. Yet before he reclaims Naia of -Aphur and her suckling--the secrets of those weapons shall be known. -The Zollarian and the Tamarizian armies shall stand on equal footing -again. Your Mouthpiece and your nation shall go down through Naia of -Aphur--and what then of Jason's son?" - -Once more I caught my breath. Once more Naia of Aphur went pale as -the full scope of Zollaria's scheming was revealed with its undoubted -future crop of bloody war, wherein Zollaria would indeed take the field -on equal footing with the Tamarizian forces, should Naia's welfare -compel the Mouthpiece of Zitu to yield to the demands for ransom the -Zollarian woman so confidently proposed. I saw the astral form beside -me clench its shadowy hands, sensed something of Jason's emotion, and -then Naia of Aphur made answer. - -"Yet not so surely on equal terms, Zollaria, since he who made the -weapons of which you desire the secret may have others still in mind. -'Tis a poor plan to purchase or barter with unlaid eggs." - -Croft's presence beside me breathed an exclamation softly. "By -Zitu--woman of gold." - -But Kalamita stretched her rosy arms and limbs with a tinkle of little -bells, and remained upon the couch. A glint of something like amusement -waked in her narrowed eyes. - -"Your position is worth considering, Aphur," she said slowly. "It may -even be put in the agreement that he shall refrain from attempting what -you suggest--or that, should he attempt it, the act be an excuse for -war." - -"In which, were the excuse used against her, Zollaria would perchance -again be foiled?" - -"And Naia of Aphur, and Jason, Son of Jason, be emptied of the spirit." - -"Nay--that is with Zitu," Naia made answer. "Ere this my lord has saved -me from the embrace of Zilla. I trust him wholly." And all at once she -smiled. - -Kalamita frowned. - -"By Bel, at least you have spirit," she said in almost wondering -fashion. - -"Which will not break before you, Priestess of Adita." Naia began a -slow rocking of the infant Jason in her arms. - -The act seemed to drive Kalamita to fury. Once more she lifted herself -to a half-sitting posture. She threw out a jewel-banded arm and -pointed. Her voice came shrilly--the voice of the termagant robbed of -all pretense of control, or poise. "Go--hide yourself in one of the -rooms yonder--get out of my sight." - -Then, as Naia moved toward the mouth of the passage and the curtained -doors of its rooms, she relaxed. A quiver shook her. "Now, Bel and -Adita befriended me, and give me my will of this woman. Adita judge -between us and blast her beauty. Her son to thee, Bel, if Tamarizia -refuses our demands, as a sacrifice. I swear it," she cried. - -"Come." I sensed Croft's emotion-clogged direction. - - * * * * * - -We made our way outside. The ship was in motion, the benches filled -with straining rowers, between whom stalked men in armor bearing -knotted lashes--the green sail spread to what there was of breeze. -Kalamita's galley was straining north, bearing Naia of Aphur and Jason, -Son of Jason, helpless captives aboard her. - -"Where now?" I asked. - -"Zitra." Croft seized my arm in his grasp. Then the creeping galley, -the moonlighted flood of the outer ocean, were behind us, the tumbled -region of Aphur's hills were beneath us. They too fell away and gave -place to the shimmer of the Central Sea. An island appeared in its -center--the walls of a mighty city. White they were as milk in the -moonlight--white as the foam of the sea. And the city was white when we -reached it, all white and purple shadows, with the mighty pyramid of -Zitu lifting the pure white temple on its lofty top above the walls. - -"Zitra," said Croft again. "I've got to get back in the flesh." - -And even as he spoke, I sensed that we were in a room somewhere within -the pyramid itself. Bare was its floor of tessellated paving, bare were -its walls save for here and there a light in a metal sconce. Bare, too, -it seemed of furnishings, save for a chest of metal, a stool and a -couch, on which the body of Jason found a place. - -The astral Jason seated himself beside it, and fastened me with his -eyes. "You heard, Murray. You see what they intend." And then his -expression altered. "Saw you ever a more glorious woman than Naia, wife -of Jason? Well, I've got to get to work. I've got to save her." - -"Just how?" I questioned, baffled, I confess myself, as to how the -thing might be accomplished. - -"I don't know," he admitted rather slowly. "Beyond the first step, -that is. I'll explain things to Jadgor and Lakkon, of course, and I'll -have a wireless sent to Robur at Himyra. After that--well--you heard -the instructions given Bathos. There's no denying Kalamita has won the -first trick by her unexpected attack--or that she'll enter largely into -the rest of the affair until it's finished, but--since she's sending -me word to meet her, I think I'll fall in so far with her proposal and -meet her face to face." - -"You mean, you'll go up there north to Cathur in the mountains?" I -asked, surprised he should consider the action for a second, and with -a feeling that his sense of bereavement, the anxiety of the husband -and father to extricate his loved ones from the hands of their captors -quickly, were certainly swaying his mind. - -He nodded without other answer, his expression one of a frowning -consideration. - -"And thereby lose the second trick and the game altogether," I -rejoined. For it had come to me that Kalamita's suggested meeting was -in the nature of nothing more nor less than a trap. - -"Eh?" Croft threw up his head. His glance burned into mine. - -"Do you really think if you went up there to meet that tawny she devil, -the Mouthpiece of Zitu--Tamarizia's big man--would be given chance to -return?" - -For a moment after I finished Croft said nothing, and then, "By -Zitu--Murray, you're right! I must have been blind! I'll--I'll have to -send another than myself. We've got to keep a few cards in our hand. -But--consider my position." - -"I do," I said. "I understand it perfectly, old man. I don't expect a -man to keep cool in a game where the stakes are his wife and son." - -He shook his head. "It isn't that only, Murray. I dare not sacrifice -Tamarizia, either--and I won't fail Naia. Think, man--think--there must -be a way to serve both ends." - -"Perhaps what Naia herself suggested," I made tentative answer. - -Pride flashed momentarily in his eyes and died. "The invention of -another--a superior weapon," he said. "Zitu--the thought fired me -when she named it. Hah! She knew we were present--and she led the -conversation to inform us in advance of what was proposed. It was like -her, Murray, but--man, how can I risk it? You heard that fiend of -Adita's oath after Naia left her--to Bel with Jason's son." - -"I know," I said slowly. - -"But do you know its meaning?" Croft's question was strained. - -"No," I admitted. - -"Murray"--he leaned toward me; there was agony in his thought -vibration--"they practise the hellish rites of ancient Phoenicia in the -northern nation. The child would be burned." - -Burned--Jason, Son of Jason--a living sacrifice! The rites of the -Phoenicians! The thought staggered me, revolted, as it lifted to -mind the picture of Moloch--the brazen god into whose insensate arms -children and babes and maidens were cast--and I recalled that, as well -as Moloch, that savage divinity had been known as Bel, and marveled -at the similarity of names. A tremor of horror shook me. And yet by -a strange association of thought, as it seemed to me then, another -thought was born. Bel--Moloch--flame. On impulse I named the thing to -Croft, and waited, until: - -"Zitu--God," he said, and then, "Man--it may be the answer, if there is -nothing else. Now, I've got to let Zud and Jadgor and Lakkon know what -has happened. And I've got to get a message off to Robur. He's Naia's -cousin, as I've told you, and I love him like a brother. Will you go -with me on my missions, or will you return to your body, as I must to -mine?" - -"If you don't mind," I decided, "I'd like to know all that happens, and -I'll linger around until dawn." - -He nodded. "I'll be glad to feel you with me, and as soon as I reach -Himyra I'll manage to visit you again. Look into the thing you -suggested, won't you?" - -"Go on. Get about your business," I told him. "I'll have the -information for you the next time we meet, if I can find a certain man." - -The body beside which he had been sitting raised itself on the couch -and swung its feet around. It rose. "You've got to find him, man," -Jason's physical voice told me without making the least break in the -conversation, as he began to dress. "You know, Murray, I can perceive -you dimly even so, and I can get your thought waves, of course--just as -Naia was able to do the same thing the night of Jason's birth--so if -you have any more suggestions to offer in what occurs inside the next -few hours, make them of course. I'm not exactly myself. My spirit is -still hot within me, where presently I think now it is going to grow -deadly cold." - -He jerked the fastenings of his leg-casings into position and clasped -the belt of a short sword about him. "Now, I'm going before Zud first." - -He turned to a door that slid back before his touch into a recess in -the massive wall. I followed him into a corridor, constructed top -and floor and sides of huge blocks and slabs of stone, lighted at -intervals by a lamp whose rays served to no more than partly dispel the -night-shrouding gloom. Age--age--the age of the pyramids of Egypt. The -thing impressed me. Countless generations had passed since mortal hands -had set those walls in position, where Jason's sandals now clanked -along the passage. And then he paused before another door, lifted his -sword, and rapped with its hilt for admittance. From somewhere a night -breeze sighed along the hall and stirred the plumes of azure on his -helmet. - -"Who calls on Zud?" a voice came muffled through the door. - -"Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu, man of Zitu," Croft replied. - -The door slid back. Zud stood before us, blinking aged eyes. - -"Mouthpiece of Zitu," he questioned, "what does this visit betide?" - -"Work of Zitemku and his agents," Croft said hoarsely, stepping inside -the high priest's apartments and pausing while Zud closed the door. - -"Thou knowest of my sleeps, O man of Zitu--and what occurs at times -when my body lies sleeping, and how my spirit gains knowledge beyond -the power of most men in the gaining--for I have explained to thee, and -shown thee somewhat, O Zud, so that by thyself something of the same -power was attained," he went on. - -"Hence will ye give credence when I declare to you, in the name of -Zitu, that this night the woman whose union with me was blessed by -thyself appeared to me, saying my home in the mountains of Aphur had -been assailed by a Zollarian band, and that she had been carried -from it with our child--and ye will credit me still further in that -I left the body and went to my house, and found things even as she -had described them, and that I followed her to the shore of the outer -ocean, and aboard a ship, whereupon was Kalamita, the Zollarian woman -of whom thou knowest--and that even now she is carried to Zollaria -captive, to be returned to Tamarizia and my house only for a price." - -He paused and caught a heavy breath, the fingers of his left hand -toying with the jeweled hilt of his sword. - -"Zitu," stammered the high priest, advancing a step to lay a withered -hand on Jason's shoulder--"may he befriend thee, and guard the woman I -know thou lovest. In what way may I aid thee, Jason?" - -"In no way, save that I desired your acquaintance with the knowledge. I -go now to Jadgor, and Lakkon, her father," Croft replied. "Grant us thy -prayers, Zud, and those of the Gayana, since once she lay among them -waiting to be my bride." He turned to the door, crashing it back with -a wholly unneeded force, and strode off, clanking down the passage, -leaving old Zud staring after, out of troubled, aged eyes. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - JASON TAKES THE TRAIL - - -At another door he stopped, wrenching it open and laying hands upon a -cord that hung within it. He jerked upon it, released it, and stood -waiting with hands clenched as though in impatience, until there rose -slowly into sight a platform, upon which he stepped. The platform sank -slowly, carrying him downward inside a rock-faced shaft, which ended in -a dimly lighted chamber, where blue men strained about a capstan and -windlass by means of which the primitive lift was controlled. - -"Hai! The Mouthpiece of Zitu requires a motur and one to drive it," -Croft addressed the man in charge. - -The fellow saluted and turned away. I saw there were several moturs -parked against one of the chamber walls. And too, I recalled that Croft -had found a similar arrangement in the pyramid of Himyra when first he -called on Magur, save that then the room had been used to house the -carriages and gnuppas of the priests. - -Croft strode toward one of the waiting cars, and a man appeared. As -Jason climbed to a seat he took his place at the wheel and the engine -roared. Blue men set open a heavy door and stood aside. Through it the -car darted out of the base of the pyramid to reach the street beyond -it. - -"To the palace of Jadgor, and hasten!" Jason cried. - -Then, as the motur fled between the white-walled houses of Zitra, he -leaned back, his face pallid in the moonlight beneath his plumes of -azure. His lips parted. "Zitu--Zitu," I caught a whisper, and knew that -to him in the urge of his need its progress seemed slow, no matter -how swiftly it moved. Yet in reality the time was very short ere the -official residence of the President of Tamarizia was reached. - -Jason was out of the motur almost before it paused. And then for the -first time, save as he had described it, I saw the inside of the former -imperial palace, with its silver-sheathed beams supporting the roof of -varicolored glass above the inner court, its tessellated pavement of -sparkling crystal and silver and gold, across which, once he had gained -admittance, Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu, strode toward the captain of the -guard. - -The soldier came to attention, saluting with uplifted palm. - -"Go," Croft directed. "Say to Jadgor, President of Tamarizia, and -Lakkon of Aphur, that the Mouthpiece of Zitu seeks speech with them -concerning a matter of importance." - -"Aye, Hupor and Mouthpiece of Zitu." The captain saluted again and -departed at once. - -We waited, Jason and I, Croft a commanding figure in his physical -presence, clouded of brow and set of lip, standing with bent crest -and deep-heaving chest while the guardsmen watched out of speculative -eyes this proud man of their nation who came on some urgent, undreamed -mission in the night, myself seeing it all but unseen by any save Jason -dimly, as he had said. - -The captain returned. - -"If my lord will follow...." He spoke in suggestive fashion, saluted -once more, and waited his superior's pleasure. - -"Lead on." Croft lifted his bended head and followed his clanking -escort up a flight of crystal stairs and down a far-reaching corridor, -resplendent with scarlet hangings on walls of silver and gold. - -Before a door of silver embossed with the circle and cross of Zitra, -the captain paused, striking three times against the metal surface with -the butt of his copper sword. - -Jadgor himself set the portal open, peering at Croft from dark eyes set -on either side of a high-bridged, slightly aquiline nose. Seen so, he -seemed a less commanding figure than in official dress, for now he was -gowned merely in a shirt of silken fabric, reaching from his strong -neck nearly to his heels. - -"Hai, Jason, what cause, in Zitu's name, brings you to disturb our -slumbers?" he began as Croft passed inside. - -"Cause in plenty," Croft made answer, his glance sweeping the -apartment, "of which I would speak with you and Lakkon. Cause enough to -warrant the driving of sleep from your eyes." - -Jadgor closed the door and turned. - -"Come, then," he said, and led the way toward a farther room, hung in -scarlet, furnished with a silver bed and table and carven chairs of the -usual red wood, in one of which sat Lakkon. - -Croft followed, and just inside the door of the sumptuous apartment he -paused. - -"Behold in me, Jadgor, and Lakkon, father of Naia, my wife, a messenger -of evil tidings," he said hoarsely, "in that the house of Jason in the -mountains has been betrayed, and the light of it removed." - -"Betrayed?" Lakkon stiffened. - -"Removed?" Jadgor repeated. "Jason, what mean you?" - -"Sit, Jadgor," Jason suggested. "My heart is heavy within me, and there -is much to be made plain concerning the affair." - -Jadgor complied without shifting the scrutiny of his keen eyes from -Croft's face. Croft himself drew a chair to the silver table, where -the other two men had taken place. And then he told them all that had -happened, from first to last, save that he omitted any mention of my -presence. - - * * * * * - -As he spoke, I watched each face. Plainly the men believed him. Their -expressions gave no evidence of doubt. They had been given sufficient -proof of his astral ability in the past, and they did not question the -truth of what he alleged he had discovered in the spirit while his -physical body seemed wrapped in heavy sleep. Jadgor held his thick-set -figure stiffly. He clenched his heavy hands. Horror waked on Lakkon's -sternly molded features. And at the end it was Jadgor, the soldier, the -patriot, the man who had labored to make strong his nation, who spoke -first. - -"Now, by Zitu, and by Zitu," he roared the Tamarizian double oath, -and struck the burnished top of the table with his fist, "are the -affronts--the annoyances--the ceaseless schemings of these spawns of -Zitemku beyond Tamarizia's borders to never cease! And if not, what -duty lies to Tamarizia before that in the fulfillment of which Zollaria -shall be crushed? Jason, twice have you led the armies of Tamarizia -against them and their allies. Gather them once more together, with my -approval, and punish these treacherous beasts." - -And if I had thought him more the man and less the statesman when first -I entered the room and viewed him in undress, I felt myself moved to -reverse my judgment now. This was no lesser spirit, stern of visage, -glaring half risen from his seat toward Croft, leaning slightly toward -him, still resting his weight upon the knotted knuckles of his heavy -fist. - -Croft, too, I am sure, was momentarily moved by Jadgor's swift -readiness to resort to arms, since for an instant, as the president -faced him, his own eyes fired. But then he shook his head slightly, -setting the azure plumes on his helmet nodding. - -"Nay," he said slowly. "Nay, Jadgor--I am a man, as thou art, and the -notion quickens my pulses, but--in my judgment this matter is less to -be settled by force of arms than by a resort to craft." - -"Hilka!" Suddenly Lakkon's voice broke forth. "Hold! You would balk -the issue? You would seek by a use of trickery--a matching of wits--to -answer an insult to Tamarizia and thyself? Was it for this I gave my -consent to your union with my daughter--or that she went down to the -gates of Zilla's realm in the bearing of your child? Has marriage -softened you so much, Jason, that the blood turns to water in your -veins? Now, by Zitu--" - -"Hilka! Hold!" Croft mouthed his own words at him. His face was pallid, -its eyes narrowed, its lips gone livid. "Father of Naia--I respect thy -surprise and grief, and therefore forgive your words. Yet speak not so -concerning my position in this affair, until you consider all sides of -the matter. Think you that, had I any suspicion of what was intended, I -had left her whose love is the crowning glory of my existence unguarded -in my house? Nay, by Zitu--she had lain in the house of Robur, son of -Jadgor--safe within Himyra's walls. And take thought on what I have -told you, Lakkon. Recall the oath of Kalamita. Consider, in judging -my position, that a resort to arms would forfeit the life of your -grandson and my child. Since you are a father, take heed of a father's -fears." - -His voice faltered. He bent forward, resting his head upon folded arms -on the table. For the first time in all his life on Palos, Jason's -haughty crest was bowed. - -Jadgor glanced at Lakkon. He nodded. "By Zitu, my brother, we were -overquick. It were well that Jason appears to have kept his wits." - -The anger faded from Lakkon's face and he rose. Passing about the -table, he laid a hand on Croft's bended shoulder. - -"Your pardon, my son," he stammered in the embarrassed fashion strong -men use on such occasions. "I was over hasty. What, then, do you -propose?" - -"As yet I know not." Jason lifted his head and turned clouded eyes on -Lakkon. "Nor would I have you in this matter think me cold. Word I -will send to Robur, and myself shall depart for Himyra at once. Let -Jadgor give me orders for the captain of his swiftest galley. Even so -my man Bathos will reach the city ere I arrive. And since this Kalamita -proposes a meeting at which Zollaria's demands will be presented, it -occurs to me that as a first step she should be met." - -Jadgor appeared to consider. "But not by the Mouthpiece of Zitu?" he -said at last. - -"Nay?" Croft eyed him sharply. - -Jadgor nodded. His first flash of spirit appeared to have passed. -"Think you Zitu's mouthpiece would be permitted to return from such -a meeting? And we are to match treachery by craft, we must guard -ourselves from traps. Ill as are the circumstances that confront us, -were they not a hundredfold increased with Jason in Zollaria's hands? -Then indeed would Tamarizia find herself in evil case!" - -Lakkon's old eyes widened under his grizzled brows. "You suspect a -trap, then, Jadgor?" he questioned. - -"Aye, and this lure of the flesh, this Kalamita, is connected with -it," Tamarizia's president declared. Warrior, he was prone to think -first of arms, but as it seemed to me now, not lacking in statecraft -either, once he gave his mind to it. "To me it seems she has taken into -account the hearts of men, in sending word of the meeting--deeming the -husband and father would rush to his and his country's undoing without -due consideration of where his act might lead. Against such an ending, -thanks be to Zitu and Jason's ability to obtain knowledge in his -death-like sleeps, we are forewarned, and Tamarizia keeps what yet she -has. What say you, Jason?" - -"That Jadgor's words lighten my position somewhat," Croft made -answer. "Since, had his mind not so clearly seen what in my belief -was intended, it had been no easy task to make my stand in the matter -understood, and perchance I would have seemed to him and Lakkon rather -a man of milk and water, than one of blood--" - -"Nay," Lakkon interrupted, his face gone haggard, "forget my words. -Horror of what had befallen had dulled my understanding, husband of -Naia. How mean you--that Zollaria's terms shall be refused?" - -"By Zitemku, the fiend of the foul pit of damnation, what else?" Jadgor -roared before Croft could answer. "Does Tamarizia weaken herself or -yield one hand's-breadth to that northern horde?" - -Croft nodded. "Zollaria's demands may not be granted. Let that be -understood," he replied to Jadgor's outburst. - -Lakkon winced. "Thou canst say so, who having asked me not to think -thee cold, seem yet so little moved?" - - * * * * * - -For the second time Croft stiffened at his father-in-law's words. His -face flushed deeply, and he rose, towering, the splendid figure of a -man, against the end of the table, while Jadgor and Lakkon watched. - -"Tamarizia must not be weakened," he reaffirmed his position. "Cold -I may seem to Lakkon, and little moved, and now, thanks to him, I am -cold indeed. Yet have I sworn an oath not to fail her who looks on me -to save her. And I shall succeed in what I am undertaking, without -forgetting the interests of this nation, or--by Azil himself I swear -it--let all men cease to speak of Jason as one among living men. From -here I go to send a message to Robur, and after that upon a galley. -Come, Jadgor, give me your order to its captain that he may prove -bidable to my commands." - -For a moment as he ceased speaking silence came down in the room -where the lights pricked out the azure cross and wings of Azil on his -cuirass, as he waited. Cold he had said to me he would become and to -Jadgor and Lakkon cold--as cold as some deadly tempered weapon, in -all outward seeming now he was. Lakkon's expression altered, became -embarrassed. He glanced from Croft to Jadgor, and moistened his lips -with his tongue. - -Jadgor moved. He left his seat, found wax-coated tablets and a stylus, -and returned. For a moment or two he wrote rapidly, cutting his -official mandate to the captain of the galley into the virgin surface. -Then, rising, once more he handed it to Croft. - -"Go," he said, "and Zitu go with you. You will keep us informed in this -matter?" - -"Aye, as it progresses." Croft accepted the tablet. "Zitu keep you, -Jadgor." He turned to leave. - -"Jason," Lakkon quavered. - -Jason paused. - -"Depart not from me in anger. I sought not truly to give you fresh -offense. And--and carry my blessing to my daughter when next you meet -her in the spirit, as she has told me thou canst." - -For a barely perceptible interval Croft appeared to hesitate, and then -he caught a heavy breath. - -"Against the father of Naia of Aphur it were hard indeed for anger to -find a place in my heart. Zitu be with you, Lakkon, also," he said, and -left. - -Outside the room he made his way, outside the palace of Jadgor, once -more to a seat in the motur, and in it toward the city walls and the -foot of a mounting flight of stairs. - -A sentry stood with sword and spear before them. Croft addressed him. -He saluted and permitted him to pass. Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu, -climbed up in the silvery moonlight, his shadow a purple blot beside -him, to reach the top at last. And there strangely in all that archaic -scene he paused before the door of a hut, above which towered the -spidery outline of a wireless mast. For an instant he turned his eyes -outward over the expanse of the Central Sea, and then he passed inside. - -A man seated at a table, with the key of the wireless before him, -started to his feet. - -"A message to Robur, Governor of Aphur in Himyra, and quickly," Croft -said. - -The operator regained his seat and produced his headdress, clamping -it against his ears. Croft gave the message. There came the hissing -crash of the spark. Strange, I found myself thinking as I watched--an -anachronism surely that this youth of Palos, clad in plain tunic and -sandals and leg-casings of leather, above which showed the sinewy -flesh of his lower thighs and knees, should be sitting here on top of -the ramparts of a walled city, hurling forth across the ocean beyond -him the potential Hertzian waves. And yet it was no more strange than -that I should know it--than that the grim-visaged man in the metal -harness of a Tamarizian noble was the one through whose genius it was -inspired. - -And then the thing was done. The crashing of the spark was silenced. -Croft tossed a coin on the table and passed outside and down the -stairs. And when next the motur paused he gave the driver another -coin and dismissed him. He stood before a galley, moored close to the -semi-circular quays of Zitra's inner harbor, stretching like a pool -of liquid silver beyond him to the mighty sea-doors that closed the -entrance to it in the overarching walls. - -But though I thrilled to the massive grandeur of the picture, Croft -heeded it little. To him it was an old scene, and, too, he was ridden -with the spur of haste. - -"Hai! Captain of the watch, aboard the galley!" he hailed sharply and -stood waiting until a head appeared above the rail of the waist and a -voice replied: - -"Who calls?" - -"Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu, with the mandate of Jadgor from the palace -of Jadgor. I would come toward you," Croft made answer. - -The head disappeared. For possibly two minutes nothing happened, and -then a gangway was shoved out to reach the quay. - -Croft strode along it, presented Jadgor's tablet to a suddenly wide -awake captain, and was led to an apartment under the after-deck, -richly furnished in red woods and hangings of scarlet, the personal -color of Jadgor's house. - -Life woke on board the galley. There was a tramping of feet, a sound -of voices bawling orders, suddenly the sibilant hiss of water past -the hull. The galley heeled slightly on the long arc of a circle, -straightened back to an even keel. Through the windows let into the -stern I became conscious of a graying of the eastern heavens, and then -a shadow fell upon us. It came to me that the monster sea-doors were -opened to permit our passing. - -Croft sank down upon a couch of burnished copper and sighed. He turned -his glance about the apartment. "Are you still here, Murray?" he -questioned. - -"Aye," I bent my thought upon him, and he smiled a trifle wanly as he -caught the form of my answer. - -"Better be going," he said. "But give me the benefit of your thoughts -in the next few days. If you've waited until now, you've had recent -proof of how hard it is for the father to hold his personal interests -of lesser importance than matters of state." - -"Nonsense, man," I returned. "We'll beat them. Once you're in Himyra, -you and Robur will get your heads together, and I'm going to work -collecting all the information I can obtain on the device I suggested -earlier tonight." - -"Do so." He nodded and stretched himself out on the couch. "I'll use -it if we can think of nothing else. You and Rob--" All at once he used -a diminutive form of Robur's name, of which he had told me before. -"Murray, I thank Zitu for you both. I know I have your sympathy and -understanding, and--I'll find the same things once I am in Himyra. I'll -see you inside the next few days, of course." - - * * * * * - -From now on this narrative must become, until the end, an account of -Croft's efforts toward the rescue of Naia and Jason, rather than of -things experienced by myself. For now I was become little more than his -lieutenant on earth--a collector of knowledge to whom, when he came in -the astral presence to gain it, he told how that knowledge was to be -employed. - -In the body he went to Himyra first. But astrally he willed himself -back that morning after I had left him, aboard Kalamita's gilded craft, -where rather than the tawny siren, the lure that led him was his wife -and child. Naia of Aphur--the love of her, as ever since first he had -seen her, was a flame in Jason's breast. - -Gor he found sleeping within the passage, sprawled barrierlike inside -its door. Kalamita, too, lay wrapped in slumber, her scheming brain at -rest. Inside one of the curtained apartments Maia slept also on a couch -drawn crosswise of the door. Naia of Aphur alone was wakeful, brooding -with troubled eyes above the sleeping infant. - -To Croft, as he saw her, she seemed then the embodiment of all the -meaning involved in the wonderful statue of Ga the Eternal Mother he -had seen once in the quarters of the Gayana--the Tamarizian vestals -brooding above the altar of the sacred fire, with the form of a babe on -her knees. - -Thrilling at sight of her so, he stood before her. - -"Beloved," he called her. - -She stiffened to attention, lifting her head. Her lips moved. - -"I have waited thy coming, Jason," she whispered, her fair face -lighting as she responded to his summons. - -"You heard all, know all?" she questioned as Croft drew her wraithlike -form inside his yearning arms. - -"Aye--golden woman--and marveled at thy spirit," he made answer, ere -he told her what he had accomplished and gave her Lakkon's message, -mentioning at the end the possible means of rescue I had suggested. - -"Zitu!" Naia faltered. "It were strange indeed, were it not, if the -answer to this riddle be found by our friend of earth?" - -"Aye, strange," said Jason, "yet not more so than that, despite their -knowledge, I stand here now before you." - -"Yet he is wise," she replied, clinging closer to him, "in that he saw -quickly the true meaning of the meeting between you and herself this -Zollarian woman saw fit to propose. Myself have I promised throughout -the night that, once you had come again to me, I would see you warned." - -Croft smiled in rueful fashion. "Jadgor, too, was against it. It would -seem that all perceived the motive of it, save only Jason alone." - -"Ah, but"--Naia lifted a hand to lay it against his cheek--"Jason, my -beloved, was overwrought." - -"Aye," he confessed; "and now it appears to him that it was on that -Kalamita counted to lead him into a trap." - -"And will count," said Naia, "not knowing the strange power you have -taught me, by which we meet." - -Croft nodded. "And through which their every move may be watched. To -my mind, beloved--this meeting on which she is bent at present must be -brought about." - -"But not by Jason!" The fires of Naia's astral body paled in swift -alarm. "Not by you, beloved." - -"Nay," Croft reassured her, "not by Jason, but another, in a fashion, -once I am in Himyra, Robur and I shall devise." - -"Hold, then." Naia paused to consider before she went on quickly. -"Perchance against a woman, a woman's wits may aid you. Told she not -Bathos to say this meeting would be north of Cathur--and sought she not -once ere this, when before you fought to make me thine, beloved, to -work harm to Tamarizia through Cathur's prince, so that the succession -was lost to Koryphu, his brother, and in the elections for governor, -even though he sought to gain the station, he was ignored? Think you -not that in Koryphu, Scythys's younger son, you may find one with hate -in his heart for this woman and an agent to your hand?" - -"Aye, by Zitu!" Croft cried, gazing into her lifted face out of -startled eyes. "Naia, you have said it. Koryphu, and he will consent, -is the man." - -And so to Scira, capital city of Cathur, he willed himself. - -Long familiarity with Scira made it easy for him to reach the -residence, which, after the overthrow of his family, had become the -home of Cathur's lesser prince. And there he found Koryphu, always -unlike Kyphallos, his brother, more or less of a student, already busy -with the tablets and scrolls that as yet in Tamarizia took the place of -books. Satisfied that his man would be easy to locate when needed, he -returned to the galley at once. - - * * * * * - -Thereafter followed a weird four days and nights, during the lighted -portion of which Croft occupied himself as best he might, while the -galley plowed across the Central Sea toward the mouth of the Na, up -which lay Himyra. And when the daylight faded he stretched himself -on the couch in his apartment and joined Naia in the spirit, going -with her north to a Zollarian seaport, and from it in gnuppa-drawn -conveyances wherein the passengers reclined on deeply padded cushions, -toward Berla, discovering thereby that no matter what Kalamita may -have said to Bathos regarding the place of Naia's holding, she was to -be taken to the seat of the Zollarian government first. So much he had -learned both from his astral conversations with her and the remarks of -the guards which reached his ears, by the time Himyra was reached. - -Himyra. Croft stepped upon its quays, where lapped the yellow Na, with -a feeling of relief. Himyra--home. It was so he regarded that red city -more than any other place on Palos outside his own house. Himyra--it -was here he had labored--here he had molded the present strength of the -Tamarizian nation--from here he had gone twice to make good his claims -of that strength--here, outside the circling walls towering like ruddy -buttes above the sands of the Aphurian desert, he had seen Naia of -Aphur, read love in the depths of her purple eyes first. - -"Jason!" - -He whirled, to behold Robur coming toward him from a motur. - -"Rob!" He turned in his direction. - -They met, and Robur clasped him to his breast. - -"My brother in all but birth," he said with emotion. "Would Zitu he -had not sent this thing upon you. Gaya sends her greeting. Myself I -timed your arrival, and so soon as the gatemen reported your galley's -passing, drove down to carry you to a friendly house." - -"Like thee, Rob," Croft said, his heart warmed by such a meeting. "In -Himyra, and thy presence, I breathe easier than for days. Bathos, my -servant, has arrived?" - -"The sun before this," Robur returned as they moved toward his waiting -motur. "Himyra, Aphur, and Robur stand ready to aid you in all things -toward the rescue of our cousin. Jason need but say the word." - -"Presently," said Croft, "when I sit in the presence of Gaya and Robur, -my true friends." - -Suddenly he found himself yearning for the compassion of the gentle, -brown-haired matron, Robur's wife, who ere this had listened with -patient understanding to his troubles--had aided him more than she -knew herself in Naia's wooing. He laid a hand on Robur's knee as the -Aphurian drove the motur up the easy grade of the embankment to reach -the thoroughfare fronting the Na. "Then, Rob, must you aid me both as a -man and an avenger indeed." - -"Zitu!" Robur eyed him. "Are you, then, so broken?" - -Croft's expression hardened, his voice deepened. - -"Aye--I am shaken, Rob, but--once let my course in this be plain, and -you shall find me far from a broken reed." - -"Hai!" Robur nodded. "That is better--more like the old Jason. For a -moment you dismayed me." - -He reached the top of the embankment and increased the motur's speed. - -In through the wide doors of the palace, with their doglike guardians -of stone, and their weblike wings, to the red court where blue men -sprinkled water upon the ruddy pavement, he drove. Past sentries armed -with spears and short swords, who sprang to swift attention at sight -of Aphur's governor, and the Mouthpiece of Zitu--the wonder worker of -their nation, descending from one of his own creations--he led Croft -into a private wing of the palace, and through it to the inner court, -where Gaya waited on a couch beneath a striped awning, close to the -sun-kissed waters of the bathing pool. - -Croft's heart swelled as he once more entered the well-known lounging -place. Here Naia and Robur and he had played at ball more than once -together. Here it was she had called him Aquor, when they bathed. And -in those shimmering waters he had caught his "little silver fish". -For a moment his eyes dimmed as he bent above Gaya's hand, in silent -salutation, not trusting himself to speak--so that, moved by a swift -emotion, the woman caught his face as he raised it between her palms -and kissed him on the cheek. - -"Jason, my friend," she said softly, "take thought that the ways of -Zitu are past understanding, and that from this further ordeal now laid -upon you may come a double peace." - -"Hai!" exclaimed Robur quickly. "Give heed to her, Jason. At times she -seems given prophetic vision. Perchance this double peace is for thee -and Tamarizia also." - -"Zitu grant it," said Croft, deeply affected by Gaya's greeting. "It is -of that we must speak after I have made certain things plain." - -Robur nodded. Gaya returned to the couch. The two men drew other seats -beside her, and Croft narrated his story. - -"First in my mind comes this meeting with the woman herself. Since she -journeys first to Berla, it is certain some time must still elapse ere -she goes to her hunting lodge. And as regards the meeting itself, here -is what I propose." He rapidly outlined a plan for sending a Tamarizian -party into the mountains north of Cathur, and at the last he mentioned -Koryphu's name. - - * * * * * - -"Hai!" Robur's face lighted. "Now, by Zitu, Jason, you have found the -proper man. True is he in his heart, as I believe, and a sufferer -from his brother's treason. He should welcome this task as a means -of proving his loyalty to his nation and in so much reestablishing -himself--and where were a better agent to represent us before this -unclean woman, by whom his brother was disgraced?" - -"Naia brought the man to my mind," said Jason, unwilling to appropriate -the credit. - -"Aye"--Gaya smiled--"the step savors of a woman. Kalamita will gain -small satisfaction when she meets him face to face. It is a proper -choice." - -"He lies at Scira?" Robur questioned. - -Croft nodded. "Aye--I have visited him in spirit inside the last five -days--and found him busy with tablets and scrolls, more student than -man of affairs." - -"Then," Robur declared with quick decision, "we go to Scira and lay the -matter before him without delay." - -"Nay"--Croft shook his head--"first shall I be present in Berla in my -own fashion when Naia arrives. Meanwhile, Robur, you and I arrange -other details for the mission to this meeting, and prepare to reopen -the shops." - -For a moment Robur regarded him out of narrowed eyes, and then he -nodded. "Has the Mouthpiece of Zitu some new device for the making, he -will find me ready to work with him upon it as in the past." - -Jason smiled at his ready acceptance. There had been no time when -he had failed to find Robur's interest in the modern innovations he -had introduced on Palos lacking, or had been denied his aid in their -production. The Aphurian was of a most progressive mind. - -"Nay," he said now, "I know not, nor will till after this meeting with -the Zollarian woman. And after that it may be I shall revisit earth." - -"Earth!" Robur exclaimed. "When last you attempted such a matter, the -thing was an affair of Zitrans. Think you--" - -"Hold, Rob," Jason interrupted. "Within the last cycle--I have visited -and conversed with a man of earth in the spirit rather than the flesh." - -Gaya caught her breath sharply. Both she and Robur knew the history of -Croft's former mundane existence. Yet now she seemed shaken. - -"Jason," she faltered, "as man I know you, yet are there times when to -me you seem more like to a spirit in man's form even as on a time Zud -of Zitra said." Her eyes were wide. - -Croft turned to her. - -"Man is a spirit, Gaya, my friend and wife of my all but brother," he -said slowly. "Yet now my spirit is heavy, in that I am a man bereft. -Wherefore, ere this thing be finished, I shall work in body and spirit -to regain what I have lost." - -"Enough," Robur prompted. "This is between ourselves. Man thou art, and -husband and father. This visit to earth has somewhat to do with a new -device?" - -"Aye--should nothing develop from the meeting after Koryphu's return, -if he accepts. Rob, have you stores in plenty of metals, rubber, and -cloth?" - -"Aye, in plenty--and if not, since Koryphu's mission will take the best -part of a Zitran to arrange and carry out, it were possible to put -double shifts at the forges and send the weavers to their looms." - -"Then do so," Jason accepted, filling his chest with a heavy -inhalation, "for it is in my mind that ere Naia and Jason, Son of -Jason, shall see Aphur again strange things shall be seen in the skies." - -"In the skies!" Robur cried, his dark eyes flashing. - -"Aye," said the Mouthpiece of Zitu, "in the skies." - - - - - CHAPTER V - - IN BERLA - - -Freedom of action, cooperation, a friendly understanding, marked the -following days for Croft. That night he visited Naia while his body lay -in a room in Robur's part of the palace, covered with a silken tissue, -worked over by Gaya's own maids, whom she sent to rub into its stalwart -muscles, soft, nourishing, perfumed ointments, such as the Tamarizian -nobles used. - -He found the Zollarian party not far from Berla, confident that the -succeeding day would see them inside the city itself. He returned to -Himyra for a few hours, spoke with Gaya and Robur, stretched himself -out once more, and willed himself back to Naia, and slipped into the -conveyance where she rode with Maia and Jason, very much as he had sat -and gazed upon her, drunk with the beauty of her, the day he had seen -her first outside Himyra's lifted walls. So it was he had promised her -the night before he would accompany her into Berla when she arrived. - -The entry itself was made a spectacle for the crowds. In fact, it was -clear to Croft that the thing was staged. Whatever doubts he may have -entertained concerning Zollaria's participation in Kalamita's abduction -of Naia and Jason as a state, vanished, leaving a cold conviction that -the woman had acted less as an individual than in an agent's place. - -Outside the walls of Berla the party was halted by a patrol. The -curtains on Naia's carriage were drawn back, leaving the occupants -exposed. Guardsmen approached and placed golden bands joined by a -golden chain upon her slender ankles, and on her arms. A chariot such -as the Zollarians used in war, save that it was burnished to the last -degree, as it advanced behind green-plumed gnuppas harnessed four -abreast, emerged from Berla's gate and deposited a massively built -warrior, in splendid harness, beside the conveyance in which Kalamita -rode. - -Croft recognized Bandhor, general of the Zollarian army, as Kalamita -appeared. She flung herself from her carriage, her face distorted with -displeasure, almost before his chariot had paused with lunging steeds. - -"By Bel, what is the meaning of this interference with my entry into -the city?" she broke forth in a voice of passion. - -"Interference! Nay, it is a triumph. They make a holiday of your return -with your captives, priestess of beauty," Bandhor roared. - -"Holiday? Triumph?" the woman repeated with a curling lip. "Are we then -at war, Bandhor, since I departed?" - -"Nay," he returned, viewing her rage with what seemed a sense of -amusement. "Nor will be--since Kalamita brings with her the guarantees -of peace. Come, I will lead you into the city." - -For a moment his sister considered, tapping the metal of the roadway -with a sandaled foot. Plainly her displeasure in this change of -whatever plans she may have had was in no way diminished, but in the -end she accepted. "So be it. But wait." She turned and disappeared into -her carriage, from which after some few moments she again emerged. - -She had altered her dress, and now in the Sirian sun she blazed. -Jeweled shields, supported against her fair skin by a gem-incrusted -harness, covered her breast--a green skirt embroidered with flashing -stones fell from a scintillating girdle about her hips and thighs. -Green were the plumes above her tawny hair, and the sandals on her -feet, the casings on her calves. A barbaric picture, she strode toward -Bandhor's car with its restive gnuppas. - -"If we triumph, let us triumph fitly," she said in scornful fashion, -and stepped into the driver's place. "It is my pleasure, Bandhor, my -brother, to lead my triumph myself." - -Gathering the reins into her hands, she turned the gnuppas back toward -the gate of the city in a swirling smother of dust. - -"Thou tawny devil!" Bandhor cried, his eyes flashing with admiration -as he caught the tail of the rocking car and sprang aboard. "Forward, -Zollarians--into the city!" - -The patrol that had stopped them formed on either side of Naia's -carriage. Kalamita's party fell in behind it. They passed through -the gate, and between the living banks of a swarming, jostling, -neck-craning crowd that lined the main avenue of Berla as far as the -eye could reach. - -Their advent excited a roar. Small doubt but their identity was -known--or that this haling of the wife and child of the strong man of -Tamarizia, captive, seemed a triumph to the minds of the Zollarian -populace indeed. Yells, shrieks, and screeches filled the air. Curses -of every degree of vileness were mouthed. The mob jostled, pressed -closer to the carriage of the captives. Someone threw a stone. Naia -lifted Jason and placed him under the rear wall of the conveyances, -where it curved upward to form the canopy or top. - -Her body formed a shield before him. For the rest, her pale face -remained unmoved in its haughty calmness. Watching her, Croft's heart -was filled with pride. Maia crept to her and crouched on the cushions -beside her, plainly frightened. But save for that instinctive guarding -of her offspring, Naia of Aphur gave no sign of fear. - -"Hail to Kalamita, priestess of beauty. Hail Bandhor. Hail to Kalamita, -who brings to Zollaria those through whom she shall be made once more -stronger than the strongest," the populace roared. - -It occurred to Croft to see how Kalamita herself was receiving -the acclamation. He left Naia's vehicle briefly and joined himself to -the woman, reining the prancing gnuppas with a practised hand. - -He found her face wreathed in a forced smile, and her tawny eyes, back -of their fringing lashes, ablaze. - -"Who has spread the report that these shall make Zollaria strong?" she -hissed at her brother. - -"Helmor," he told her after a moment's hesitation. "So soon as your -advance messenger reached Berla, he commanded the success of your -mission announced." - -"Helmor," said Kalamita thickly. "Him whom Tamarizia has most -grievously defeated. Is the emperor one to gain credit from my work -before the masses, or a fool to consider a thing as accomplished ere -it is done? Was it not agreed between us, Bandhor, that after she -should have been brought quietly to Berla she should be taken into the -mountains until I had tricked this Tamarizian Mouthpiece?" - -"To a meeting?" Bandhor muttered. - -"Aye, to a meeting," said his sister, "after which he also would have -been in our hands." - -"Provided he came to the meeting." - -"Came?" Kalamita curled her lips as she answered. "You, Bandhor, are -one to whom women are no more than a moment's toys, but to that one, -that pale-faced creature, behind us, means more. Aye, he had come, for -I sent word that _I_ held the woman, and bade him to a meeting to give -ear to _my_ demands." - -"By Bel," growled Bandhor, "Helmor believes it not, and who was Bandhor -to stay his hand? Say what you will to me, my sister, but, once we -reach the palace, curb your tongue." - -"Nay--I fear him not." Kalamita shrugged her shoulders. "This display -is a mistake, as I shall show him. The matter should have been -conducted in quiet, till it was past." - - * * * * * - -Vastly pleased that Kalamita's plans were already going contrary to -her liking, Croft returned to Naia, and remained throughout the noisy -progress until the palace was reached, and she was led inside between -double rows of guards. - -Into the palace of Helmor, Emperor of all Zollaria, her golden head -proudly lifted, Naia of Aphur passed, walking with steady footsteps -once her shackles were removed. And Maia followed across a huge -interior similar in most respects to the Tamarizian structures, bearing -in her blue arms Jason's son. Palace guards opened a door before them. -They passed into an audience chamber to stand before Helmor at last. - -He sat there on a silver chair upon a dais, the steps leading to which -were spread with gorgeously colored rugs. And as her guards led Naia of -Aphur toward him, with Kalamita and her brother close behind them, he -glowered. - -Croft knew him by sight. There had been a time when he had forced -him on a stricken field to enter his own armored motur, prisoner of -war, and guarantee of an early peace, on the day Zollaria's hopes of -conquest over Tamarizia had gone down in red defeat. And now he watched -as he opened his lips to speak, in a somewhat taunting fashion: - -"Greetings to Naia of Aphur, whose presence gives all Zollaria -pleasure, in that times are changed, and that where once Helmor was -held hostage for Tamarizia's demands, Naia and her child are now the -guests of Helmor until their ransom be paid." - -For a moment the woman before him said nothing, staring straight back -into his gloating visage out of steady purple eyes. And then her lips -parted. "And were apt to be a guest overlong, should Zollaria ask more -than Naia of Aphur, or any other woman, were worth?" - -"Say you so?" Helmor seemed somewhat taken aback by that haughty -response, at which the quick fires of admiration stirred in Jason's -spirit. "Yet perchance the Tamarizian Mouthpiece will place upon her a -greater valuation than she lays upon herself." - -"Those things lie with the gods, Helmor of Zollaria," Naia said, though -at mention of Jason her delicate nostrils twitched. - -"Did Helmor say that this woman lies as _his_ guest?" Kalamita cut into -the ensuing pause. - -Helmor turned his eyes upon her. "Aye, priestess of beauty, now that -you have so faithfully accomplished the task entrusted to you." - -"The first step, Helmor," Kalamita dared to correct him, advancing -close to the foot of the dais. "Naught save that is accomplished as -yet. And was it not agreed between us that she should remain in my -charge until after I had met this Mouthpiece and spoken with him?" - -"Aye," Helmor admitted somewhat sharply. "But--since you departed upon -your mission I have taken thought." - -"And Helmor has thought what?" Kalamita stiffened, drawing up her -supple, unrestrained figure to its fullest height. - -Helmor's visage darkened. "That were this Mouthpiece as clever as he -appears, he will not fall into your trap. Wherefore, it were best to -retain the woman and child he values in a strong place." - -"And forsake the meeting on which we were agreed and of which I have -already sent this Mouthpiece word?" Kalamita questioned further. - -"Nay." Helmor smiled. "The meeting shall take place. Said you aught in -your message, save that she was held by you in a place he knew not of, -and that he needs must speak with you of her ransom?" - -"Does Helmor think Kalamita a fool?" The Zollarian adventuress smiled. - -"Nay--the question were useless, since it was in her mind the matter -first had shape," said the man on the dais. - -"And Helmor, who changed his form, sending Bandhor and his guardsmen -forth to change into a paltry triumph what had been better carried -out in secret, nor mentioned until the matter were concluded, in the -judgment of her who, as Helmor himself declares, conceived it first," -the woman before him retorted and broke off. Her tawny eyes were -flashing, the green plumes above her upflung head were aquiver, the -jeweled shields against her rosy bosom rose and fell quickly as she -panted rather than breathed. - -For a time Helmor regarded her closely before he answered. - -"Enough," he said at last. "Much may be forgiven to beauty--and much I -forgive to Kalamita. Yet lies there a point beyond which Helmor grants -it not to any man or woman to question his words. Wherefore give ear, -and heed to Helmor. This meeting shall take place. Since naught was -said of Zollaria's part in the woman's capture, wherein falls it out -any different from what was planned--save that she lies in Berla rather -than in another place, under Helmor's protection rather than in fair -Kalamita's hands?" - -"Helmor does not trust his agent with a thing of so much value?" -Kalamita flung her challenge full at the emperor of her nation, -taunting him, daring him, as it seemed, to answer. - -And all at once it seemed that Helmor evaded. - -"Nay," he said slowly. "None doubts Kalamita's loyalty to the interests -of her nation. Yet were it best for her to lie doubly safe should -Zollaria's demands be refused, or this Mouthpiece fail to appear at the -meeting she has proposed." - -Once more the form of Kalamita stiffened into a haughty posture. - -"Refused?" she flared. "Nay, Tamarizia dares not refuse, since I -shall say to their Mouthpiece that I have taken an oath that unless -Zollaria's demands are quickly granted I shall offer the child in -sacrifice to Bel. And by Bel himself--" - -Naia of Aphur caught her breath and drew back a pace, staring at the -woman before her out of widened eyes, as innocence may always stare at -the incarnation of vice. - -So for a horrified instant she stood, and then, turning to Maia, -swiftly she seized the child, straining it for a moment to her breast, -and then extending it on quivering arms, uplifted to the man above -her. - -"Helmor of Zollaria--in the name of Zitu!" she cried. - -"Hold!" Helmor roared. "Peace, Naia of Aphur. It seems well I have -decided on your safety." - -He turned to Kalamita. "And it seems clear to me, sister of Bandhor, -that in this you would serve your aims of vengeance as well as your -country's ends. Ere this it has come to my ears you have cause for -anger against this Mouthpiece because of a slight placed upon you. -And in that it is not my wish to in any way obstruct you, save only -as toward a glutting of your hatred against him, you would lessen -Zollaria's chances of gain. Yet an oath to Bel is not to be lightly -broken. And--should Tamarizia finally refuse to yield in this matter -or chance a resort to arms against us, we may surely need his favor. -Wherefore I pledge you the word of Helmor that, should those things -transpire, I shall place the child directly in your hands." - -"Helmor has spoken." With an unholy light in her voluptuous face, -Kalamita knelt before him. - - * * * * * - -Croft writhed in his spirit, at the meaning of Helmor's words--the -picture of Jason, Son of Jason, torn from the breast against which -now he rested all unknowing, and fed into Bel's foul body filled with -flame. The thing was unthinkable to a man or woman of a nation where -the gods were no longer savage spirits to be appeased by blood and -suffering, but divinities actuated by mercy and love. - -And, too, a sudden swift regret assailed him that though he had known -of Kalamita's purpose from the first, he had said nothing concerning it -to Naia, thinking thereby to save her from the consideration of it. For -now the horror came upon her without warning, and she swayed upon her -feet so that Maia put out a hand and drew her back against her body in -support, and Kalamita, noting the action, turned to her from Helmor. - -"What now of that spirit you boasted would not break before me, -Tamarizian?" she hissed. - -The thing struck Naia of Aphur like a whip and saved her from what -seemed an impending collapse. She forced up her head to meet her -tormentor's taunt. - -"As yet it has not broken," she denied. "Rather will Zollaria's -footmen, her horsemen, her nobles, all that strength of which she has -boasted in the past, be broken if this thing is dared. And think not -the blood of a suckling will give Bel strength enough to aid you, -against the vengeance Zitu's Mouthpiece shall send upon you. Zollaria -may call upon Bel in that day, but--by Zitu, I swear it--she shall call -in vain." - -"Enough," said Helmor. "Guards, let this woman be removed, with her -child and slave, and kept in a safe place under penalty of death -to them who watch her, if save by Helmor's orders, they be harmed. -Kalamita, arise. You will depart to the place appointed for this -meeting, so soon as we have considered together concerning Zollaria's -demands." - -Kalamita rose to her feet. Naia's guards led her and Maia out. - -Croft went with them. Already he knew in the main what Zollaria would -ask--knew in his soul that her demands must be refused for Tamarizia's -good. There remained then naught for him save to support Naia in so -far as he could in the spirit, and devise some means of freeing her -from her present position, other than any true consideration of what -Zollaria might propose. - -And now it appeared to him that the best he could do was to bring about -delay in whatever negotiations might grow out of the situation--to see -them dragged out without a definite decision--to gain time, wherein he -might think and scheme. Or if there were no other way, seek to perfect -some such device with which to strike a counter-blow against Kalamita's -nation as that I had proposed. - -Such thoughts held him, therefore, as he followed out of the audience -room and along a corridor and down a flight of steps to a room deep -amid the foundations of the palace into which Naia and her maid and -child were thrust. - -A litter of straw was upon the floor. It was dimly lighted by a single -oil-lamp in a sconce against one wall. There was a copper couch with -a none-too-clean sleeping pad upon it, and nothing more. With a quick -rebellion of the spirit, Croft found himself thinking that it was not -so Helmor, when a prisoner of Tamarizia, had been housed. - -Yet he had no fear of Naia's welfare, the measure of her endurance, -remembering how she had lain in the forests of Mazzeria, her fair skin -blue so that she might seem one of their own women to any Mazzerian -prowler, when she had flown to his rescue over Atla's walls, during -the Mazzerian war. Wherefore he waited until Maia had induced her to -stretch herself upon the couch, and taking the child in her arms had -crouched beside her on the straw, rocking it gently and crooning to it -a quaint Tamarizian song. And then as Naia's lips moved and he caught -her whisper, "Beloved," he answered: - -"I am here." - -She sighed, and her body relaxed as its astral tenant stole forth. - -"You heard all, beloved?" she questioned as they sat together in the -weird communion of spirit with spirit that was theirs. - -"Aye," Croft told her. - -"Now Zitu help us!" Naia of Aphur cried. "For if my spirit be not -broken, as I said to that fiend in the form of woman, yet it is shaken -within me, Jason, because of that little life Maia now holds in her -arms." - -"Nay--fear not." Jason drew her to him and told her his plan to gain -delay while perfecting his other plans. "Azil gave not the spirit of -our son to us, beloved, to be set free in Bel's unclean arms." - -"Zitu grant it." Naia glanced about the barren chamber. "Forgive me my -weakness, Jason. If delay seems best to you, I shall endure it, so you -come to me frequently to tell me of all of your progress." - -"Aye." Croft's soul rebelled at the thought of her durance in such -quarters, though there seemed nothing else for it. Still the thing -hardened his purpose, drove one more argument nail-like into the -determination forming in his mind. "Here we may meet in safety since -Helmor himself denies all access to you. And I shall visit earth, -beloved, ere I come to thee again." - -"Earth?" Naia's glance flamed with quick understanding. - -"Aye." For a moment man and woman looked into one another's eyes, -sensing those things as yet in the dark womb of the future, before -Croft concluded his answer with a grim assurance. "And when I return, -unless our good friend has failed in his efforts, strange things shall -come once more out of Aphur, and even as Naia of Aphur warned them in a -prophecy of horror, Helmor and Bandhor's shameless sister shall call on -their impotent god in vain." - -"Zitu!" Naia's astral form lighted with comprehension of his meaning. -"Now are you Mouthpiece of Zitu again wholly." - -Behind them the blue girl of Mazzeria still crooned to the child which -she was holding in her arms. - - * * * * * - -These things Croft told me on the night he kept his promise to visit -me again. From Berla he went to Himyra first, speaking with Gaya and -Robur, directing the latter to mobilize the workmen who had labored on -the airplanes, before the Mazzerian war. Croft also visited the motur -shops and gave command for the immediate inception of work on engines -of a somewhat more powerful design than any used on Palos heretofore. - -Robur accompanied him on his rounds, his lips set, his dark eyes -flashing as he listened to Croft's directions concerning his as yet, to -Rob, not fully understood plans, his admonitions for the production of -a certain quality of cloth, the mixing of vast quantities of what was -in reality little more than a rubberized paint. But at least here was -work to hand in plenty--and work that spoke of more work to follow, to -the Aphurian's mind. - -Furthermore, Croft requested that he see what airplanes were already -constructed, thoroughly overhauled, as part of the preparation for -Koryphu's mission into the mountains north of Cathur. And that part of -his intentions he explained. - -"They follow a course of deception already, Rob, and two may play at -the game. Much must be done ere we attempt a rescue, and toward the -doing we must needs gain time. Wherefore since to the minds of Helmor -and Kalamita it is unknown that I am forewarned of their intent to hold -Naia in Berla, rather than in the place of which by Bathos she sent me -word, it appears best to me that we make it seem we are deceived. These -planes shall mount the air from Cathur, therefore, and fly above the -mountains in advance of Koryphu's party, as though seeking for some -place of concealment, wherein her captives may lie hid. Thus we shall -help Kalamita play her part to her mind at least, and perchance throw -at least some dust in Zollaria's eyes." - -Robur nodded. "I sense your plan, Jason," he agreed. "Yet I have taken -thought that a plane may fall, and that it is the secret of the moturs -which Zollaria wishes in part to gain. How then if disaster comes upon -one of your men? Would it not in so much weaken Tamarizia's hand?" - -Croft smiled rather grimly. "Aye, Rob. The point were well taken, nor -has it escaped my mind. To such an end each flier must be provided with -a device by which his motur may under such conditions be destroyed, and -with orders to burn his machine, escaping thereafter by the aid of the -other planes on duty with him, or in any way he can." - -Once more Robur nodded. - -"Aye," said he, "you think of all things. And this other device toward -the forming of which you are preparing?" - -"Nay," Jason replied. "It depends upon my visit to earth, after which I -hope to give you plans and figures." - -"Zitu grant you be successful," said the Governor of Aphur. "You will -seek this knowledge when?" - -"Tonight," Jason told him; "after which Scira must be visited and the -consent of Koryphu to head the party to this meeting with Kalamita -gained. She will lose small time in hastening to it, hoping to add -another prisoner to her number, despite the fact that Helmor has -altered her plans." - -"Aye, and were swift moturs or an airplane to descend upon her lodge -after Koryphu has reached it, it might be that Tamarizia would have -a prisoner to exchange with Zollaria without a longer waiting," Robur -growled, and laid a tense hand on the hilt of his sword. - -Croft eyed him for a moment of heavy silence. - -"That, too, have I thought of, Aphur, yet though we match craft with -craft and violence with violence, if the need arises, let none say that -Zitu's Mouthpiece counseled the violation of an embassy's seeming or -used it as a mask to another purpose than that to which it sets forth." - -"But--if this Zollarian plans to trick you into her hands by such a -meeting?" Robur flushed a trifle under the implied rebuke of Croft's -words. - -"Nay, she will fail," said Jason. "Yet think not, meaning to seize -me if so it falls out according to her wishes, she will come to that -place so poorly guarded that an attempt to make her captive would -result in aught save a clash of arms. Wherefore let her fail of her -aim and return to Berla the next time with empty hands. How stands -Zollaria then, save to deal direct with Zitra, which shall quibble with -her--neither accepting nor refusing, appointing a place perhaps for -a more representative meeting, while you and I, Rob, labor over our -designs?" - -"I have talked with Zitra by means of the message tower you have placed -in Himyra and upon Zitra's walls," Robur replied. "Jadgor, my father, -stands ready to aid you in whatsoever way he can, and the spirit of -Lakkon writhes with thoughts of his daughter. May I say to them those -things with which you have made me acquainted?" - -"Aye," Croft assented. "Say also that Naia sends a greeting to her -father, and that at present she lies safe from harm. Come, let us -return to the palace since things are now arranged." - -Robur nodded. They entered his motur and drove back toward the red -court, and the residential wing of the Aphurian government buildings, -side by side, as they had on many another occasion when they labored -together in Himyra's shops. - -And that night it was Croft made his promised visit to me to discover -what I had learned concerning the thing on which more than anything -else Naia's rescue appeared to depend. - -I was ready for him. I had not delayed in instituting my efforts at -gaining the knowledge the use of which I had suggested, and I had been -fortunate indeed. I had found the man I wanted almost at once--one who -had served his country well in the chemical arm of the service, and -was therefore qualified to give me the information of which I stood -in need. My greatest difficulty had been in convincing him that I -desired the knowledge for no improper use, but in the end I surmounted -the task. And that night after Jason had roused me to his presence I -recited the formula to him, and he cried out: - -"Zitu! Murray, the thing can be accomplished! Palos holds all that will -be required." - - * * * * * - -Considering the stage of life on the other planet, that was a -self-evident fact, but I knew he meant more than that. Before the -Mazzerian war he had established a laboratory at Himyra in which he and -Naia had gone more or less fully into chemical matters, and I felt he -was fully assured concerning the things of which he spoke. - -"Good," I said, "then you can make it?" - -His thought waves beat back at me in a very passion of conviction. -"Yes, and we'll carry it to them in something like your earth-born -blimps--isn't that what you told me you called them when I was here in -your institution as a patient?" - -"Blimps--dirigibles, you mean?" I questioned. - -"Yes," he said. "That's what I've been considering making, though I -haven't told Rob about it yet. They'll be far more stable for the -purpose than planes." - -"Why, yes," I agreed. "Croft, it's a rather peculiar thing, but before -the armistice was signed in Europe each side was planning to blot out -the major cities of the opposing nations beneath a fiery rain." - -For that was the thing I had proposed to Jason, and the secret for -the production of the unquenchable liquid fire which could be stored -and carried, and sprayed in a rain of death upon those against whom -it was used, was the thing I had gained from Captain Gaylor, formerly -connected with the department of gas and flame. - -Horrible--well, yes, but surely subtly suited to Croft's needs for use -against the nation which, enraged by the defeat of its former plans -for aggrandizement at the expense of the country he served, had struck -against the most sacred, the highest and holiest interests of his -life--seeking in such fashion, rather than by any legitimate method, -to finally effect their aims--a nation, a representative of which I -myself had heard in the spirit at least vow that, unless those aims -were thereby accomplished, an innocent child should be sacrificed to a -savage deity by fire. - -Yet because of Kalamita's oath and Helmor's agreement, a move to -exercise force in her rescue would be equally fatal, unless--well, -unless it was a force that could strike silently and swiftly--a -force in the nature of a total and terrifying surprise. And surely -the blimps--the dirigible balloons Croft suggested, equipped with -a flame-spraying device and plenty of liquid fire, might well -prove a terrifying, a paralyzing spectacle to even Helmor's and -Kalamita's eyes. Paralyzing not only to the body, but to the brain -itself--warranted to make simple any bargain which would preserve -themselves and Berla from a blazing rain of death. - -His whole astral presence glowed with the intensity of his emotions, -the deadly determination by which he was stirred. For the first time -I realized fully how he had won Naia against all opposition, and had -carried all before him in Palos after he gained existence on the planet -in the flesh. No ordinary mind could stand against such concentrated -mental force. - -"By Zitu," I cried, "I believe you!" I felt a quiver shake me. It was -as though already the doom of Helmor's plans and Kalamita's vengeance -was sealed. "Croft," I questioned, "you know the general nature of -these blimps?" - -"Aye," he nodded. "But if you have any suggestions, Murray--" - -"Well," I said, "Captain Gaylor gave me the general plan in describing -how the stuff you're going to demonstrate to Helmor was to be -carried--as well as a description of the fire bombs they meant to carry -aboard their planes. You know just before the armistice, Jason, there -was talk of a new deadlier gas. In reality it wasn't gas at all, but -this stuff of which I've told you. The gas talk was just a mask." - -"Go on--tell me, Murray," he prompted tensely. "Give me all you can to -begin with, though if I get stuck I'll be back again, of course." - -"Of course," I said, and told him all I knew myself, while he drank -in my descriptions, storing them in his mind for future use, his -expression firing now and then as he pictured the creation of the -monster envelopes, the suspended cars, the motive power by which they -should be flown across the Central Sea and Mazhur, to hang a sudden -embodiment of Tamarizia's answer, above Berla, freighted with their -deadly stores. - -"Murray," he exclaimed when I had finished, "Naia of Aphur, and Jason, -Son of Jason, will owe you their salvation." - -I couldn't answer, and I didn't try. I said instead, "The thing seems -plausible to me, Croft." - -"Plausible," he repeated. "It shall be accomplished. Now, Koryphu may -start upon his mission, while every shop and forge in Himyra roars." - -I asked a question. "By the way, how does the populace cotton to this -fresh Zollarian move?" - -"They don't know it yet, old fellow." He gave me a glance. "You know, -Murray, Tamarizia, even yet, isn't earth. There's only the wireless -between Himyra and Zitra, and a telegraph across the Gateway to Scira -in Cathur--but in view of what's going to happen in Himyra almost at -once--the preparations, I mean--I think I'll tell them, and suggest -that in Zitra the masses be informed by Zud--that Zollaria has struck -at the Mouthpiece of Zitu in order to coerce the nation. It won't do -any harm to have the sympathy of the populace behind us in this." - -"Nor in Scira," I said. "Cathur hasn't forgotten how nearly she was -enslaved, I imagine--or that her fate would have been the same as -Mazhur's for fifty years, if it had not been for the Mouthpiece of -Zitu's intervention in hers and Tamarizia's behalf. And see here, -Croft--if you've a telegraph up there, why don't you send Koryphu a -message instead of going after him yourself? You've enough to tend to -in the matter of the blimps without trapesing about." - - * * * * * - -He smiled for the first time. "It might do here, but not on Palos, -Murray. They're great for delegations, personal representation--the old -ways. You can't change them all at once. But--it won't do any harm to -announce my coming or its reason, or that the Mouthpiece of Zitu comes -in person to the house of Koryphu. That in itself might even serve -in preparing the mind of Cathur's prince for the proposition I shall -make him once I arrive. According to Palosian standards, Murray, even -though it sounds bald for me to say so, such an occasion should be an -important event in Koryphu's life." - -"Yes," I agree and nodded. More and more it impressed me that Croft's -mind was working again in its normal fashion, now he had actually -decided on a definite course. "Being honored by a visit from the -Mouthpiece of Zitu, publicly announced in connection with Zollaria's -action, ought to impress him favorably, I guess. His fellow citizens -can scarcely fail to draw the connection, and besides it will give him -a chance to put a spoke in Kalamita's wheel, perhaps--at least to meet -the woman who brought disgrace and death upon his brother face to face. -If he's human, Jason, he'll accept." - -"He's human enough," said Croft. "Murray, I actually feel as though I -were facing some positive action at last. It's a relief. Ever since -this thing happened I've been in an even worse state than I was after -I'd seen Naia first--and before I'd managed to acquire a physical -life on Palos. There was a barrier between us then that seemed -insurmountable, as you know, and yet I knew her, the one woman, in -all the teeming multitudes of feminine spirits I had ever longed to -know. I--I knew her--mine. And now there's another barrier between us, -scarcely less fatal, though of a different kind." - -"But--you overcame the first, and--" - -"I'll overcome the second," he interrupted in a flash. "I get your -meaning, and I'll do it. Zitu, what did I not overcome to reach her in -the first place! But I reached her, and I'll reach her again." - -I didn't doubt it. Again I felt to its full the driving power in -the will of Jason Croft. And at last the man was aroused--at last -he had become less man, torn and harried by the loss of his dearest -possessions, than an intelligent fighting force. Or so he impressed -me as he sat there in the astral body, while his physical form lay -billions of miles beyond us both, in Himyra, at Robur's house. - -"Aye, you'll reach her," I said, and looked him in the eyes. "You'll -reach her, Croft, and Naia and Jason, Son of Jason, will come back to -Aphur and to Jason's house." - -"Aye, by Zitu! Murray, your words fire me. I go to make them true, and -Zitu guard you!" - -He vanished, leaving me to open my bodily eyes. - -Darkness met them. There was naught but the night in the room. Yet I -had seen Jason's figure plainly while we conversed, and I did not doubt -he had been able to equally perceive mine. What, then, was the answer? -Was there no darkness to the spirit, even as between Palos and earth -outside of the atmospheric envelope there was no time? Was the riddle -held in that? Was there no such thing as darkness, concealment to the -understanding mind? - -Was it only the objective eye for which light was a necessity toward -making the truths of creation plain? Was it only the physical ear that -required the vibration of sound? Were time, light, sound, touch, but -material things? Was rhythm the basic principle of soul existence as -expressed in mind? Certainly Croft and I conversed as easily by thought -transference, a variant of astral vibration, as in the body we would -have used spoken words. What, then? Were life, consciousness, rhythm, -all, but expressions of a universal force--existing already bridgelike -between God's far-flung worlds? - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - PREPARING THE PEOPLE - - -Croft went not to Himyra, however, as I fancied, but to Zitra, after he -left me, and the sleeping apartment of Zud, taking his stand close to -where the high priest lay wrapped in slumber on a copper couch. - -"Zud! Zud! Man of Zitu!" he let the call of his spirit steal forth. -Once in a past time he had taught the high priest something of the -astral body, finding it necessary to his purpose then to convince him -of the truth. And he had told him that when he should call him in the -future he would answer. - -"My lord," he muttered. "Aye--my lord." - -"Spirit of Zud--come forth!" - -Zud of Zitra's body relaxed. His spirit obeyed. Mistlike it hovered -above his physical form. - -"My lord," it faltered again. - -"Peace," said Croft. "Ye have answered me, Zud, in such wise. Give -ear and obey me in the flesh, when dawn comes again to the world. I, -Mouthpiece, say unto thee this: - -"Word of the abduction of Naia, wife of Jason, and of Jason, Son of -Jason, shall be noised abroad. Be it said that Zollaria, envious of -Tamarizia's progress, has seized them and borne them into her country, -holding them ransom to her demands against this nation, under penalty -of death to Jason's son. - -"Let it be understood. Let Zud himself sponsor the announcement, -first going to Jadgor's palace and saying to Jadgor that Jason, the -Mouthpiece of Zitu, gives the word. - -"Say also to Jadgor that Jason requires him to send, from the tower on -Zitra's walls, word to Mutlos, Governor of Cathur, requesting him to -see that word is spread in Scira--also that Jason himself shall not -come to Scira to hold speech with Koryphu on the matter--and that he -notify Scythys' younger son. Let this be done by command of Jadgor. The -message being received from him in Himyra will be forwarded to Scira at -once." - -"Aye, Mouthpiece of Zitu," Zud made answer. "Once ere this have ye -appeared in such guise before me, and I obeyed thee. Even so shall I -obey you now. These things shall be done." - -"Yet counsel the people to remain calm in the announcement," Jason -said. "Zitu's Mouthpiece desires no more than their sympathy in this." - -"But the woman--my lord has word of her and the infant?" the high -priest questioned. - -"Aye," Croft told him. "As Zud knows, I may meet with her in the spirit -even as with Zud himself." - -"Aye"--Zud inclined his astral head--"that Zud no longer doubts, since -within his knowledge it is proved." - -"Say also to Jadgor that Jason goes to Himyra to labor in the flesh -with Robur, son of Jadgor," Croft continued. "Now return to thy body -and finish thy slumbers, man of Zitu. Yet, waking, see that in all -things my counsel is obeyed." - -"Aye, Zud obeys on waking," the high priest promised. - -"In Zitu's name," said Croft, and with that he left. - -Dawn was breaking over Zitra as he emerged from the pyramid and made -his way swiftly north. - -Dawn was breaking over Berla when he reached it. It struck him through -a tiny orifice for ventilation high in the wall, and fell in a golden -shaft of light across the dungeon in which Naia of Aphur prayed to Ga, -Mother of Life Eternal, for aid. - -Then as she moved and rose from her knees, he called her, as always: - -"Beloved." - -Naia of Aphur heard, and smiled. Seating herself beside the child, she -let the soul of her womanhood steal forth. - -"Jason, Jason," she cried, the flame of life within her swiftly glowing -with the meaning of his presence, "you come to me with the dawn, from -whence, my dear one?" - -And Jason Croft answered her simply, "From earth." - -"And?" She stood before him--searching his soul for some hint of those -things he had brought within it. "Jason--" - -Croft replied to that appeal in almost cryptic fashion, yet knowing she -would understand. "True, woman who prays to Ga for courage, it is a new -dawn for us indeed." - -"Praise Zitu." She wavered toward him. For a moment it was as though -their two beings blended, lost each itself in the other, became one. -And then Naia lifted a face exalted by a new hope. "Yet not so much -for myself do I praise him, beloved, as for the little one. Knowledge -waited you then when you arrived?" - -"Knowledge," said Croft, still holding her to him. "Aye, knowledge -enough to make Zollaria a waste of scorching bones, a burned-out world, -if so by I may hold not only thy spirit but thy body again in my arms." - -Naia's astral being quivered; she lifted her eyes to the fading spot of -sunlight. "Then," said she in a whisper of understanding, "this dawn on -which I lifted my woman's cry to Ga is a new dawn for us indeed--and -once more courage fills my being. Go, beloved--hasten that other day -which shall bring me again to thee. The past sun Kalamita departed for, -as she hopes, a meeting with you. She and the giant who attends her, -Gor by name, came, ere she left, to this chamber, asking what message I -would send to the Mouthpiece of Zitu." - -"And Naia of Aphur told her what?" Croft questioned, looking into the -eyes beneath his. - -"To tell you when she met you that Naia loved both Tamarizia and thee." - -"And what said Zollaria's magnet to such a message?" Jason asked. - -Naia of Aphur smiled as she answered. "Nay--she seemed not overly well -pleased with it. She bade Gor strip my signet ring from my finger. Be -warned against any message wherein it may be used as a seeming proof of -word from me." - -"Aye," said Jason, scowling at this fresh proof of duplicity in -Zollaria's dealing; "such trickery shall gain them nothing." - -Naia nodded. "Yet I think I puzzled her somewhat, since I myself took -the ring from my hand ere Gor could touch me, and gave it to him, -knowing full well I could explain when next we spoke together, and -liking not the thought of his hands upon me--or the touch of any man -save only Lakkon and thee." - -Croft bent his lips to those below them, thinking even in that instant -that Kalamita had gained small satisfaction thus far in her meetings -with Naia of Aphur, and asking himself what use the Zollarian siren -might mean to make of the ring--a bit of purple stone into which was -cut the ideographic symbol of Naia's name. - -"Kalamita plays an impossible game," he said, "since, thanks to our -ability thus to speak together, her moves and even her intent is known. -Be of good courage, therefore, beloved. I go now to Himyra to prepare -against the day when in truth you shall feel _my_ touch again." - -The waters of the Central Sea were a golden ripple in the early -sunshine, as he sped back then to Himyra and opened the eyes of his -body to Robur's wing of the palace and sat up on his couch. - - * * * * * - -Throughout the next day Jason and Robur passed from one place to -another, calling the captains, whom Croft himself had trained, before -them, explaining, issuing their orders, bidding them put night shifts -to work upon the task--giving here the commands for the forging of -copper beams and trusses--there the design for huge tanks in which the -death-dealing liquid fire would be stored. - -Late in the afternoon, bulletins struck off Jason's presses appeared -posted on the corners--flaunting the news of Zollaria's latest move -before the people's eyes. Those who could read gathered about them and -translated the message of ink and paper to their less erudite fellows. -Inside an hour Himyra was howling with anger and amaze. - -Leaving the metal foundry, where they had been giving orders for the -making of the fire-containing tanks, Croft and Robur found their motur -all but mobbed by a wildly inflamed crowd. The caution for a quiet -acceptance included in the bulletins was temporarily ignored. Naia -of Aphur, the beauty of the state, was captive. The Mouthpiece of -Zitu--the strong man who had twice brought the northern nation's plans -to disaster--was robbed of wife and child. - -"To Zollaria! To Berla! Seize and punish! Death to the spawn of -Zitemku--the torturers of women and children!" the populace howled. - -Corner orators appeared and harangued their fellows, giving way as -Robur's car approached with the sun flag of Aphur flapping above it, to -point toward Jason, and shriek that here was the Mouthpiece himself. - -Time after time Croft was forced to rise and address the seething -press of men and women that blocked the thoroughfare, begging them to -give him passage on an errand connected with the safety of Naia and -Jason--counseling a quiet demeanor--asking the sympathy and support of -the men of Aphur in his endeavors to meet the situation--suggesting -that any move of a violent nature would hinder rather than help him -in the present instance--promising action--declaring that in order to -keep spies from Himyra all vessels mounting the Na would be searched by -Aphurian guardsmen, and that all strangers would be stopped at Himyra's -walls. - -Time and again Robur rose to stand beside him in the motur. "Zitu's -Mouthpiece has spoken. Aphur hears and obeys. Give way. The Mouthpiece -goes to Scira to organize a mission!" he roared. - -"To what end?" a strong voice questioned on one such occasion. Despite -their royal caste, the Tamarizians were a democratic nation. - -"To meet an emissary of the northern nation," Robur replied. - -"Then let the mission be one of the sword." - -"Nay. Not so says the Mouthpiece of Zitu, who plans already a different -measure," Aphur's governor answered. - -"Silence. Give ear to the Mouthpiece of Zitu!" yelled the crowd. "Make -way--he desires a passage! Make way! He goes to Scira." - -The press opened, making a free way. The motur moved forward. "They -are with you," said Robur, speeding the car toward the gates of Himyra -according to their plans to visit the airplane hangars beyond the walls. - -"Aye." Croft nodded. That quickly up-flaring spontaneous anger and rage -of Himyra's population acted as a subtle tonic to his spirit, set his -heart to beating faster, woke a strange fire of unfaltering purpose in -his eyes. - -At the hangars he explained the situation and called for volunteers -from among the fliers to cross the Gateway and land of Scira, later -taking up the deceptive patrol above the mountains north of the -Cathurian border he had already planned. - -They heard him and stepped forward in a body. Not one man held back. -They pressed close before him with eager faces. Again his heart was -warmed. He had organized their force. By himself and Naia most of them -had been trained. Nominally at least he was their commander-in-chief. -They were the pick of Tamarizian manhood--as eager to dare the venture -as restrained hounds on a leash. - -He selected a half dozen quickly, telling them they must destroy both -moturs and planes if disaster overtook them and forced a landing on -Zollarian terrain, explaining that Robur would see them equipped with -small grenades by which the moturs could be blown to atoms. - -Their faces stiffened a trifle, but they did not falter. - -"Aye--they shall not have them," they made answer. - -"By Zitu," Jason prompted. - -"By Zitu," they returned. - -Croft saluted them flat-handed. "It is an oath," he said. "To break it -were treason to the nation. In four days you will descend at Scira. -Look to your machines." - -Back in the motur he found his pulses leaping to the spur of action -and the _ésprit du corps_ among the fliers he had seen. They were men, -men--their number would furnish him others--to man the blimps and urge -them over Berla--if need be, to blot out the Zollarian city beneath a -fiery rain. - -"Tonight, Rob, I give you many plans and dimensions," he told Robur, -breaking the silence of his introspection. "That done, I board Jadgor's -galley for Scira. Till I return, the work lies in your hands." - - * * * * * - -All Scira was _en fête_, or seemed so, though there was a strange -sullenness about her crowds, despite the flags, the banners that decked -the houses and lined the streets, and flew above her blue walls. - -The Mouthpiece of Zitu was coming from Aphur on a mission, and the city -was adorned to greet him by the orders of Mutlos, Governor of Cathur -himself. The throngs which waited his coming, to welcome him, and -escort him to the house of Koryphu, where the sun-rayed banner of Aphur -hung beside that of Cathur in the almost breathless air, wore their -brightest garments. But his mission forbade holiday spirits in the -minds of the crowd. - -True, vendors of sweetmeats and light wines in tabur hide sacks slung -on sinewy, naked shoulders, passed among them, jugglers and acrobats -performed their tricks and feats of strength on mats spread on the -pavement. But that was merely the seeking of profit on the part of -those who plied their various trades. It had naught to do with the -kidnapping of Naia, wife of the Mouthpiece, her carrying into the -neighboring nation which had twice endeavored to capture the northern -pillar of the Gateway--once over fifty years before, and again at a -more recent date. - -"Wherefore, Koryphu, the man with whom the Mouthpiece would lie as -guest in Scira, was no longer of unimportance in Cathur. Why Koryphu -in this hour?" the people asked. And possibly Koryphu asked himself as -he prepared to welcome his guests, "Why the honor of the Mouthpiece of -Zitu's presence in this time of his bereavement?" When a messenger from -Mutlos had come and told him of it, he had gasped. - -What was the purpose of the man to whom all Tamarizia looked as little -less than a demigod in his knowledge, in visiting Koryphu, who had -pored over tablets and scrolls in a semiseclusion ever since the -disgrace Kyphallos, son of Scythys, now happily dead, had brought upon -Cathur's royal house? - -Be that as it may, he prepared his residence for the occasion and on -the day of the expected arrival of Jason Croft donned his bravest -apparel and waited to welcome his guest. - -Yet it was mid-afternoon before Jadgor's galley, bearing the standard -of Zitra--the circle and cross--appeared and bore down on Scira's walls. - -The giant sea-doors swung open, admitting her to the harbor, and closed -again when she had passed. Breaking forth Cathur's flag, she advanced -across the inner harbor and swung to a mooring. A band of trumpeters -ruffled forth from the quay, where Mutlos waited. The gangway was -thrust forth, and the Mouthpiece of Zitu, walking alone and unattended, -appeared. - -"Hail, Mouthpiece of Zitu!" the assembled populace roared. - -Mutlos advanced. The two men struck hands on shoulders, and joined -their palms in a moment's clasp. Side by side they entered Mutlos's -motur. The trumpeters fell in before them, breaking a pathway through -the crowds. - -So came Jason to Scira once more, somber of mien, yet steady-eyed. - -"My sympathy as a man I give thee, Advisor of Tamarizia," Mutlos said -as the car began to move. "My assistance and that of Cathur I pledge -you an' it be needed. This thing passes all endurance. Say but the -word and Cathur will gather her swords." - -"Nay," Jason replied slowly. "Thy sympathy, Cathur, warms the heart of -the man. But the time of rescue has not arrived. Armed interference at -present were ill-advised, since Zollaria fears it, and should it be -attempted, thinks to offer my son to Bel a sacrifice." - -"Zitu!" Mutlos gasped. "What then, O Mouthpiece? Where lies a chance of -rescue? Zollaria makes demands of ransom?" - -"Aye--or will. Even now one approaches a rendezvous in the mountains -north of Cathur to meet with an agent of ours. It is because of that I -am here." - -"To arrange a mission to this meeting?" Mutlos said with ready -understanding. - -"Aye. Zollaria sends Kalamita of ill-fame to Cathur as her agent. -Tamarizia, with the knowledge of Cathur and his own consent if it is -forthcoming, sends Scythys' son." - -"Now, by Zitu!" Admiration waked in Mutlos's eyes. "'Tis well thought -of--to face that tawny enchantress, this creature of Adita, by one in -whose heart must burn hot hate against her. Guardsmen I place at your -disposal and his. My palace lies open to you, and you will honor it -with your presence--or plan you to lodge in Koryphu's house?" - -"With Koryphu this night at least," said Jason. "Yet with Mutlos things -must be discussed ere the mission fares forth. Hence at the palace -on the night succeeding the sun after this. I accept the offer of -guardsmen gladly. A score will be enough." - -"They will be forthcoming," Mutlos promised, and spoke to his driver. -"To Koryphu's house." - -Up to the door of the lesser palace stalked Jason alone, once he had -descended from the motur. - -But Koryphu had marked his coming, and the door slid open before him. - -"Hail to thee, Tamarizia, in the person of Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu," -Koryphu exclaimed and drew back a pace before him, that he might enter -under the eyes of the watching crowd. - -His eyes were a trifle bright with excitement, his features a bit -flushed with unwonted color at this sudden prominence thrust upon -him--wherein the governor's car, with the governor in it, set down so -distinguished a guest at his doors. - -"My lord," he said once the portal was closed, shutting them in -together after Mutlos had risen in his motur and bowed and he had -returned the salutation. "My lord!" - -"Greetings to you, Koryphu, son of Scythys," Croft responded. "Behold -in me not so much anything as a man bereft and sorely troubled by his -loss--one who comes to you thus in a time of trouble to ask you to lend -him aid." - -Koryphu's eyes widened swiftly. "But, by Zitu--in what can one of -fallen fortunes aid you, Mouthpiece of Zitu?" he questioned in -uncertain fashion. - -"It is of that we must speak together, Prince of Cathur," Croft replied. - -"Come then." Koryphu turned and led the way across a court done in blue -and crystal, surrounded by a balcony of blue and white to a room at the -farther end--the same room in which Jason at the time of his astral -visit to him had seen him bending over his tablets and scrolls--his -study--the room in which more than any other Koryphu spent his life. - - * * * * * - -"Be seated, lord," he invited, indicating a redwood chair and taking -his place in another drawn close to a table of copper, littered with -numerous scrolls. "Loss is not unknown to Scythys' son, nor the feeling -of it. Yet never, praise be to Zitu and Azil, has he lost either wife -or child. Wherefore, only in the mind may he conceive faintly of thy -sense of loss, and therein share thy grief with thee. Speak--Koryphu -lends his ear to thy voice." - -Jason explained--going at some length into past events--advising the -Cathurian of the meeting to be held in the mountains, declaring it of -vital importance to establish negotiations with Zollaria as quickly -and protract them in indefinite fashion, in his estimation, proffering -Koryphu the leadership of the first embassy at last. - -"I--Koryphu!" The Cathurian noble stammered, his breathing a trifle -quickened, his nostrils a trifle tightened. "Zitu's Mouthpiece chooses -me for such an errand as this?" - -"Aye." Croft inclined his head, watching the man before him. "Koryphu -the Tamarizian." - -"Tamarizian!" Koryphu repeated and paused and went on again in a -somewhat bitter fashion. "But why Koryphu--why the son of a discredited -house? Why not another, whose loyalty none could question?" - -His eyes narrowed slightly and he clenched a hand. - -Croft looked him full in the face. In it he saw how deeply his -brother's action had affected this man--how the loss of confidence, the -lack of support by the people of Cathur, as shown by his overwhelming -defeat in the last elections, had rankled without expression in his -mind. The thing looked back at him a smoldering fire from between -Koryphu's lids. It had quivered in his voice. - -"Because," said he, "who heads this mission, will meet Kalamita of -Zollaria in the north." - -"Kalamita!" Koryphu stiffened. Suddenly his body stirred, he half rose -in his chair and sank back, well-nigh gasping. "That--foul sepulchre -of dead loves and unholy emotions--that stench in the nostrils of true -men, and blot on the name of women. Say you she comes herself to this -meeting?" - -"Aye," said Jason Croft. "Wherefore, there appears no better agent in -all Tamarizia to meet her when she comes to trap me also as she hopes, -seeing she had bidden me to this conference in person, than one who -loves her not nor is apt to fall captive to her shameless graces--than -Koryphu Tamarizian first, and son of Cathur, and loyal in his heart to -both, as I believe." - -"Thou believest?" Koryphu questioned with an eagerness almost pathetic. - -"Aye. Else were I not sitting in his house." - -For a moment silence came down, save for Koryphu's audible breathing. -For a moment his eyes flamed with a sudden light, and then he turned -them away since, in the code of Tamarizian manhood, there was little -room for tears. Then he rose. - -"Zitu!" he broke forth hoarsely and lifted his arms. "Father of -life--hast then given ear in such fashion to my prayers? Is the time of -penance ended? Am I again to step forth proudly among men as among my -peers? Is it so your Mouthpiece brings this labor to me--placing upon -my shoulders a task that through it I may prove my love of nation, tear -to ribbons the garment of sorrow in which I have been clothed? If so, -I thank thee, Zitu." - -He sank down again, dropping his head upon his folded arms on the table. - -For a time Croft watched him, elation and sympathy blended in his -regard. Here was his agent ready. There was small doubt Koryphu would -accept the chance to prove he had been misjudged as blood brother to -Kyphallos. The mere thought of what the opportunity offered had left -him too deeply moved. - -"Nay, Koryphu," he said presently as the Cathurian kept his face hidden -while his shoulders heaved. "None questioned thy loyalty really. Half -thy worry was of your own conceiving. Few spake illy of thee. Men -deemed rather you had taken for comfort to your tablets and scrolls. By -Jadgor and Robur of Aphur, my choice of thee is approved." - -"Hai! Jadgor--Robur! Say you so?" Koryphu lifted his head. "Perchance -thou art right," he went on more calmly. "Perchance I have brooded over -much. Yet comes this now as the realization of dreams born in nights of -brooding, hopes formed in sorrow, and well-nigh dead." - -"You accept, then?" Croft questioned. - -"Accept. Aye, by Zitu--and I shall serve you loyally. Speak what you -wish, Mouthpiece of Zitu. What do I when I face this beauteous slayer -of men's souls--shall I slay her for you, watch for opportunity and -strike her dead? If so the life of Koryphu were a small price--" - -"_Hilka!_" Croft interrupted the man's hysterical outburst. "Hold now, -Koryphu of Cathur--Koryphu does naught save listen to her words. Think -you the death of their agent would help us--or render my dear ones -more safe--or that the dead body of Koryphu would bring to Tamarizia -more swiftly the demands Zollaria will make through her toward those -negotiations that shall follow? Nay, small danger lies in this mission -so that rather than inflamed with rage when he stands before her, -Koryphu appears but one come to return with her words." - -"Aye." Koryphu caught his breath quickly. "Yet owe her I a debt of -overlong standing." - -Croft nodded. "I deny it not. Let Koryphu's vengeance begin when she -sees me not of Tamarizia's party--and finds herself outplayed." - -"Thinks she the Mouthpiece of Zitu a fool to walk into her trap?" -Koryphu questioned. - -"She thinks me a husband and father, less well informed of her true -purpose than perchance I am," Croft replied. "It were well she be not -undeceived. Wherefore I send airplanes north before you--to fly above -the mountains as though seeking a place of concealment, that she may -not know I am aware Naia of Aphur lies in Berla, and fancy I think her -hidden in the mountains as in her message to me she said." - -Koryphu narrowed his eyes in appreciation of what was intended. "The -thought were well conceived. I do naught then save meet this Zollarian -and give ear to her terms of ransom?" - -"Naught else, save say that those terms will be brought to my ears and -the ears of the nation." - -"'Tis well," the Cathurian now accepted. "That shall I do, and naught -to endanger the success of the undertaking, because of my personal -affairs. When do I depart upon my mission?" - -"Presently," Jason told him. "Mutlos will furnish you a score of -guardsmen. You will go north after the airplanes have arrived." - -"Two alighted before Mutlos's palace this morning," Koryphu announced. -"They declared to the crowds they came by your orders, yet said nothing -further. Are there others?" - -"Six in all," said Jason, smiling, well pleased that his fliers had -lost no time. "Doubtless the others will arrive." - - * * * * * - -Dusk had fallen as they talked. A Mazzerian major domo with lighted -lamps appeared and set them in the metal sconces on the walls. Koryphu -rose. - -"A momentous day in the life of Koryphu," said he, "is drawing to a -close. Zitu's Mouthpiece will pardon, if he withdraws to the presence -of his wife to acquaint her with his decision and the changed fortune -of his house." - -"Aye," Jason assented, well enough pleased to let the man carry his -news to the ears of his family, and remain with his own thoughts for -the time. "Carry my greetings to her and say I wait her pleasure of a -meeting." - -Koryphu appeared slightly embarrassed. "We have lived much alone of -late, Hupor. You will dine with us or shall I have food sent to you?" - -"With you if it suits your convenience," Croft replied, forming a vivid -picture of the seclusion that held this house once second in the state -only to that of the king. - -Later he met Pala, a not uncomely woman, though showing the effects -of that self-same seclusion in face and manner, and her two children, -a daughter and a son, and reclined with them at their common -table--speaking of general topics with the two elders until the meal -was done. Once more back in Koryphu's study he went into the details -of the mission with him, finally arranging to go before Mutlos the -succeeding afternoon. Long before the oil-lamps had burned low in their -sconces the thing was done, and his conversation with Koryphu had -convinced him that in Naia's suggestion of the former prince, the right -man had been found. - -Passing from the study to the apartment set aside for his slumbers, the -two men intercepted Pala, speeding a parting guest, and she spoke to -her husband. - -"Laira, wife of Gazar--Koryphu. Thou hast not forgotten." - -"Nay." Koryphu bent before the matron in greeting. "Yet it is long -since I have given her salutation." - -For a moment the face of the caller regarded him almost blankly and -then she smiled. "Ah, but--old friends should not be forgotten." She -glanced at Jason. - -Koryphu made the introduction, and she sank to a knee before Zitu's -Mouthpiece. - -"Hupor, my obedience to thee. It came to my ear you were present in -Scira, and somewhat of the reason. Zitu uphold you in a troubled hour." - -"And spare them to you," said Jason, bowing. - -And yet when he stretched out on his couch and drew its silken -coverings about him, the thought came again as it had come while he -watched Laira rise, that life on Palos or earth was very much the same -thing, and those with friends were, after all, those on whom those in -power smiled. - -The next day he spent with Mutlos, arranging for Koryphu's departure -and explaining his purpose in the airplanes, the last of which arrived. -The evening passed in meeting many of the Cathurian officials, bidden -by Mutlos to the occasion and a feast at which Koryphu and Pala were -among the more prominent guests. No secret had been made of his -mission. In fact, word of it had been given out. - -For the time being Koryphu found himself again a person of -importance--one in whom Tamarizia herself had given evidence of faith. -Watching him under circumstances more or less trying to a man of -inferior metal, Croft found himself pleased by his demeanor--satisfied -that he would see the meeting with Kalamita carried off with what it -held of success. - -Well pleased then, he gave orders that the planes depart in the -morning, and that later Koryphu and his escort should leave for the -north. Taking tablets, he wrote rapidly a message to Kalamita, setting -forth the fact that the bearer was his representative in person, and -gave it to Koryphu after pressing his signet into the waxen surface -with instructions to place it in her hands. - -It was the last move. In so far as it could serve the meeting on which -Kalamita counted for far more than it was fated to bring her was -arranged. - -Stretching himself on the couch in the sumptuous chamber in Mutlos's -palace, to which he had been led, he freed his consciousness from -his body and went in search of the woman herself, to find her in the -midst of a wayside camp of Zollarian soldiery, asleep on the pads of -her gnuppa-drawn conveyance, beside which the giant Gor of the galley -mounted watch. - -Koryphu went north with the dawn, and Kalamita was hastening to meet -him. Satisfied, he left her in slumbrous ignorance of his presence and -visited Naia, telling her of the progress he was making, and how Robur -was stoking the furnaces of Himyra toward the creation of yet another -marvel, in the eyes of the population, until they flared red above the -red walls of the city in the night. - -In the morning he sent Robur a message announcing his departure, said -farewell to Mutlos and was driven to the quays and Jadgor's galley. -Going aboard he gave the order for sailing. The sea-doors were opened. -He passed through them, and turned the prow of the craft at his -disposal swiftly into the south. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - PTAR, PRIEST OF BEL - - -Koryphu of Cathur, under the banner of Tamarizia--with seven red and -white stripes and a blue field with seven stars--a thing designed by -Croft himself after the republic was established, fared north in a -gnuppa drawn conveyance with his escort of Cathurian guards. - -Kalamita and Zollaria came down from the north in a similar fashion, -but with a vastly heavier escort--strong enough as Croft had suggested -to Robur to avoid any chance of surprise. Croft sailed south, but -watched their progress each night, when he let his consciousness steal -forth. The airplanes sailed north and found themselves a landing place -as best they might, to which, after each day spent above the mountains -north of Cathur's border, they returned. - -Three days brought Jason to Himyra. Jadgor's galley was swift, indeed. -Each day he spent in the shops sometimes with Robur, sometimes without -him, when matters of state interfered, drafting designs with ruler -and calipers and stylus, supervising the makings of patterns, holding -consultations with his captains over the production of each part he -desired, calling for speed and more speed. - -It was the thing that obsessed him now that Koryphu was going north and -Kalamita was coming south--speed in the production of the only thing -that seemed to his straining mind fitted to meet his desperate need. -And a part of each night he spent in the laboratory he had fitted up -in Robur's own part of the palace, experimenting in the blending of -reagents, the making of the liquid fire. - -In Zitra, in Cathur and in Aphur, Tamarizia roared, and by degrees the -other states of the nation had the word of the last Zollarian outrage -and added their voices to the chorus of resentment and demand for some -retaliatory move. Croft had their sympathy and support in his plans of -rescue, unequivocally expressed. - -Meanwhile Robur took what steps he advised to safeguard the secret -of how that rescue was to be made. Guardsmen established a patrol on -the banks of the Na, with a port of search at its mouth, where all -ascending vessels were compelled to stop by watchful motur craft. Other -guards once more went aboard each ship at Himyra's gates, both north -and south. For the time being the red city came to be an armed camp, as -closely guarded from entry by unvouched for outsiders, as though in a -state of siege. - -And his labors ended, each night Croft stretched himself out on his -couch and closed his physical eyes and maintained weird observation of -events taking place in the north. - -Three days after his return to Himyra, Kalamita arrived at her hunting -lodge. Rather the thing was a small palace, built of native stone from -the mountains and massive beams of wood--its central court fur-lined, -its walls and floors covered with trophies of the chase--skins of the -woolly tabur, which ran wild as well as in domesticated herds. There -were skins of the ferocious tigerlike beast, such at the sculptured -group in Jason's mountain home portrayed as attacking the man who -sought to keep its ravening jaws from the body of a kneeling woman. - -And there the Zollarian magnet set herself down with her escort camped -about her to await the coming of the man she hoped would be drawn to -her out of the south. - -She sent her guards farther in that direction to meet and escort him. -Koryphu at the time was still distant some half-day's journey, and -Jason was assured it would be noon of the next day before the Cathurian -appeared. - -Wherefore he spent the succeeding morning in the shops and returned at -midday to the palace, retiring to his rooms after explaining to Robur -that he intended being present in the spirit at the meeting between -Kalamita and the Tamarizian agent, even if not in the flesh as the -woman desired. - -Robur nodded. "Zitu--that such things can be. Not that I doubt you, -Jason, but the matter never ceases to excite my wonder. Yet shall I -wait with impatience word of what occurs when she beholds Koryphu, -brother of Kyphallos, in your place." - -"She is apt to show displeasure," Jason told him, and he was thinking -as much--that the beautiful Zollarian was very apt to show marked -displeasure, covered perhaps as best it might be by a haughty -bearing--as he stretched himself out and closed his eyes. - -To the mountains north of Cathur. The Central Sea a-sparkle in the -sunlight fled away beneath him. Scira was passed and the many weary -stretches of winding road over which Koryphu had passed until he -found him, advancing with the Cathurian footmen ringed about him, the -Tamarizian flag a glorious standard above him, led by the Zollarian -guards. - -Swiftly then Jason willed himself into the hunting lodge where sat -Kalamita, dressed or undressed as one might prefer to express it, for -the occasion, in a huge chair draped with the black and tanhide of -some savage creature; Gor, her giant attendant by her side. - -Fire--the fire of delayed purpose burned in her tawny eyes--there was -the suppressed litheness of the predatory creature already scenting the -kill in her every movement, the tremor of suppressed emotion in her -words. - -"Thou understandest, Gor, that when this one comes before me, I shall -demand that we speak together alone. And I have given word to the -guardsmen that his men shall be surrounded and at a word from me, after -my purpose is accomplished, all save one be put to the sword. After a -time as we speak together I shall simulate anger at some word of his, -to the speaking of which I shall lead him by taunting speech, and then -fling thyself upon him and bind him. This is clear?" - -"Aye, mistress, Gor hears and obeys," said Gor, curling back his heavy -lips. - -Kalamita's breast rose and fell in a deep-caught breath. "See to it, -then. Let there be no mistake." - -"Nay, mistress--when has Gor failed thee--or to do thy bidding?" - -"None fail me save once," said Kalamita. "Enough." - - * * * * * - -Outside, a trumpet blew a ruffling blast. There followed a pause, and -then Cathur tricked out in his bravest armor, with the twin mountain -peaks of Cathur on it done in blue stones, appeared in the doorway of -the lodge between two Zollarian captains, and paused. - -"Cathur for Tamarizia seeks audience with Kalamita," the senior captain -announced. - -For a moment the face of the woman twitched with some sudden emotion -and then she replied, gripping the arm of her chair till her knuckles -whitened. "Let Cathur approach." - -The captains fell back and disappeared. Koryphu advanced. A single pace -before her he halted. - -"These tablets bring I from Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu to Tamarizia, to -Kalamita," he said, and placed Croft's message in her hand. - -She held them for a single instant, ere she hurled them to the floor. -Her lips twitched, hardened, her tawny eyes glared. - -Once more, as in Berla, she was faced by an unexpected element in her -plans. The thing on which she had counted to win her country's ends -at least--to glut her own thirst for revenge in a measure, was here in -the person of the man before her, withheld from her outstretched hand. -Inwardly she raged as any vengeful person may rage when the object of -their hatred escapes their vengeance--and doubly because, despite her -assurance, Helmor had foretold some such ending to the meeting she had -planned. - -But outwardly she strove for calm. "How are you called, man of Cathur, -who come to listen to my demands and carry them to this strong man, who -exerts not himself to come before me?" - -"Koryphu, brother of Kyphallos, woman of Zollaria," Koryphu replied in -a somewhat husky voice. - -Kalamita recoiled. Her body shrank back as from a blow, and then she -stiffened. - -"Koryphu!" she repeated, staring at him out of widened lids. "Now, in -Bel's name, what trickery is this that sends before me the weakling -student brother, at whom Kyphallos laughed?" - -"No trickery, Zollaria, lies in it, but rather purpose," Koryphu -returned, still more thickly, "in that Jason chose for his messenger -one who had sufficient knowledge of thee to assure his remaining -unmoved by your charms, no matter how shamelessly employed--one who -would hearken to your demands as regarding Naia of Aphur and Jason, Son -of Jason, yet give no ear to other words." - -Mentally Croft applauded even while physically Kalamita, the magnet, -gasped. - -"The Mouthpiece were a shrewd man," she said after a moment, "yet -might he have felt doubly assured in thy choice, had he considered thy -presence. Kalamita wastes not her wiles on aught less than a man. Did -he send also to guard thee, the things that fly over the mountains the -past two days?" - -"Nay," said Koryphu as one who considered his answer. "They but seek a -place of hiding, since Kalamita said her whose terms of ransom I come -to bear to him, would lie hidden in the mountains until such terms were -arranged." - -Kalamita smiled in crafty fashion, with a vulpine widening of the -crimson slit of her mouth. One would have said she was pleased by this -information. - -"As he wills," she said more lightly. "I might forbid it, but it -disturbs me not. He will not find the place, and endangers the terms -himself, since a part of my demands were gained already if one of his -devices falls. Even now my guardsmen lie in wait for such a happening -in the hills, since I had conceived his purpose, and foreseen wherein -it might be turned to my advantage." - -"Nay." Koryphu appeared unmoved by the information. "Let your guards -beware, since if one of them falls it will be destroyed. Does Kalamita -desire the secret of them for Zollaria or herself?" - -His lips relaxed slightly in an almost taunting fashion as he regarded -the woman before him out of steady, unwavering eyes. - -And again Croft applauded his choice of the man who was unveiling the -true state of affairs behind the present meeting, and yet leaving -Zollaria's agent at least in part deceived. For his words appeared to -flick her and she answered quickly: - -"Were it not the same, Kalamita being Zollarian, man of Cathur?" - -"Aye, perhaps," Koryphu assented. "If perchance the interests be the -same. It would seem then that as well as Kalamita's price to Jason, I -return to Tamarizia with Zollaria's demands." - -"And thy shoulders can support so vast a burden, Cathur--these terms I -warn you are not light." - -"I await them," Koryphu replied. - -"Then hear Kalamita's price for the pale-faced one and her suckling." -The woman leaned a trifle forward as she named them. "Mazhur must be -returned--the Gateway must be opened without let or hindrance. There -must be no tax exacted over Zollarian traffic on the Central Sea. There -must be surrendered with men to explain them the secrets of your moturs -and your air machines, and of all other devices born of the Mouthpiece -of Zitu's brain--the fire weapons, the balls that burst when thrown -amidst an enemy's forces. Name these things as the price of ransom to -your Mouthpiece when you return." - -"These seem heavy terms, indeed." Koryphu threw out his hands in -a helpless gesture. His face was pale, even though Croft in their -conversations had foreshadowed some such thing. "Were it not wiser -for Zollaria to ask less with a chance of obtaining somewhat than to -overshoot the mark by asking everything?" - -"Nay." Kalamita leaned back well pleased as it seemed by the man's -quite natural confusion on being given a message that spelled little -less than his country's ruin. - -"Nay, by Bel, Cathur--once there was a time when thy brother's plans -and mine went down in confusion when Tamarizia demanded and Zollaria -yielded. Now Zollaria speaks, and should Tamarizia not accept, or make -any move to resist her demands by force of arms, Naia of Aphur goes to -the mines with the blue men who labor in them and her puny offspring -into Bel's mighty arms a paltry sacrifice. So much herself the woman -understands--wherefore she sends this ring to Jason to plead as her own -voice that he hearken to Kalamita's words." - -Stripping a signet from her finger, she extended it upon her palm. - - * * * * * - -Koryphu's features were strained as he took the ring. "These things I -shall carry to Jason's ears. Does Kalamita await his answer?" - -"Nay--let Jason arrange the next meeting," said Kalamita. "I go to a -place he knows not of, despite his man-made birds and their spying. -Yet will a messenger on the highway north from Mazhur be met, and his -message accepted. So I shall arrange. Perhaps if he feel need, he may -employ one of these self-same flying devices." - -She broke off sharply as a commotion arose outside the lodge, then -turned to Gor. - -"Go learn the cause of this disturbance--" - -Gor stalked to the door, and paused. - -"Mistress, they come," he declared, and drew back as a group of -Zollarian guardsmen in charge of a captain entered, a man in leathern -jacket and helmet held captive in their midst. - -With a start Croft recognized one of his own fliers. Disaster--already -one of the planes had fallen, he thought, and heard the captain confirm -his fears. - -The man saluted with upflung arm. "Behold, princess, one whom we bring -before you--a Tamarizian dog--who fell with the device he rode like an -arrow-pierced bird from the skies." - -Kalamita's smile was coldly gloating as she regarded the captive, -young, slender, grimed by the smirching of his fall and the struggle -attending his capture, his leathern flying-suit torn, and gashed where -some Zollarian, overardent, had slit it with a spearhead. For a moment -she turned her regard on Koryphu as if to say here was her prediction -already verified, and back again to the man. - -"Well, Tamarizian, found you the hiding place you flew in search of?" -she sneered. - -"Nay." The youth stiffened. "'Tis not always easy, Zollarian, to -discover the hiding places of Zitemku's agents. Nor have we searched -over long." - -Kalamita's features hardened. She gave her attention to the captain. -"What of the machine?" - -"The machine, princess, was by this one destroyed ere we could prevent -it. It lies burst and ruined by flames." - -"So?" Rage lighted the woman's tawny eyes--once more she was baffled in -a purpose. "For that he dies." - -Under his grime and sweat, inside the circle of his helmet, the -aviator's face went pale, but he maintained his poise of body even as -Koryphu spoke quickly--"Princess of Zollaria, unsay those words." - -"Peace, brother of Kyphallos." Kalamita turned like a tigress on him. -"Who are you to interfere? Stand back and watch how Zollaria deals with -Tamarizian spies. Gor, take thy spear." - -Gor's lips curled back as he advanced slightly, lifted his heavy weapon -and poised it. - -Impotently Croft's spirit writhed as he gazed upon the scene--on -Kalamita, leaning forward in all her savage beauty, her sinuous body -panting, her nostrils flared, once more gripping the arms of her -chair with tightened fingers--at Koryphu, deadly pale because of the -contemplated outrage, at the figure of Gor, wonderful in its sheer -brute strength and proportion, set for the thrust on the word of -command, at the guardsmen, the captain, the figure of his flier, drawn -up now to its fullest stature, proudly erect in the face of death, and -knew himself powerless to intervene. - -And suddenly the aviator threw up his hand toward the other man of his -nation. "Hail, Cathur, Aphur salutes thee," his voice came strongly. -"Long life to Tamarizia. Say to Zitu's Mouthpiece that Robur--" - -"Slay!" Kalamita screamed. - -Gor's spear plunged home. - -"Carry off that carrion." The woman's arm rose, pointing at the body. - -The captain growled an order. The guardsmen lifted the limp form in its -suit of leather and bore it out on their spears. - -Kalamita swung her whole form lithely about to where Koryphu was -standing. "Say to Zitu's Mouthpiece that so we treat his spies." - -"Aye," he made answer gruffly. "Small doubt but I shall narrate to -Zitu's Mouthpiece many things." - -For a moment the eyes of man and woman met and plunged glances -lance-like one into the other, ere there rose again an outward -commotion, a burst of thunderous sound, which gave way in an instant to -groans and cries. - -Koryphu stiffened. Kalamita started to her feet, as the outcry -continued. Some of the flush of anger faded from her features, and then -Koryphu, turning, ran across the floor toward the doorway and outside -it. - -"The standard--the standard of Tamarizia, let it be unfurled," he -roared. - -Out of the sky came down a drumming from where an airplane sailed. -On the ground lay some half dozen Zollarian guards--the same who had -carried out the aviator's body--some of them without motion, some -of them that groaned and moved. The vengeance of the flier's fellow -had been swift and deadly. But the flag of Tamarizia broke out over -Koryphu's party, the Tamarizian in the plane circling to drop another -grenade, altered his course, zoomed up above the nearest ridge of hills -and disappeared. - -Croft quivered in spirit as he watched him. He could scarcely censor -his hot-headed action in dropping the bomb on the murderers of his -comrades and yet now--blood had been shed on both sides, and Gor was -approaching Koryphu where he stood. - -"Go!" he commanded with a gesture of dismissal. "My mistress grants you -safety since you are of no value save as you carry her message. Take -thy men and get thee on thy mission." - -"Aye--be you my messenger to carry her my parting greeting," Koryphu -returned, and stalked to his carriage, about which, under the banner of -Tamarizia, his Cathurians had already formed. - -Entering it he gave the word for marching. Followed by the black -looks of the Zollarian soldiery he and his party moved off toward the -southbound road. - -Bloodshed--bloodshed on both sides. Croft opened the eyes of his -physical body in Robur's palace and lay staring into the night. -Kalamita had slain one of his fliers. The man's death thrilled him as -he recalled it, even while it filled him with sorrow. He had died as -a patriot, a man loyal to his nation, his last word a wish expressed -for that nation's long life. And his fellow had retaliated swiftly, -dropping a bomb from the skies. And now Kalamita was returning, no -doubt--returning raging to Berla, cheated of the major object of her -journey south. And a representative of her nation would wait word on -the road that ran north from Mazhur's borders. He lay pondering the -matter until dawn, and then rose. He sought Robur and told him of all -he had seen. - -"Send a message into Cathur, Rob, recalling the airplanes," he -directed. "Zitu forbid that I waste further the lives of such men. They -have served their purpose in a measure. Bid them return." - -"And what of the further course of the matter?" Robur inquired. - -"Kalamita returns to Berla, in my estimation," said Croft. "She must -make report. Yet thus far have we dealt with Kalamita only. Thus far -the matter has lain between herself and me alone. It was to me Bathos -was sent with his message. Wherefore, so quickly as Koryphu returns, we -shall ask Zitra to send one through Mazhur, calling upon Zollaria to -confirm or deny Kalamita's acts in a representative parley." - -Robur nodded. "By Zitu, I sense your intention. In such a way you -safeguard our cousin and gain time for our own endeavors." - -"Aye," said Jason, "time in which our work must be pressed with speed." - - * * * * * - -By day the forges of Himyra roared, and at night they blazed. Men -toiled and sweated. Croft planned, designed, and urged for haste, -instructing, advising, passing upon each part of the engines of swift -deliverance he had ordered made by day, by night watching in his own -peculiar fashion the progress of Koryphu back to Cathur, and that of -Kalamita north. - -Two days after the meeting in the mountains he sent Jadgor's galley -to Scira, to await Koryphu's coming and returning to Himyra with the -Cathurian aboard, deeming it best to take the man with him to Zitra -to appear before Jadgor in person, that his own statements might be -confirmed by Koryphu's words. Himself he determined to be present -astrally in Berla, when Kalamita appeared before Helmor to make her -report. It occurred to him that at such a time something of importance -might transpire, and he wished to see how the Zollarian magnet would -seek to cover her defeat. - -That her return empty handed was a bitter thing in her heart he was -well aware, since his nightly visits to her wayside camps showed her -cloudy eyed, haughtily exacting, acrid tongued to all, even her giant -bodyguard. Gnawed by her disappointment, she made her way toward Berla -in something like a baffled rage, reached it and drove straight to her -own and Bandhor's palace, refreshed herself from her journey and loaded -herself with jewels, as though thereby seeking by outward show to -mitigate the manner of her return in Helmor's eyes. - -Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu, and Bandhor watched, the former unseen yet -seeing, his body stretched seemingly lifeless in Himyra, his astral -presence alert to her every move and action, Bandhor sprawled scowling -on a copper and silver couch. - -"Helmor was right. This Mouthpiece was too shrewd for you, my sister," -he sneered. - -"Or else lacking in the courage to meet me," Kalamita rejoined, -fastening the clasp of an armlet. - -"Nay," Bandhor declared, with the respect of the soldier for one of his -own profession who had beaten him twice. "He lacks not courage, by Bel, -or the ability to look even on thy beauty unmoved, as you should be -aware." - -"Say you so?" Kalamita whirled, stung by his reference to Croft's -refusal of her favor on a past occasion, and brought her hand into -stinging contact with his ear. - -Bandhor sprang up, wagging his head, to tower above her. - -"You devil--you yellow-eyed devil!" he roared with guttural laughter. -"No doubt you are angered, and with justice. To have sent Koryphu--the -brother of one who fell on his sword for love of thee--his messenger to -you. That were a master move." - -Kalamita regarded his amusement out of narrowed amber eyes. - -"Laugh, fool, an' it pleases you," she said at last, coldly. "A master -move indeed What lies behind it?" - -Bandhor frowned. His attention seemed arrested by the question. - -"By Bel I know not," he stammered. "Save to learn your price of ransom -without walking into the trap you laid, and thereafter to lay a counter -proposal before you." - -"Counter proposal?" And now Kalamita sneered. "Such things require -time, Bandhor. This one seems in small haste to regain a wife and -child." - -"Or become prisoner to Kalamita," Bandhor suggested. - -Kalamita eyed him. Her own expression was brooding. - -"Enough," she said. "Your mind reaches not beyond the sweep of your -sword. Go--say to Helmor I appear before him, and--say no more, save -that I will make all things plain when I arrive." - -Bandhor nodded. - -"Nay, and thou canst, thou canst do more than Bandhor," he declared, -once more frowning, and stalked hugely from the room. - -Kalamita remained seated for some time after his departure, her -features cast into lines of consideration, tight lipped, a trifle drawn. - -"Now Bel aid me!" she cried, at last rising and lifting her -jewel-circled arms in a body-stretching gesture, turned and went -swiftly down to where Gor waited with her carriage, and its prancing -green-plumed gnuppas. Entering the conveyance, she drew the curtains, -and reclined on the padded cushions, her tawny head supported on an arm. - -Watching her, Croft sensed that once more her wicked brain was busy -with its schemes. - -Bandhor met her at the palace and escorted her into a small and -sumptuously furnished room. Helmor of Zollaria sat there, his face -contorted into an expression of displeasure. As Bandhor and his sister -entered, he half rose, and Kalamita sank swiftly to her knees. - -"Hail Helmor, emperor and lord," she faltered. - -"Rise," said the Zollarian monarch. "Thy coming was expected. Bandhor -informed me as you bade him, yet seemed unminded to further use his -tongue. So, then, you appear before me alone?" - -"Aye, Helmor." Kalamita lifted herself on shapely limbs and stood -with downcast eyes. Suddenly she had adopted a meekness wholly out of -keeping with her usual demeanor. "Helmor foresaw the outcome of my -effort in his wisdom. All things fell out as he advised." - -"The Mouthpiece came not to the meeting?" - -"Nay. Perchance he lacked the courage on which I counted." Kalamita -threw up her head. Her tawny eyes flashed for a single instant. - -Helmor resumed his seat. His brows knit in a frown. - -"I await thy story, sister of Bandhor," he said after a time. - -Kalamita explained. Helmor's frown deepened as she proceeded with her -story. Once and once only his expression denoted satisfaction, and that -when the woman spoke of the airplanes flying above the mountains. - -"It would seem then that he knows not the woman lies in Berla," he -said, nodding. "It was so I planned. In so much is he deceived. Go -on--finish the story." - -"Nay," Kalamita resumed. "There is no more save that I stated the -requirements of her ransom as it was agreed upon between us, and gave -Koryphu her signet which I had taken from her finger, bidding him say -to the Mouthpiece that she bade him yield, and that one of the flying -devices falling, and the Tamarizian within it, being captured, though -not before he had destroyed it, was slain by my orders before Koryphu's -eyes." - -"Slain?" repeated Helmor sharply. "Now, by Bel, were it wise to slay -him, or didst let thy judgment be consumed by rage?" - -"Perchance," Kalamita admitted, still adhering to her rôle of meekness. -"Yet if so, the act was avenged and quickly, in that one of his fellows -flew above my lodge and dropped a fire-ball, which, bursting, slew two -in the number of my guard--and would have repeated the attack upon us, -save that Koryphu himself bade the flag of Tamarizia unfurled above his -party, whereat the flier altered his course and disappeared. - -"Helmor of Zollaria--blood has been shed by Tamarizia in this matter. -Did not Helmor vow that such an act by the southern nation should give -Bel the child of the Mouthpiece, a living sacrifice?" And now as she -broke off she looked full into Helmor's widening eyes. - - * * * * * - -Croft's listening spirit quivered, sensing the dark turn in the woman's -mind, the deadly purpose of her plans. Tensely he waited while man and -woman confronted one another, his soul torn with the strain of the -delay that preceded Helmor's words. - -And then the Zollarian monarch gathered himself together, controlling -what had plainly been no less that a swift shock of surprise. "Aye, so -Helmor promised," he returned slowly. "Yet meant he not the act of a -man enraged by the death of his fellow--a minor instance--a matter of -no consequence along the border. Sister of Bandhor, you appear over -quick to destroy what were a safeguard as well as a price of advantage -in Helmor's eyes." - -Once more Kalamita lowered her face. - -"There were no advantage to Helmor or the nation," she said slowly, -"save by favor of the gods. If Kalamita err, be it upon her own head, -yet thus far the matter had not gone overly to our liking--and were -Bel's favor purchased--" - -"Enough!" All at once Helmor roared. "Question not Bel's favor. Has -he not placed these two wholly in our power? Is the way not paved for -parley and negotiation? Think you the man who waits on the road out of -Mazhur will fail to receive an answer to our demands?" - -"Nay," said Kalamita, "there will be an answer. Yet now is it in my -heart to warn Helmor against permitting that these parleys--these -discussions of our demands--be entered into over long." - -"What mean you?" Helmor's demeanor was uneasy. "Were time not needful -when a matter of so great importance is to be arranged?" - -"Aye--none may deny it." Kalamita granted the point without hesitation. -"And I know not wherein lies the peril save that these be a crafty -people, depending more upon their wits than on their strength, and that -this Aphurian woman boasted to me aboard my galley that the one who -devised these things, the secret of which we are demanding, might well -devise a greater. Wherefore let Helmor be warned against protracting -his parlay to great length." - -And now once more Croft's spirit quivered. Let Zollaria depend on the -power of might as much as she pleased, this tawny woman, standing -before Zollaria's ruler with hypocritically downcast eyes, was -possessed of craft at least. Again he waited while Helmor weighed her -words, until with surprise and a vast relief he beheld the emperor's -expression alter, grow from one of startled speculation to a thing -amused. - -"A greater device?" he questioned. "Now, by Bel, what were it? Has he -not brought his fire weapons, his fire chariots across the earth, his -fire ships to swarm upon the water, his flying devices into the skies? -Where else shall he turn for a new field to conquer? Earth, water, -air--their mastery is his--and will remain his only unless Zollaria -wrests it from him. - -"These airplanes, as he calls them, are our greatest menace--and now -they fly above the mountains, seeking her who lies safe inside Berla's -walls. Nay, sister of Bandhor, thy work is finished--leave what remains -to be accomplished in Helmor's hands, nor heed the words of a woman. -Perchance she meant to raise up a fear thought to affright thee." - -Kalamita stiffened. - -"Kalamita is not easily affrighted," she made answer. "And being woman, -may sense the meaning of a woman's words. Yet has Helmor spoken. May -Kalamita retire now that her mission is ended, less happily than she -wished, yet ended none the less?" - -"Aye." Helmor inclined his head. "Ere the sun sinks I shall send to -your palace a chariot filled with silver. Bandhor remain. I would speak -with you briefly." - -"Bel strengthen Helmor's mind." To Croft it seemed almost as though a -hidden meaning lurked in the woman's words as she sank again to her -knees, rose and passed from the room. - -He followed. Let Bandhor and Helmor talk, plan, plot, devise. There -lurked not the danger he feared, but rather in the brain of the woman -now making her way toward the carriage across the palace court. -Seemingly she had taken her dismissal, had yielded to Helmor's -decision. Meekness had characterized her most surprisingly throughout -the major part of the conversation. Yet Croft did not believe she had -given over her more personal designs. - -Little by little he was coming more and more to understand the woman, -and to realize that in all her sordid standard of existence there -lurked one sincere if superstitious strain. She believed in the power -of her gods. She had been thwarted in her purpose to honor the greatest -of them, by Helmor's resolve to hold Naia and Jason in safety, but with -the quick perception of the spirit, Croft felt assured she would try -again. - -Hence it was with no surprise as she entered her carriage that he heard -her direct Gor to the Temple of Bel, before she reclined upon the -cushions and drew a gasping breath. - -And he followed close behind her as she reclined upon the cushions and -drew to the pyramidal temple itself. - -It was built of some dark-hued stone, in color nearly black, set down -in the exact center of a mighty open space. Pillared it was on four -sides, about a mighty central court, like a great rectangular funnel, -the sides of which were corrugated with steps, leading down once more -to the outer level of the mighty base. These steps could furnish a -multitude with seats, as he saw at a glance. And in the center of the -remaining level--huge--massive--smoke and fire darkened--horrible in -its grinning visage, its pot-bellied furnace back of extended arms, the -idol of Bel found place. - - * * * * * - -At the head of the inner steps on the side from which she had entered, -Kalamita paused. So vast was the structure that standing so alone -in her supple beauty, her figure became a pigmy thing, was suddenly -dwarfed. Her arms rose above her head. She bent, once, twice, thrice -from the hips in salutation to the monstrous thing before her, its -every detail thrown into revolting relief by the light of the open -sides above its uncovered court, turned and made her way among the -pillars of the surrounding colonnade toward the end opposite that the -idol faced. - -It was built in, unlike the other three sides, and here Jason fancied -as he followed, would be the quarters of the temple attendants and the -priests. - -Upon a door of silver, set in the ebon surface of the wall, Kalamita -hammered with peremptory fist, and waited, until the portal was swung -ajar by a heavy-muscled individual clad in no more than a leathern -apron tied about his waist. - -"Go," she directed, stepping past him. "Say to Ptah that the Princess -of Adita desires speech with him at once." - -"Aye, beautiful one." - -The man saluted and hastened off along a passage, to return and beckon -her after him mutely until he paused before a second silver door. - -He struck upon it. A voice rumbled from beyond it. The man set it open -and Kalamita passed it into the presence of Bel's priest. - -Huge he was, powerful, heavy muscled, thick of neck and nose and lip, -with a knotted, shaven poll, gross, in seeming an unwieldly human -beast, as dissimilar to the lithe beauty as day to night. Yet she -spread her rosy, gem-banded arms and sank down with lowered eyes. - -"Hail to Ptah, priest of the Mighty One," she spoke in salutation. - -"Rise, Priestess of Adita," said Ptah, his small eyes nearly lost -behind the heavy lids lighting at sight of her kneeling figure. "What -seeks the Lamp of Pleasure in the house of Ptah?" - -"Counsel, O Wise One," Kalamita answered, rising, and went swiftly on -to explain concerning her vow to Bel in regard to Naia of Aphur's child. - -"So?" Ptah pursed his heavy lips at the end. "Helmor is headstrong nor -listens as closely as his fathers to the voices of the gods. In this -case hardly could even I defy him, Priestess of Joy." - -"Not Bel's priest?" his caller questioned in a tone of unbelief, and -broke off sharply and went on again quickly. "Am I in this then to -stand forsworn? And think you what may depend upon it. Does Bel take a -promise lightly--and were his favor purchased--" Once more she paused. - -Ptah frowned. - -"True," he said at last. "Few are brought to the temple, since there -are fewer wars--and those in the greater part are children of slaves. -It may be--woman of Adita--" - -"An augury--an augury, Ptah." Kalamita leaned a trifle toward him. "An -augury to foretell how this matter tends. I dare thee to put it to the -test--to gaze on the living expression of Bel's pleasure--to harken to -the Strong One's choice." - -"Hah!" Ptah stiffened. Once more he pursed his lips, and then rising, -he took up a metal hammer and struck with it upon a gong which Croft -now perceived to be let into the substance of the door. - -Casting the hammer aside he waited until the man with the leathern -apron appeared. - -"Go," he commanded then; "fetch me a suckling tabur and the knife of -augury from the hall of sacrifice where it is stored." - -Returning to his seat he waited, his eyes never shifting from the shape -of the woman before him until the man reappeared bearing the little -creature he had named, and a massive knife of copper with a weighted -blade. - -Rising, he received both and held them until the attendant had -disappeared. - -"Oh, Bel--thou Strong One--show us thy pleasure in the matter before -the nation and in the case of Naia of Aphur's suckling. Speak to us -through the life of this creature I, Ptah, am about to sacrifice to -thee," his heavy voice rumbled. - -Seizing the tabur by the hind legs, he poised the copper blade, and -with one muscular sweep of his mighty arm, struck off his head, and -laid the carcass down. - -"Let me, O Ptah!" cried Kalamita, seizing the reeking knife from the -hands of the priest and kneeling to slit open the quivering belly of -the tabur, so that the entrails were exposed. Plunging her pink-nailed -hands into the quivering mass, she wrenched them forth and spread them -writhing on the blood-stained floor. - -Ptah bent above them, marking the fall of them closely. The woman -still knelt before him, watching his every change of expression out -of questioning eyes, holding forth toward him, palm upward, her -crimson-dripping hands. - -For a time while Croft sickened both at the sight of the uncouth male -and the physically lovely woman--the spectacle of beauty and the beast -sunk in the unclean orgy of a filthy rite, and at the decision resting -upon it. Ptah said nothing, and after a time he straightened and lifted -his hands toward the ceiling. "Bel, I, Ptah, thy servant, hear thee," -he intoned hoarsely. - -"An augury--an augury!" Kalamita panted. "What says the Strong One? -Speak, Ptah, that I as well may know his pleasure." - -Ptah lowered his back-tilted head. "Naught but the child may prevail to -save Zollaria in this matter," he made somewhat cryptic answer after -the manner of his calling. - -But Kalamita sprang up, her red lips parted, her nostrils flaring--a -light of unholy satisfaction in her eyes. "Then," she began, her tone -tensely vibrant-- - -"Nay." Ptah raised a hand. "It lies with Helmor. Him must you persuade -to give ear to Bel's decision." - -"Or"--she bent toward him, laying her blood-dabbled hands against his -mighty torso--"were the child brought into the temple--" - -"Hah!" Ptah's eyes fired. "Bel himself has spoken to thee also, -Priestess of Adita. Were the child within this temple none, not even -Helmor, would have the power to regain him, and were Helmor to know a -third defeat, one more bidable to the gods might mount the throne." - -For a moment there was silence, and then Kalamita said slowly, "An' he -listens not to Bel's message, perchance the Strong One will show me a -way to gain our ends." - -Ptah nodded. "Perchance, Priestess." - -A glance of understanding passed between them, and Kalamita moved -toward the door. - -"Be prepared to act quickly should such time arrive," she prompted, and -was gone. - -False--utterly false--to her womanhood, to her nation, Zollaria's -magnet would plot even treason if thereby she fancied she could serve -her ends. The realization burst on Croft with a force little short of -appalling. Filled with an intolerable sense of loathing, he followed -her back to Bandhor's palace, and then returned to Himyra, he opened -the eyes of his physical form, and groaned. Sunlight fell into his -chamber. - -A semi-tropic warmth was all about him, and yet, all at once he -shivered as with cold. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - THE DREAM OF HELMOR - - -Kalamita and Ptah. He knew not wholly what they plotted, what plans -might lie in their brains. Yet whatever they might intend certain it -was that the death of Jason, son of Jason, was included in the plan. -And whatever that plan might be, Croft was assured that the priest had -taken time to weigh many matters while he bent above the entrails of -the tabur suckling, before he had given voice to his none too explicit -interpretation of their meaning. - -Kalamita--beautiful toy of the Zollarian court, and Ptah, priest of the -nation's god. And when had there been a time or age wherein the lure of -woman, the craft of priest, had failed to largely determine the setting -of the stage, when both had not been involved in plot and counterplot? -He shivered again and sprang up. - -Helmor alone, it would seem, stood now between Jason and destruction. -And in that stand Helmor must be encouraged. He must be doubly warned -that harm to the child meant nothing less than destruction to himself, -the overthrow of his house. Such word might be sent him by the -messenger who would carry an answer north to the borders of Mazhur. Yet -before he could be sent some time must needs transpire, and, in the -meantime, suddenly a thought seemed given birth in full form in Jason -Croft's brain. - -Like another experienced long before when as a spirit he battled to -find a way to reach a physical union with Naia the one woman for whom -his spirit hungered, it fired him with its potent meaning, set a -light of deep-formed purpose in his eyes. Helmor of Zollaria could -be warned--and warned in such fashion that one of his nature could -scarcely fail to give heed--or so Croft believed. Meanwhile his own -work waited, work which in view of his latest knowledge more than ever -demanded speed. - -He left the palace, entered his motur, parked now always in the red -court in readiness for his demands, and drove swiftly to the shops, -attended to such matters as demanded his immediate attention, and went -on to the place where, when once the blimps were ready the hydrogen to -inflate them would be formed. - -From there he passed swiftly to a monster warehouse, formerly filled -with the merchandise of many galleys dragged up by harnessed canors -from the quays along the yellow Na through tunnels, but now converted -to his purpose--a hive of industry where dozens of men and maidens were -busily engaged in varnishing a most amazing extent of cloth. - -And that night as he labored in the laboratory he called Robur and Gaya -to him and explained to their ready ears those things he had heard and -seen. - -At the end Gaya's soft eyes were wide with sympathetic sorrow, and -Robur's square lower jaw was clamped hard. As Croft paused he broke -into exclamation: - -"Now, by Zitu, Ptah was right. Naught but the child of Jason can save -his unclean nation indeed--and should harm come on him Zitemku will -have a foul pit full of Zollarian souls." - -Croft eyed him, his heart warmed by Robur's ever ready up-flaring of -spirit. But in the end he shook his head. "Aye, if he be harmed. But -it were an empty revenge after all, my friend, and one which might not -bring him again to my house." - -Robur nodded. "What then does Jason propose? Many suns must pass ere we -are ready to attempt the rescue, and meanwhile Kalamita plans." - -"To warn Helmor of her planning," Croft told him and watched him widen -his eyes. - -"Warn him? In what fashion may Helmor be warned in time--even were he -minded to give ear to any word out of Tamarizia? Jason, you speak in -riddles." - -Croft nodded. "Nay--Helmor would pay little heed to Tamarizian words, -but were he to dream--" - -"Dream--" All at once Gaya caught her breath. Her glance met Croft's -in a subtle understanding. "Jason, thou meanest--thou canst induce a -dream in his brain?" - -"Aye." For the second time Croft nodded, well pleased at her intuitive -understanding. "Why not? Gaya knows how in the spirit I called Naia -of Aphur's spirit to me, before our marriage, and that nightly now we -speak so together concerning our love and this present thing; also that -I speak so to Zud of Zitra when the need arises, having taught him to -answer the call of my spirit. Wherefore, may I not visit Helmor in the -spiritual presence and by the same force inspire a vision of his and -Zollaria's danger in his mind?" - -For that was the thought that had come to him on waking after his -return from Berla--the conception of the manner in which Helmor might -be warned and fresh caution inspired in his guarding of Naia of Aphur -and Jason, son of Jason, and even Helmor's self against the perils -involved in Kalamita's schemes. - -"By Zitu!" Robur mumbled again. - -But Gaya sat brooding the thought for a moment longer, presently -lifting her head to murmur, "Three times. Let the dream be repeated -once and yet again, Jason, until it takes possession of him wholly, nor -is absent from his thoughts at any time." - - * * * * * - -Croft started slightly. He had only considered the one inspired dream -of warning, but now, he realized swiftly the value of Gaya's words--the -weight attached to the repetition of a dream. Her suggestion demanded -acceptance. "Aye, Gaya," he assented. "Ga speaks through you to the -benefit of child and mother. The dream shall be repeated three times, -on as many nights--until Helmor is convinced of an agency behind it, -even though the nature of that agency he fails to suspect." - -Robur rose. His manner was restless. Suddenly he whirled around. - -"You can do this thing?" he questioned. "Is naught forbidden to you, my -friend? You can enter the mind of another and order the shape of the -pictures in his brain?" - -Jason eyed him for a moment before he answered. "Naught is forbidden -to the seeker after knowledge, Rob, so he see not from evil purpose or -for merely selfish gain. All life is a rhythm--even as the sound of the -harp given off from a vibrating string. And if I alter the rhythm of -Helmor's mind to the preserving of the life of my child, the honor of -his mother, the estate of himself, and the lives of his people, were -the action vain?" - -"Nay, it were a work of justice and mercy," exclaimed Gaya before Robur -found words in which to respond. - -Croft lifted a tiny vial and held it toward both man and woman. -"Behold!" he cried sharply. "Fix your eyes upon it." - -Arrested by his sudden words and manner, they complied, and in an -instant for them the room faded, gave place to another scene. A straw -covered dungeon appeared--a dungeon with every detail of which Croft -was familiar in his spirit--a woman, a blue girl of Mazzer--a child. -Briefly Robur of Aphur and Gaya his wife beheld that picture and knew -it for the room beneath Helmor's palace--and then the whole thing faded -and once more they were gazing at a tiny vial in the Mouthpiece of -Zitu's hands. - -It was no more than an example of mass hypnotism as practised for ages -by the Hindu fakers, a trick learned by Croft while still as a man of -earth he had lived and studied in India for several years, but to the -two Tamarizians it was altogether strange. - -"Zitu! Zitu!" Robur gasped, while his wife sat staring no longer at the -vial but into Jason's eyes. - -"Think you that you have been to Berla?" he questioned, smiling -slightly. "Nay, my good friends, the thing was but a changing of the -rhythm of your minds into sympathy with mine; but a picture never -absent from my thought, which I excited in your brains. Think you now -that I may make Helmor behold a vision?" - -"Aye." Robur's tone was thick. "Aye, Jason, thou man unlike any other." - -"Aye, Helmor shall dream," Gaya echoed his assurance. She smiled, and -her smile was strange. - -Yet no more strange than the hour passed by Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu, -before he stretched his body on its couch of copper, in the formulation -of a dream--the careful marshaling of the various thought forms he -meant of deliberate purpose to instil into Helmor's brain. - -Only when their sequence was wholly to his satisfaction did he relax -his body, his physical mind, will his astral form swiftly to Helmor's -palace and into Helmor's room. - -A vast apartment it was, draped in saffron hangings, lighted by small -lamps to a dusky twilight, in which blue maids, slaves of the palace -kept up a ceaseless waving of noiseless fans above the silver couch on -which the emperor slept. - -Unseen, unnoted any more than the trailing smoke of one of the -low-burning lamps he drifted to Helmor's luxurious bed and began -hurling his thought force upon him, seeking thereby to awaken a -sympathetic vibration inside his heavy head. - -Over and over he drew the mental pictures he had formed, concentrating -all his power on them--Helmor defeated in every purpose--Kalamita -and Ptah as co-plotters--Helmor about to be dethroned--the child -sacrificed to Bel--and Tamarizia resorting for vengeance to the -sword--the Zollarian armies once more beaten into a bleeding -rabble--fleeing--leaving their own defenseless monarch to face the -future alone--Kalamita haughty and sneering--her mask of meekness cast -aside--showing at last as the one by whom these things had been brought -to pass. - -And suddenly the lips of Zollaria's monarch moved. He muttered in his -slumber, "Lost--all is lost--defeat--dishonor." For a moment while the -slave girls eyed one another without stilling the sweep of their fans -there was silence, and then Helmor groaned. - -He stirred, he knotted the fingers of a heavy hand. "Thou--thou -treacherous one," he muttered. "Through thee Helmor stands undone." - -Croft thrilled. The thing was succeeding. In his mind Kalamita -answered. "Aye, Helmor, through me, these things have transpired to my -ends. Defeat have I brought upon you. Tamarizia would have held back -the sword, had you possessed the child to place safely in her hands." - -And then suddenly, as though to point the moral, appeared Naia, -clasping the form of the infant the tawny siren had announced as slain, -lifting it toward Helmor in suppliant fashion, even as in the flesh she -had held it to him once. And she spoke sinking upon her knees. "Take -him and give him back to his father, O Helmor, and all will be well -with thee again." And Helmor, seizing the infant, lifted it toward the -skies and--Kalamita screamed, covering her face, and turned to stagger -out of his presence, while a multitude of voices sounded, crying; "Hail -to Helmor, saviour of his nation! Hail to Helmor the Wise!" - -Whereat Helmor surged suddenly up in his bed, and sat blinking in the -half dusk of his chamber, from one to another of his attendant slaves. - -So for a moment he sat, and then, throwing off his coverings, he rose. - -"Go," he directed in a voice that quivered with the emotion of his -vision. "Rouse Gazar and say to him that I have dreamed, and require -his presence." - - * * * * * - -And on the instant one of the slave-girls dropped her fans and ran -lithely from the room, leaving Helmor to sink back to a sitting posture -on the couch, his heavy hands clasping his naked knees, his expression -a thing of brooding, introspection, excited by his dream. - -So he remained until a man entered the apartment and advanced toward -him shuffling across the rug-littered tiles of the floor. - -Old he was, bent, with no more than a fringe of ragged silver about an -otherwise bald poll. Reaching the emperor's couch, he paused and bowed -before him, in little more than an accentuation of his already stooping -posture. - -"Helmor of Zollaria calls," he quavered, "and Gazar, servant of Helmor, -appears. Speak to me the things thou hast seen in a vision, O Helmor, -that I may make plain their meaning to your ears." - -Helmor dismissed the remaining slave-girls and complied. Oddly enough -Croft had an opportunity to test the success of his endeavor at first -hand, as Helmor recited each detail of his dream, and Gazar listened, -nodding his head less in silent accentuation of the several points than -because of some form of palsy that continually shook him; watching his -patron with dark and observant eyes. - -He spoke only when Helmor had paused. "Thou didst lift the infant in -thy arms, and Kalamita fled from before thee, shrieking?" - -"Aye." Helmor inclined his head. - -"In which is the meaning plain," said Gazar. "Let Helmor watch closely -this woman, sister to him who captains all Zollaria's army--and let him -guard closely the child of the Tamarizian Mouthpiece lest harm come -upon it through her, who hating the father because of a personal slight -put upon her in the past, thirsts now for an act of revenge." - -Helmor nodded. "Gazar's words seem words of wisdom," he rejoined, -narrowing his eyes, and recalling, as Croft fancied, Kalamita's -scarcely veiled displeasure at his placing Naia and Jason under guard -in the palace, her more recent suggestion concerning the sacrifice of -the child. "How says he? Were this dream a vision?" - -"Perchance," replied Gazar slowly. "It beareth the seeming of it. Were -it to be repeated, Helmor should deem it such beyond all doubt." - -"Aye and will," said the Zollarian monarch. "If it comes again, I shall -safeguard the child, placing a double watch upon it, and also upon this -woman, whose beauty is too great to fail to sway men's minds." - -Gazar appeared to consider. - -"'Twere well to do so," he agreed at length. "The past sun it came to -my ears that since her return she has visited the house of Ptah." - -"Ptah?" Helmor stiffened. "Now, by Bel himself, he appeared in my -dream--those together." - -"Aye," the soothsayer made answer. Gazar did not miss the point. It was -as but the naming of something already known. - -As in his sleep Helmor contracted the fingers of a hand. His lips set. -His expression became one of determination. - -"Now, by Bel," he declared, "shall I indeed have this insolent beauty -watched. May Adita withdraw her favor from her for first having induced -me to harken to her plans. Gazar, I am half-minded that he himself has -shown me his pleasure, since, even though I myself have vowed him the -child did Tamarizia refuse our demands or seek to win him from us, yet -should she attack with her present weapons, not even Bel might save our -armies from them, had we not the infant itself to place in her hands. -Go. I shall ponder these things deeply. More lies within this vision -than the fancies of a sleep-dulled brain." - -Croft quitted the chamber as Gazar turned to leave it. He was wholly -satisfied with his success and through it that Helmor, though -superstitious, held, even as Ptah had declared on the day before, none -too great a respect for his gods. Wherefore, he was determined that -the succeeding night would see the dream repeated with far less effort -since now the pictures of its sequence were printed on the surfaces -of Helmor's mind, and the man would go to his couch, considering the -likelihood of his dreaming again. - -And being repeated, Helmor would take those precautions to safeguard -the price of his own and his nation's safety. This would leave Croft -himself free to continue his work on the means by which the eventual -rescue of his loved ones was to be brought about. A vast elation, -a reborn confidence thrilled him as he sought another room in the -palace--no sumptuous apartment this time where sleepless attendants -watched above a master's slumbers, but a deep-set room, soured by the -lack of sunlight, where Naia of Aphur lay on the soiled padding of a -battered couch, cradling Jason, Son of Jason, in her arms. - -He told her of his progress, now he should take Koryphu to Zitra, how -there he should let him tell his story before Jadgor, how a message -would be sent north through Mazhur, bearing Tamarizia's demands for a -meeting between representatives of both nations, whereat Zollaria's -demands and Tamarizia's attitude toward them might be discussed. - -And then he left her and fled swiftly back to Himyra and the form on -the copper couch. - - * * * * * - -Three days after Helmor of Zollaria dreamed of the loss of a throne, -and his ultimate salvation through the safety of a child, Jadgor's -galley arrived at Himyra with Koryphu of Cathur aboard. During the -interval Helmor dreamed again twice. - -Koryphu's coming announced in advance from Scira was a somewhat stately -affair, but seemingly failed to give the one-time prince much pleasure. -His mien was solemn as he left the galley and met Robur and Jason on -the quays before an observant crowd assembled for the occasion. His -face was set into lines of somber consideration and there was a somber -light in his eyes. One would have said that Koryphu of Cathur held -himself as a bearer of bad news. - -Bowing perforce to the welcoming people of Himyra, he took his seat -in Robur's motur and maintained the poise of a noble until the palace -was reached and he and his two companions were closeted alone. Then he -let his feelings loose in a flood of resentful speech, describing all -that had transpired at his meeting with Kalamita, and at the end of his -narration laying in Jason's palm the purple signet ring. - -"Whether this comes from Naia of Aphur of her own choice, or was -forcibly taken from her I know not, O Mouthpiece of Zitu, but since -it was given to me with the command to say she sent it to you with -her plea for an early acceptance of the terms of ransom, I fulfill my -mission and place it in your hands." - -Croft turned the trinket gently. It affected him strangely--and he had -little doubt of the thoughts unexpressed in Koryphu's mind. The ring -spoke to him with almost suffocating force of the slender hand whereon -it had been worn, of Naia of Aphur, and all she stood for to him. And -he sensed that for the Cathurian the sight of the purple gem had been a -most unpleasant surprise--a hint that a woman of Tamarizia had faltered -in her Spartan duty to her nation--had sent it to her husband to speak -to him as ever now it was doing of herself. Suddenly he whirled on -Koryphu with a question: - -"Think you, man of Cathur, that Naia, daughter of Jadgor's sister, -cousin to Robur of Aphur, wife of Jason, sent this to him by the hand -of Kalamita, through any choice save force? In Zitu's name, let me have -your answer and promptly--son of Scythys's house." - -Koryphu's face grew pale and he licked his lips, ere his pallor -vanished and gave place to a mounting flush. - -"Nay," he stammered. "Nay, Jason--I meant nought save to make plain the -thought that Kalamita had added this to her efforts to persuade you. -May Zilla strike me if I sought to question her who is Jason's wife." - -Croft nodded. "Then let the matter remain between ourselves. Koryphu of -Cathur, so soon as you are refreshed, we go to Zitra, to hold speech -with Jadgor in person concerning these things." - -"Let not Koryphu delay you," Koryphu said quickly. "Refreshment were -not needful in a pressing matter or one involving the safety of Jason's -wife and son." - -His response gave Croft satisfaction, and he took him at his word. - -"Accept Jason's gratitude then instead," he made answer. "So quickly as -the galley shall fill her tanks with fuel for the motur, we shall go -aboard." - -Already he had arranged with Robur to urge the work in Himyra during -his absence, taking up all foreseen details with him and assuring him -that he could answer questions by the wireless almost as quickly as -though present in the flesh, and even before her arrival he had seen to -it that the captain of the quays had orders to see the galley refueled. - -Consequently, Koryphu having waived all formality in the matter, -afternoon found them dropping down the Na, and evening brought the -mouth of the mighty river, where its yellow waters tinted the clearer -flood of the Central Seas for miles. The galley pointed her trim prow -into the north and east at her maximum of speed. - -Haste, haste, haste. The thing gnawed now at Jason Croft's heart. It -urged him, spurred him, fired his every thought and action. And as he -stretched himself on his couch that night with the signet of Naia of -Aphur a purple talisman on a silver chain about his neck, it was with -the determination to complete his task quickly in Zitra, and return in -haste to Himyra, there to once more speed his work. - -Zitra rose white before them the morning of the fourth day, ringed -by its shimmering walls, fairylike as a mirage on first appearance. -Tamarizia's flag was broken out above the galley and it darted into the -inner harbor through the massive silver-faced sea-doors. - -Jadgor and Zitra waited. Days before, Robur had warned his father -of Croft's coming, by wireless, and the word had gone out that the -Mouthpiece of Zitu was returning briefly to the city for the first time -since the loss of his wife and child. - -Now as he stood on the after-deck, brave in his metal harness, with the -wings of Azil--the Cross Ansata blazing blue upon it--the azure plumes -nodding above his helmet, Koryphu beside him, and the galley swung -toward her mooring, a wonderful picture was spread before his eyes. - -The quays were banked with life. Jadgor, Lakkon, and members of the -national assembly showed in metal harness or gem-incrusted garments; -Zud, the high priest, stood beside them, backed by a group of harpists, -a band of the Gayana, the vestals of the pyramid, mark of Croft's -semi-religious position in the nation. - -White-clad they were, their hair loosened save for a binding silver -fillet, their lower limbs cased in white leather nearly to their rosy -knees. And back of them was the crowd, close pressed, necks craning, -restrained by members of the Zitran guard, who were patrolling the -quays or massed about the moturs, the carriages of the assemblymen, the -officials of state, in a glittering phalanx at the end of the street of -approach. - - * * * * * - -Croft saw it all with a swelling heart as the galley touched the quay -and a gangplank was run out. The trumpets of the guardsmen blared and -the harpists lifted their instruments into position, their voices -mounted in a chant of welcome and blended with the clamor of the crowd. - -At the foot of the gangplank, Jadgor and Zud and Lakkon waited. Jadgor -and he struck palms. - -"Hail, Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu," said Naia's uncle, and turned to -Croft's companion. "And to Koryphu of Cathur greeting. It has come to -my ear that Scythys's son has served right loyally Zitu's Mouthpiece -and in him all the people of Tamarizia as well. Wherefore is he welcome -to Zitra and Jadgor's palace as an honored guest." - -The face of the Cathurian twitched. As at the time Croft had approached -him, he seemed deeply moved by the mark of favor from the president of -his nation. "Now, by Zitu, O Jadgor," he replied in a tone of quick -emotion, "your words make the heart of Koryphu beat once more as the -heart of a man." - -Zud spoke to Jason. "Thou must speak to them, lord." His glance turned -to the close-packed throng of faces. "For many days their thoughts have -been upon you. They await the Mouthpiece of Zitu's words at this time." - -"Aye." Croft nodded. The thing was inevitable. He must speak--explain -his mission to the people, give them some definite understanding of the -situation and his motives. No matter how much he might begrudge the -time involved in even so short a delay, the thing must be done. - -"Here?" he questioned. - -"Nay," said Zud, "the matter is arranged." - -Again Croft inclined his head and turned to lay his hand on Lakkon's -shoulder much as he had done the morning Jason, Son of Jason was born. -It was the first time the two men had met since the night he had sworn -to carry the present matter through to the bitter end, and he sensed a -mutual yearning question in the aged noble's eyes. - -"Father of Naia," he said, "this coming marks a step toward the goal to -which both thee and Jason turn their hearts. Yet this sun shall make -all plain." - -Then turning again to Zud, he followed toward the high priest's car, in -which the prelate indicated that he was to ride. - -Jadgor and Lakkon entered their motur. The phalanx of guardsmen swung -about. The trumpeters took the van. The harpists fell in before Zud and -Jason. The Gayana--their arms filled with brilliant flowers--ranged -themselves on either side, and lifted their voices in song. The -procession moved off along the level floor of Zitra's pavements, -through the welcoming throng, to pause after a time in the midst of a -broad, open space. - -Croft recognized it with leaping pulses as the square in which he had -been proclaimed as Zitu's Mouthpiece--saw that once more it held an -elevated stage. - -Upon it he mounted with Zud and Jadgor and Lakkon, the men of the -assembly--the harpists--the Gayana--over a carpet of the flowers they -cast before his feet. His eyes swept over the faces of the concourse. -His heart swelled oddly at the sight. This was Tamarizia--her people. -This was Zitra--her citizens. These were the men and women of the -nation he had taken a hand in saving from the nation to the north, -in saving and making strong, and leading toward a greater progress, -a wider knowledge--a broader individuality than they had ever known. -These were the people of Naia's race. Of a sudden he stood before -them--the picture of a strong man in his gorgeous harness. - -He lifted his hand. The throbbing of the harps--the liquid voices of -the Gayana died. Croft spoke. To those lifted faces he told the story -of all that had happened, the reason for his coming again to Zitra. To -them he gave the substance of Zollaria's demands. A sound ran through -them--deep, low-pitched--and unmistakable thing of amazement and -resentment. It was as if the multitude groaned. - -He waited until it was past and gave them his word--the word of the -Mouthpiece of Zitu, that Tamarizia would never yield an acceptance. -He bade them to be of good courage, waiting until the steps he was -intent on taking could produce results--and then--should his plans -fail--should harm befall Naia of Aphur or Jason, Son of Jason--he -promised them to call on them to follow him into action--to lead them -once more against Zollaria with the sword. - -And now the people cheered. "Harken to the Mouthpiece of Zitu. Give -heed to his words," a strong voice roared. - -Other voices took up the words--they became lost to all articulate -seeming, blended into an acclaiming wave of sound, ran together into a -composite thunder in a thousand throats that spoke of acceptance, in -words no longer, but in unmistakable tones. - -Croft lifted his arms, high-flung before them. - -"My people," he cried, his face exalted by that mighty response, that -rising ululation of lifted voices. "Zollaria shall receive Tamarizia's -answer ere long." - -Again the roar of voices beat back like the pulse of a human surf upon -his ears. - -He dropped his arms and turned. - -"Come," he said to Jadgor. Together they left the platform and entered -the president's car, with Koryphu and Lakkon. They made their way -through the swarming multitude, preceded by the trumpeters and guards. - -"This night the assembly meets to hear Jason's pleasure," Jadgor said -as he took his place at Croft's side. "Robur bade me smooth the path -of your mission in a message. Wherefore I have summoned their number -to a special session, since he said also that I best could aid you by -arranging for your return to Himyra with speed." - -"Aye," Croft replied, his heart warming toward Robur. "Speed in all -things, O Jadgor. So shall we solve this riddle. Speed in our work of -preparation--in the execution of our plans--speed so great that we -shall strike in terror upon the sight of Helmor and all Berla, and ere -they expect our coming, wake to the threat of our presence over Berla's -walls." - -"Hai!" Jadgor's eyes flashed at the answer. Old war-horse that he was, -the picture fired his imagination, smacking as it did of the methods of -the sword. "Robur said naught save that once more the forges of Himyra -roar to the making of yet another marvel." - -Croft nodded. "Which presently I shall make plain." - -And he kept the promise, once the four men were closeted in a small -room of the palace, its sliding door covered by a scarlet curtain, its -windows partly veiled by crimson tissues, its floors half concealed by -gorgeous rugs. - - * * * * * - -First he called on Koryphu for his story of the meeting with Kalamita, -and after the Cathurian had spoken, he explained all he intended doing -and all that thus far he had done. - -At the end Koryphu was standing rigid, wide of eye and flared of -nostril, with back-thrown head, Lakkon was watching, leaning against -the end of a table, and Jadgor had thrown a hand across his body and -was gripping the hilt of his heavy-bladed sword. - -"Now, by Zitu," he exclaimed, his tone a trifle hoarsened, "to fly -above them, to rain death upon them--to bring them crawling for mercy -where they had thought to tie our hands and despoil us at their -pleasure! Mouthpiece of Zitu, O Jason, art thou rightly called. These -things fail of mortal comprehension, save they be by Zitu himself -inspired. Would Jadgor might go with thee on this avenging journey. -Fire? Hah! Let them call on Bel if they still desire it. Tamarizia -shall bring them fire from the skies themselves--clean fire--unlike -that their filthy priesthood builds in their stinking god." - -"Aye," said Croft, well pleased by Jadgor's outburst of approval. "The -fire of Zitu's justice, O Jadgor--that shall destroy the guilty wholly -should the innocent come to harm." - -Jadgor opened his lips, paused and relaxed the tightened muscles of his -throat by a swallowing movement. "By Zitu--this mission you shall ask -tonight is therefore no more than a blind, a means of gaining time?" - -"Aye." Once more Croft assented. "Zollaria expects it. Let it be sent -to occupy her mind." - -The lips of the Tamarizian president twitched. "Oh, aye--it departs for -Mazhur beyond any doubting. We shall demand the naming of an embassy to -confer with men of our choosing." - -Abruptly Lakkon asked a tense-voiced question--"Thou art assured she -lies even now within Berla's walls?" - -"Aye," Croft told him, looking him steadily in the eyes. "And the -father of Naia of Aphur knows well how Jason knows." - -Jadgor nodded, quickly sensing his meaning, and that he cared not to -discuss the matter of his astral powers before Cathur's prince. - -"Enough," he said, rising, "we have gained an ample understanding and -Cathur has been overlong aboard the galley. It were fitting now that he -refresh himself." - -Summoning an attendant he gave orders that Koryphu be conducted to a -room. - -Lakkon rose also, remaining until the Cathurian had quitted the -apartment, then turned to Croft. - -"Thou hast seen her, Jason, my son?" he faltered--"thou hast seen her -and the child--hast spoken with her in the spirit?" - -Croft smiled as he made answer--"Aye, since last I saw thee, Lakkon, -many times." - -"She lies in Berla, indeed?" - -"Aye--beneath Helmor's palace." - -"How fares she?" Emotion thickened Lakkon's utterance. "Sent she no -message by thee?" - -"Aye, the love and respect of a daughter." Croft explained the -situation from first to last, even describing the manner in which -Helmor had been warned. - -When next he paused Jadgor's eyes were narrowed to rigid slits, and -Lakkon's features were pale and drawn. - -"Zitu," he said in husky fashion, "I doubt not thy power, my son. Naia, -my own child, has named it to me and Zud himself confirms it a thing -accorded to thee from Zitu's hands--yet to safeguard your child and -hers, by causing Helmor to dream. This thing seems passing strange. -Think you the man will give heed to such a warning sufficiently long?" - -"Aye--Tamarizia's messenger reaches him with a demand for parley," -Croft declared from the depths of his inmost feeling. "Think you I had -taken time to journey thus to Zitra, save that to my mind the step were -one wholly needful to the full success of my plans?" - -Jadgor spoke. "Nay, Jason is right. This step is that of a statesman. -Let Zollaria lie unsuspecting, while his devices are in the making. -Tonight the matter of the messenger and his message will be arranged." - -Lakkon sighed deeply. His face was still pallid, but he seemed in a -measure reassured. - -"Now, Zitu be praised," he said, once more addressing Croft, "since in -very truth he appears to guide and strengthen your mind." - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - THE DEATH PLOT - - -Jadgor's faith in the action of the assembly proved justified, in fact. -Croft went before the representatives of the Tamarizian states that -very same night. - -With Koryphu to precede him, telling of the meeting in the mountains -north of Cathur, the slaying of the flier by Kalamita's orders--the -swift retaliation of his fellow in simple fashion, he waited until the -Cathurian had lashed the minds of the men who heard him to a pitch of -sullen fury, then rose slowly to his feet. - -"These demands bid for no consideration," he began and paused, laying -his hand on the hilt of his sword. - -An outburst of swift acclaim greeted the words and was followed by -silence as he explained the object of his presence in Zitra--emphasized -the need of a messenger being sent north, and asked for their -sanctioning word. - -Now and then he was interrupted by a question, but for the most part -he spoke without interruption. And at the end he cried very much as he -had cried in the public square to the citizens of Zitra: - -"Grant me this, O representatives of Tamarizia--give me time to prepare -Tamarizia's answer to this coward's threat of a treacherous nation, -which, daring not again the shock of arms, seeks yet to win back her -lost prestige behind the tender bodies of a woman and her child. Grant -me the power to meet craft with craft, nor think that the signet given -to Koryphu was stripped from the hand of Naia of Aphur save by force, -in the treacherous hope that it might seem to support a spurious plea -from her that Tamarizia yield." - -For a moment no one spoke after he had finished and stood waiting for -their answer, and then the man from Bithur rose. - -"Nay," he cried, "not that Naia, daughter of Jadgor's sister, daughter -of Lakkon--not that Naia, who was wed to Zitu's Mouthpiece within Atla -of Bithur when the blue hordes of Mazzer captained by the brother -of this same Kalamita, and other men of his nation, lapped like the -waves of an unclean sea against Atla's walls. Not of such metal is her -spirit. Tamarizians, send this messenger north from Mazhur; let him -demand that Zollaria support or deny her woman agent's words." - -"Aye--aye," came other voices. - -Jadgor rose, his silver cuirass blazing. "Add to the message answer to -Kalamita's foul threat, that if aught befalls Jason, Son of Jason--aye, -or Naia, mother of Jason--ere parley is held on the matter, Tamarizia -waits but the knowledge to unsheathe the sword." - -"Aye--aye," again a storm of voices answered his suggestion. - -"A vote--a vote!" someone began shouting. - -"Let Tamarizia's message be strong." - -In the end, once the turmoil excited by the Bithurian and Jadgor had -in a measure subsided, a formal vote was taken, and Croft himself -was empowered to draft the message entrusting it to one of the -regular government couriers--men so employed for years and of trained -endurance. Well satisfied, he went back to the palace, worked half the -night in formulating it to his liking, interviewed the man who was to -bear it, and watched his galley sail out of Zitra and turn north at -dawn. - -And now Himyra and his work behind its red walls called him. He lost -small time in answering its call. Once more his galley slipped forth -from the massive sea-doors. Zitra sank into the Central Sea--or seemed -to, slipping little by little beneath the sparkling waters with its -shimmering milk white walls. - -Speed. He had used the word to Jadgor. And now he called upon the -captain of the galley for it--speed to Himyra. And he promised himself -speed on the task before him once he reached Aphur's ruddy city--such -speed as never before, not even in the heat of his preparation against -the Zollarian war, had he employed. - -For three days he chafed against the surge and plunge of the galley, -the slither of each passing wave, until after dawn on the morn of the -fourth, the mouth of the Na was reached. Eight days had been consumed -on the journey--eight days wherein Naia of Aphur had lain in the room -under Helmor's palace--their light, save for a few brief moments with -each dawning, shut away from her purple eyes--growing ever darker and -larger in the white mask of her face. - - * * * * * - -Eight days. The thought stabbed Croft almost as keenly as a -dagger-thrust might have hurt. Eight days--and how much longer until -he finished his work. There were times when his course--the time of -her durance, seemed an infinity of days no less to him than to Naia -of Aphur herself--times when, save for his unshakable resolution, he -would have been tempted to wring his hands, to mouth at the trick fate -had played upon him, to curse--perhaps to shriek his protest at the -seemingly countless delays by which even in his labors he was faced. - -And Naia of Aphur had not even labor to break the ordeal of her -waiting. On the morning of that eighth day Jason Croft, Mouthpiece of -Zitu, stood looking down to the swirl of the Na's yellow flood past the -hull of the galley with a somber face. - -Presently he raised it. Before night he would be in Himyra, and he had -come back to the same conclusion he always reached. He squared his -shoulders and set his lips back into lines of determination. He turned -his face up the yellow river as though even then to catch the first -glimpse of its mighty walls. In Himyra he would work. - -Work! It was the panacea for waiting--it was the answer to the riddle -that obsessed him as he himself had said more than once in considering -the matter--the means to Naia of Aphur's and Jason, the Son of Jason's, -release. He had forbidden word of his coming preceding him to Robur's -city. He wanted no trumpery of public welcomes, no ceremonials, however -slight, to delay his purpose now. Almost before the galley had tied -fast to the quays he left it, and threw himself into his task. - -He gave himself wholly to it. He appeared unexpectedly that afternoon -in the shops, the forges, learning that Robur had not been idle, with a -mounting satisfaction, finally meeting Aphur's governor face to face on -one of his stops. - -"Zitu!" cried Robur. "I knew not of your returning. Is it your spirit -come to mark my progress, Jason, my friend, or do I behold you in the -flesh?" - -"Both," Croft answered. "Spirit and flesh united on the work before us, -Rob, at last." - -"All is arranged?" Robur's eyes flashed with anticipation of Croft's -answer. - -"Aye." Jason inclined his head. "There should be naught to distract -from our labors from now until the end." - -"The end--_hai_--the end," said Robur. "Together we shall bring it -quickly, my friend." - -Little by little each day the work advanced. The liquid fire was an -accomplished fact. Trusted men--the best educated in their line in -Himyra were engaged now upon its production, its preparation for the -final venture, as they filled it into the containing flasks. - -The shapes of six blimps were slowly forming--huge, unwieldly seeming -bags constructed out of Croft's varnished cloth. Little by little the -means of putting the plan of rescue into execution was taking concrete -form at last. - -Miles of rope and cordage were flowing out of the shops--were being -woven into the harness by which the cars should be swung beneath the -gigantic envelopes. Vast quantities of chemicals were being collected -toward the production of unlimited cubic feet of hydrogen gas. - -Through all the seeming chaos Jason moved, ordering, directing, with a -fresh certainty of precision now, as something like a definite result -to all the days and nights of labor showed. - -With him went Robur, aiding and abetting in all ways toward the -successful issue of the task. Gaya listened each night to a report of -the progress made. - -During the war with Mazzer, Croft had perfected a dry-cell battery to -solve the ignition troubles of the armored moturs. Now with the liquid -fire in the process of manufacture, he turned himself to the problem -of constructing an electric flashlight, by which signals between the -blimps could be exchanged. - -Days passed. A Zitran had elapsed since his return from Zitra. -At its end word came by wireless that Zollaria's answer had been -received--that Helmor consented to the naming of a Zollarian delegation -to discuss the terms of ransom--that a Tamarizian party would be -formed and sent north to meet them, with instructions to protract the -negotiations, turn the parleys between the Zollarians and themselves -into a useless war of words. - -Croft read the message and wirelessed back his ratification of it. He -was very well pleased indeed. Let the matter be delayed yet another -Zitran as it might without exciting undue suspicion, since it would -take well-nigh half that time for the two delegations to be arranged -and get together, and he felt he would be practically prepared. - -Even now six monster bags were nearing completion in the huge sheds -built by swarming workmen for their housing. The cars were ready for -attaching, the moturs to be installed. That ceaseless driving of a -double shift had crowded the work of two Zitrans into one so far as -results were concerned. Satisfied with the word from Zitra, Croft flung -himself into the last stages of his task with redoubled vigor. The -envelopes were inflated and floated clear of the ground. - -Workmen swarmed about them on spidery trestles and stages, harnessing -each monster inside its network of securely knotted cordage, binding -fast with each intricate twist and turning as it seemed to the man who -ceaselessly watched them, some part of his desperate hope. - -Motur-trucks brought from the shops of their fabrication the cages to -be hung beneath each tensely floating shape. Men sweating at their -labor, made them fast. The new moturs Croft had designed at first were -assembled, delivered and mounted. Propellers were set in place. Day by -day the first dirigibles of Palos grew nearer to completion. - -Robur was inseparable during those days from Croft. He viewed the -monster devices with unbounded enthusiasm and amaze, vowing them the -marvel of their age, repeating over and over again his own conception -of the consternation they must cause in Zollarian minds when, without -warning, they appeared and hung above Berla's walls. Gaya drove down at -his solicitation on one occasion and gazed at the hugely bulking shapes -out of widening brown eyes. - -Word came again from Zitra that the Tamarizian delegation had gone -north. - -"Let them go," Croft cried to Robur. "Ere long shall Jason follow." - -"Aye, by Zitu," the Aphurian replied, casting his eyes toward the -glistening gas-bags, beneath which the swarming workmen toiled. - - * * * * * - -Came a day when the last rivet was driven home, the last nut screwed -into place, when Croft distributed largess to the workmen and a vast -roar of human voices filled all the places where his latest creation -had been given birth. Croft stood with Robur and viewed them--the -mighty engines for the deliverance of his hostages to fate. His heart -leaped. - -"With the sun," he said, turning to his companion, "let Himyra see -them. We make a test." - -"I and thou," Robur returned, flashing his even teeth. "Dost remember -the dawn you mounted the skies in the first airplane, Jason--and, -returning, found Naia waiting to dare the venture with you? Now, by -Zitu, Robur goes to try these blimps himself." - -Croft nodded. His hand crept out and closed on the other man's. Well he -remembered the day his words recalled. His return from the trial flight -in the plane to find Naia waiting beside the hangar in her russet -leather dress, and how as they rose between the Sirian sun and Himyra, -she had lifted her voice and sung in a pure abandonment of emotion. -Deep in his heart he vowed that these monsters of his construction -should bring her back to Himyra--give her the opportunity to sing again. - -Yet, all he said to Robur was, "Aye, Rob, if you wish." - -Robur's muscles gripped down upon his fingers. "And not only to the -testing, friend of Aphur, but even to Berla itself." - -"Berla." Croft loosened his hand to lay it on Robur's shoulder, look -into the son of Jadgor's eager face. "It is not in my heart, Rob, to -refuse you anything in this." - -Dawn came and Himyra gasped--gasped and stood with heads back-tilted, -staring upward at a mighty oblong bag that swung in majestic fashion -high above the walls. It hung there like a monstrous bubble, glinting -as the rays of Sirius struck upon it--drifting slowly as it seemed -before the winds of morning. And yet--even as they watched it, turning -and moving against the wind in steady fashion--silently--without -seeming reason, too high above the red, red city of Aphur, for the ears -of her people to sense how its moturs roared. - -An hour before--under direction of Croft and Robur--it had been dragged -slowly forth from its concealing shed. With filled tanks its engines -waited the awakening touch of the engineers--men selected for this -first attempt at dirigible navigation from the aviation personnel by -Croft himself. A huge flash of the liquid fire, equipped with its -spraying device, was attached to the carrier designed to hold it. When -this was done Croft and Robur stepped aboard. - -A hundred workmen--men who had labored to construct it--held the ropes -that still controlled it, ready to release it at a word. - -"Let go!" That word came in the Mouthpiece of Zitu's voice. - -Two hundred hands relaxed their hold upon the ropes. The blimp soared -toward the skies. - -Himyra fell away beneath it, became a red gem on the yellow sand of -the desert, the breast of Aphur, pierced by the thread of the Na like -a sparkling, supporting chain. To the north and east the waters of the -Central Sea showed as bright as burnished silver under the first rays -of the sun. - -Robur made no comment, said no word. He stood tight-lipped, gripping -the rail of the platform on which they rode with tensely muscled hands. -Croft ordered the engines started--and even so there was no feeling -that the mighty fabric moved. Rather it seemed stationary, the only -solid thing in all existence, while Palos and all it held dropped away -from beneath it, until Himyra's palaces and shops and houses became -things no larger than the toys of children, her people, pigmies moving -antlike on her streets. - -Croft pointed beyond the walls. - -"The desert," he said and watched while the blimp answered to the -manipulation of her engines--her rudder and vanes. - -Then and then only he spoke to Robur for the first time. "The desert. -Recall you, Rob, the morn of the first motur in Himyra, when we drove -into it from Himyra's walls, and Lakkon's gnuppas bolted, and I -touched the hand of Naia of Aphur first?" - -"Aye." Robur turned. Himyra was receding as the blimp followed her new -course. "By--Zitu--we are aiming for it again." - -Croft nodded. "It is in my mind to try first the liquid fire upon its -scanty vegetation, where it can do small harm." - -And after that he waited until they flew above a comparatively level -tract of country, covered by a low-growing shrub, that throve on scanty -moisture, before he stationed himself at the spraying device and opened -the valve of the flask. - -Far below, the scrub blossomed suddenly into tiny points of color like -swiftly opening flowers--that grew, expanded, ran together in patches -and lines of quivering light, until the whole mass of vegetation -vanished, blotted out beneath a leaping sea of flame. A moment before -it had lain there unchanged, as it and the desert had lain practically -unchanged for years, and now it was a seething, smoking, blazing thing, -sinking down in a red destruction unloosed upon it from the skies. - -Croft closed the tank. "Back to Himyra," he cried and turned a set -face to Robur, to find his features pale and rigid, his eyes narrowed -as though the vegetation beneath him, writhing in a swift dissolution, -were to his imagination the bodies of men and women caught beneath a -rain of death inside a city's walls. - -"It is finished, Rob," he said, speaking in a voice that quivered -tensely. "As soon as the fliers are trained we go north." - -Croft nodded. The strange intoxication of success was upon him. - -"Ere night," he said, "we test the others." And then sinking his voice -for no ears save Robur's. "And tonight I shall look into Naia of -Aphur's eyes and tell her we are well-nigh prepared." - - * * * * * - -That day he entered his motur once the blimp had landed, drove to the -airplane hangars, and called for volunteers to man the other five ships. - -Returning with the men selected he personally tested each blimp, -rising, maneuvering and returning before a constantly growing crowd, -which in the end required the use of a detachment of the Himyra guard -for its restraining. - -Himyra was seething with an excitement augmented with the ascent -of each mighty glistening bag. A jostling throng pressed like an -impenetrable wall about the sheds, as each new monster was towed out by -its straining attendants, was manned by its waiting crew, and rose. -They watched and pointed, gesticulated, and cheered. - -"Hail to the Mouthpiece of Zitu!" they roared whenever Croft appeared. - -That night, eagerness possessed him when he sought his chamber and laid -himself down--an eagerness that had possessed him through the length -of the day--an eagerness to visit Naia and tell her that the thing was -done. - -He closed his eyes and released the bonds of his spirit. North and -north he fled across the Central Sea where the giant shapes he had -designed and built would make their way ere long. North and north over -Mazhur, where the Tamarizian delegation had gone to meet that of the -northern nation. North and north to Berla, and to Helmor's palace and -the fetid room beneath it--to stand gazing with eager eyes on Naia of -Aphur's form. - -Pale as death she sat there, waiting, waiting, as she had waited so -long, and she was speaking. "Jason--Jason," over and over she was -repeating the word to his son. - -"Ja-son--" the baby lips repeated with a scanning effort. And Naia of -Aphur smiled and gathered him into her arms. - -Jason--with a full heart Croft understood that she was teaching the -child the name of his father--that this word was one of the first his -tongue had known. - -"Beloved--O my beloved!" he sent their meeting call to her. - -She stiffened, threw up her head, and turned to Maia. - -"Come, take the child, thou faithful one," she directed--waited until -the blue girl had complied and stretched her form on the couch, ere she -answered his summons, releasing her astral body to steal into Croft's -waiting arms. - -For a moment he simply held her, and then he told her. "Beloved--the -time approaches. The thing is done." - -"Done?" she faltered. - -"Aye, finished wholly," Jason said, and felt her quiver--sensed the -fires of her astral being quicken--found the form he held suddenly -glowing. - -"Now Zitu be praised." In all her slender length she pressed suddenly -closer to him. "Draws then so near the day?" - -"Aye, by Zitu," he declared. - -"I know not the meaning of it," Naia said, "but Maia lies daily on the -straw within the door of our chamber--and she had heard mutterings now -and then among the guard. Thy mention of Bandhor recalls it. Kalamita's -brother has come among them within the last few suns, if one may credit -their speech among themselves." - -"Bandhor? To what purpose?" Croft questioned quickly, vaguely disturbed -that the Zollarian generalissimo should have held speech in person with -members of the palace guard. - -"Nay, I know not. Maia but heard mention of his presence--some word -concerning Helmor's signet." - -"His signet? Hai!" Croft found himself suddenly shaken. "Now may -Zitemku seize that woman, and Adita turn her favor from her!" - -"Thou meanest--Kalamita?" And now Naia clung against him, not in -womanly yearning, but with the quick fear of a mother. "Jason--" - -"Aye," he said tensely, "have you forgotten how she forced thy own ring -from thee--or the foul thing she planned, save Helmor had overruled -her? Now Zitu be thanked you have spoken of this in time since, in my -own way, those things she plans may be learned, and Helmor warned." - -For now it seemed to him, that lost in the press of work in Himyra, -supported by the sense of security derived from the dreams he had -inspired in the brain of Zollaria's monarch he had indeed been blind, -and that while he had labored without ceasing, the woman who hated him -as only a woman of her type could hate, and Ptah, priest of Bel, and -possibly Bandhor also, had been busy with their schemes. Wherefore, it -was best that he learn quickly what those schemes embraced, what new -danger to Naia and Jason, Son of Jason, might be involved. - -"Fear not, beloved. Zitu means not these spawn of Zitemku to prevail -against us--wherefore we are warned. Ga, thou art, priestess of the -Eternal Fire, to me--messenger of Azil have I been to thee, and shall -be again--but messenger of Zilla will I be to these plotters--making -all their plotting vain. Farewell, thou mate of Jason. He goes to learn -what they plan." - -In a final caress, he sunk his mouth again to hers, seeming as always -when he kissed her in such fashion to draw the very essence of her -being to him. And then he left her, making his way swiftly out of the -palace and pausing where the fire urns flared before it, across a -mighty space. - - * * * * * - -Once more, then, it behooved him to bring himself into contact with -the woman Kalamita. He willed himself toward her, passed swiftly to -Bandhor's palace and failed to find any sign; paused, baffled for a -time before he recalled the scene he had witnessed between her and -Ptah, Bel's priest, in the latter's quarters in the temple. Then, where -better if she were plotting against Helmor, he asked himself, than in -that ebon-walled room. - -Swiftly he sought it, and there he found her--and not only her, but -Bandhor, Ptah, and another, a heretofore unknown man. - -The four were seated around Ptah's table, where flaring oil-lamps -partly dispelled the gloom, pricking out the intent masks of the -several faces, causing iridescent flashes of light from the jeweled -bands that circled Kalamita's arms, and broidered her garment's hem. -In a way that half light struck Croft as wholly fitting to the scene -wherein these four sat together and plotted against Helmor's reign. - -For that they were plotting, the woman's first words made plain. - -"It is to thee, Panthor," she declared, eyeing the third masculine -member of the party. "It is for thee to say whether thy cousin shall -hold Zollaria's throne. Twice have his plans to humble Tamarizia -failed, his efforts proved vain. Think not but the people say Helmor -has no more Bel's favor--wherefore Zollaria is no longer strong. So -then--a quick stroke and the thing is done." - -"Aye--a quick stroke." Panthor nodded. He was heavy-set, not unlike -Helmor, his cousin, in a way, with full lips of a sensual turn and -closely cut hair, the stubble of which was blond. "But--regarding -this child. I question not the sincerity of Kalamita, yet were it -slain--even to gain Bel's favor, which none more than I admit is -needful, would not Tamarizia, according to her own words, descend upon -us with superior weapons and bring defeat to our armies again?" - -"By Bel, has then Panthor so little faith in his favor?" Ptah exclaimed. - -"Peace." Kalamita's red lips curled. "Your question is a man's -question, Panthor, and the question not of a man's heart, but his -brain. Think you Tamarizia means all she says--or speaks to gain her -ends. This Mouthpiece is a man--and Naia of Aphur is a woman--and -though a child be slain, still is she a woman and the mate of Jason, -and he has twice defeated Helmor's plans to gain. Think you the -child's death would change the heart of Tamarizia's strong man, or -that he would carry his threat far--were she kept safe from harm to be -surrendered once more to his arms?" - -"Nay, by Bel!" roared Bandhor, striking the table. "My sister has -struck the mark in her words--with Bel's favor purchased--her oath -redeemed and the woman still in our possession, Tamarizia may well balk -a resort to arms. It remains then to get the child in our hands." - -"My hands," said Ptah with an evil grin. - -Bandhor nodded. "Aye, into thy hands, Priest of the Strong One--and -there is a way in which it may be done. Let Helmor's signet be -presented to the captain of the guard now placed upon him, and our ends -are gained." - -Kalamita leaned half across the table toward Panthor. - -"Thou knowest the device on Helmor's ring?" - -"Aye," said Panthor slowly. - -"And thou knowest some worker of stones?" - -"Aye, Priestess of Adita." A tremor of understanding crept into -Panthor's tones. - -Kalamita drew back and regarded him out of narrowed lids. "Were it not -possible to have him make what we need?" - -"By Bel--" Panthor began, and stiffened under her glance. "Aye--so it -could be done. Yet time would be required." - -"Time?" The woman shrugged. "Is Panthor so anxious then, to mount -the throne? Helmor plays into our hands in this in entering into -parley with the southern nation. Once we have the child he will seek -to regain him--to take from Bel what has been declared his own. -Then--Bandhor--is not brother of Kalamita, and captain of Zollaria's -men for nothing--Bel's own priest shall declare Panthor emperor in -Helmor's place and Bandhor shall support him. How say you--is it not -well planned?" - -"Aye," said Panthor thickly. "Aye, Priestess of Adita." - -"Then let Panthor see Helmor's sign cut on a stone." Kalamita rose. -"And let him place it in Bandhor's hand when it is done. Ptah, build -you the fires--let them be ready for the torch at the appointed time. -Kalamita's oath to the Strong One shall be redeemed. How long, Panthor, -before thy part shall be done?" - -"Ten suns, perchance twelve," said Panthor, he and Bandhor also rising. - -"See to it." Kalamita turned to leave the room. Ptah moved his heavy -body to set the door open before her, and Bandhor joined her. They -passed out and were gone. - -Ptah turned back. "Hail emperor, favorite of Bel," he said, bending his -heavy neck to incline his head to Panthor. - -Panthor's expression changed. He drew himself up to his fullest height. -Already he seemed to sense the weight of authority upon him as he -answered. "By Bel--O Ptah--thou and I together once Helmor sits no more -upon the throne." - - - - - CHAPTER X - - THE ATTACK - - -Ten days, at most twelve, before Helmor's spurious sign should -be cut on a lying stone. And then one would bear it down to that -dungeon where Naia waited a promised rescue, and with it as authority -demand the child. And after that? Croft sickened as he left Ptah's -chamber--sickened at the thought of what might have happened save for -Maia's listening ear as she lay on the straw inside the door of the -dungeon--Naia's mention of the words the blue girl had overheard to him. - -But--suddenly he stiffened. In ten days a great deal might be done. -Helmor might be warned as he had said to Naia--or--the rescue might -actually be performed. - -Helmor might be warned as before in a dream--yet to make plain to the -Zollarian monarch all by which he was threatened, it would need to -be an elaborate dream indeed. And to speed the blimps to Berla would -necessitate a start with crews but illy trained. - -And even were Helmor warned, how much would it avail, when his mind was -matched against that of Kalamita, unless he might be induced to act -directly against her, unless she and Bandhor and Panthor were arrested -and confined? And could such a warning as Croft was able to give -inspire the man on Zollaria's throne to such a move--or if it did so, -would it not precipitate internal troubles in Berla, perhaps as fatal -to Croft's own purpose as Kalamita's schemes? Torn on the horns of such -a dilemma, his spirit writhed. - -In the end he made his way back to the palace and into Helmor's -chamber. The man would be asleep, he fancied, but once he had gained -his apartments he met with a surprise. Far from sleep, Zollaria's -emperor sat in consultation with Gazar, the soothsayer he had summoned -to him the night of his first dream of danger, and a man Croft had once -defeated on a bloody field, and learned later to know by sight at the -end of the first Zollarian war as Helmon, Helmor's son. - -Helmor's face was dark with ill suppressed rage. - -"Thou sayest that Panthor, my cousin, entered the house of Bel, upon -their heels. What makest thou of it, Gazar? Speak thou who for years -have been to me eyes and ears." - -So that was it. Soothsayer Gazar might be, but he evidently combined -the work of espionage with his other vocation, as it now appeared. - -Croft gave him full attention as he began speaking slowly. - -"Helmor knows the claim his cousin makes for his house in Zollarian -affairs. Were Bandhor to support him it were ill indeed. And Bandhor is -the brother of Kalamita--whose power would appear to have made drunk -her spirit as her beauty had made drunk the hearts of men. Also there -is the matter of the Tamarizian's child." - -"Bandhor, Kalamita, Panthor--'tis a pretty trio, my father," Helmor -said. "The woman grants her favor lightly where her interest is -involved--and Panthor is a man and ambitious--even as Ptah is a man, -though a priest. Also has she a debt of hate to be repaid against this -Mouthpiece of Zitu--whom I love not myself. Lies anything definite -against them, O Gazar?" - -"Nay"--the old man shook his head--"naught as yet save what one may -suspect--" - -"Then"--Helmor leaned toward him to speak in lowered tones--"what would -Gazar advise?" - -"Look to the woman and the child. To me it is known that Bandhor has -been among his guard. Let it be changed from sun to sun, O Helmor, -neither captained by or including the same men twice. So it appears to -me he shall be safe for the present, unless some unforseen happening -transpire. Let Panthor be watched closely by trusted men--watch for a -meeting between any two or all of the four we have mentioned tonight, -again." - -"It is well." Helmor leaned back in his seat. "See to it, Helmon, -that the guard be changed. Distribute also a largess to the palace -guard--announce additional pay to the soldiery in Berla of twenty mina, -for the Zitran, and afterward as much. Gazar--have me these others -watched. By Bel, our cousin may find it requires more to cast Helmor -from his throne than the schemes of a woman and a priest." - -"Zitu." Croft breathed the word in his spirit. Helmor of Zollaria was -far from asleep, indeed. More than that, now that he was awake he was -well served. Panthor would seek an engraver of stones inside the next -day or two, at latest, and Panthor would be watched. Helmor had more -than one pair of eyes. - -Croft's confidence returned. After all, Kalamita and Ptah were not -the only ones in Berla who played the game of statecraft, it would -seem--and each day Naia and Jason would be watched by a fresh guard. -More than that, additional pay would in a measure see the morale of -the city's garrison restored. Once more as at the noon hour on the -day before, Croft found himself swiftly uplifted as on invisible -wings, his spirit filled with thankfulness to Zitu--the Father of all -Life--with a voiceless paean of praise, for his everlasting justice, -the inscrutability of his ways. - -In such a mood he returned again to Naia, and told her what had -occurred--watched her astral fires pale and quicken, as side by side -they bent above the child. - -"By Ga and Azil," he swore, "we shall not lose him. I go now to return -in the flesh to Berla, by Zitu's aid inside Panthor's limit of days." - -"Zitu go with you and return again with you, Beloved," said Naia of -Aphur, with the fire of her womanhood, her motherhood, in her purple -eyes. - - * * * * * - -Back, back to Himyra, sped the spirit of Jason Croft. It crept into the -form on the couch of molded copper and opened its eyes. It urged it up -atingle with the knowledge it brought and all it involved. It sent it -seeking an attendant, to bid the guardsman find the apartment of Robur -and rouse him from his slumbers and summon him to the Mouthpiece of -Zitu's chamber at once. - -And when Aphur's governor appeared with sleep driven swiftly from him, -Croft told him all he had seen and heard. - -"Wherefore," he made an ending, "we go north from Himyra in three suns." - -"Three?" Robur stared. "But, by Zitu, Jason, think you their crews may -learn so quickly to control them?" - -Croft nodded. "They are eager. In the morn I explain to them that there -comes a need of haste. On the fourth day we go north with such as are -able to follow. The rest may remain. Also, we take six of the airplanes -with us." - -"Aye," Robur said--"yet can they fly not to such a distance. Short of -Berla must they descend for fuel." - -"At Scira, at Niera," Croft told him, giving the routing of the planes -as well as an answer. "Send in my name a message to Scira--that with -morn a swift galley depart for Niera, bidding Mazhur send a quantity -of the fuel north along the highway to within a day's march of the -northern border of the state. In these things, Rob, lies my reason for -calling you to me. Much must be arranged ere we start." Long before -this night he had planned each step of the journey in his mind, and he -was ready now that the time for the actual work approached. - -"Aye." A look of steely purpose crept into Robur's eyes. "As ever, -Jason, my friend, you are ready. The message shall be sent without -delay." He rose. - -"We will take with us the man who sends it, also," said Croft. "Let it -be understood. Once we are over Berla it will be needful that there be -one who shall understand the signals of the flash-lights I have made, -since according to my plans I shall land a plane in the square before -Helmor's palace." - -Robur's eyes widened swiftly. "_Thou_ wilt land a plane before his -palace!" he exclaimed. - -"Aye," Croft answered, smiling slightly. "Who else? Think you I shall -trust the final mission to another? Wherefore I shall require a man on -one of the blimps, to read any such message as I may give." - -The glances of the two men continued to hold for a breathless moment, -and then Robur said with feeling, "By Zitu--thou art a brave man, -Jason, yet I sense not your plan in this. They will but fall upon -thee--" - -"Nay." Croft shook his head. "Nay, Rob--and you think so, you sense -not my plan indeed. Ere I make a landing before the palace of Helmor, -a part--a small part of Berla--but one adjoining the space about the -palace, shall be ablaze. In the light of that conflagration shall Jason -of Tamarizia descend--and call upon Helmor for the surrender of the -ones he holds to ransom, under penalty of seeing the remainder of Berla -destroyed. Think you he will long falter, or seek to injure my person? -Nay, he will make the better choice." - -For it was so he had planned it in the instant he gazed on the vast -expanse of pavement fronting the palace, this same night when he had -hung above it in spirit only. Then he had pictured it back by a roaring -wall of unquenchable fire, in the leaping radiance of which the flare -of the fire urns faded, by the light of which Helmor of Zollaria might -cast his eyes up and behold the menace floating above him and all -Berla, against the sky. - -And so he told himself now once more as well as Robur, the thing would -be accomplished. In the light of that ruddy illumination he would -descend to demand a parley with Helmor in person. It was so he would -regain his wife and son--that Naia of Aphur--and Jason, Son of Jason, -would be rewon. The fire of his determination, of his completed plan, -blazed back at Robur with the light of a mighty purpose--a thing -conceived in weary weeks of ceaseless thought and labor--a thing not to -be any longer changed or swerved from its course. - -Before that light Aphur's governor paled slightly and set his lips. - -"Aye," he said a trifle gruffly because of his blended emotions, "now -I understand thee, Jason. But it would take Zitu's Mouthpiece to -undertake it in such fashion. And what does Robur of Aphur to aid the -success of the venture?" - -Once more Croft smiled. He laid a hand on his companion's shoulder. "He -watches from the sky for any message I shall flash with the signal-lamp -I shall carry--which, being interpreted to him by the man of the -message tower, he shall see translated instantly into deeds. So shall -he safeguard Jason's life--perhaps." - -"Perhaps, aye," said Robur. "So be it. I shall send the message as -Zitu's Mouthpiece directs. As for the rest, I like it not." - -Turning, he stalked from the room with a gloomy face. - -To himself, Croft admitted perforce that his plan was in the nature -of a somewhat desperate chance. Yet he believed that he had read the -Zollarian spirit aright--felt assured that he was predicting Helmor's -actions correctly, when the final issue should be his to face, that he -had erected his counter move on a firm foundation of human nature--was -counting not overmuch on the mental attitude to be induced by the -menace of a fiery dissolution rained down upon defenseless heads out of -space. - -Returning with the assurance that he had despatched a messenger with -his orders, Robur found him no whit less firm in his resolution, and -they discussed all details attendant on the departure of the blimps -through the further course of the night. - - * * * * * - -Morning ushered in three days of well-nigh ceaseless toil, of practise -with the giant aircraft by day--of an overhauling of them, a correcting -of minor faults by night, of consultations with the fliers in which -every step of the expedition was explained to them by Croft--of a -grooming and testing of the six planes that were to accompany the -monster dirigibles north. - -Mutlos of Cathur sent back word the first day that the galley for Niera -had put forth. That same night Croft and Robur visited the wireless -tower, and Croft demonstrated his signaling-flash. - -The man, trained to receiving and sending, read the code with little -trouble, transcribing more than one message correctly and then flashing -them back to Croft. Then, seating himself again at his key, he sent -word to Zitra that the expedition was about to set forth. - -There followed two more straining days wherein Croft gave it out that -only four blimps would be taken, and those manned by the crews that -showed the greatest aptitude in their work. Four, he had decided, would -be enough for the venture, and at dawn on the morning of the fourth day -they rose like monstrous glistening bubbles above Himyra's walls, and -pointed their blunt noses north. - -Three days to Niera, to reach which the swiftest galley took five. So -he had planned it. And at Niera he would descend. Long before he had -taken the necessary steps for that--sending what apparatus he would -require to the capital of Mazhur--that it might be ready for any need. - -The night before had seen the airplanes depart for Scira on the first -leg of their flight. From there they would go to Niera, and there the -entire expedition would once more meet. - -Three days, he thought, as he watched Himyra drop away beneath him -with the gaping, cheering crowds that had gathered to see the blimps -depart. Three days and four were seven. A day at Niera, to overhaul any -weakness that might have developed in the flight across the Central -Sea, a half day to the northern borders of Mazhur, the last jump, -before the final hop off for the planes. And from there to Berla--four -hundred miles or a trifle over. He allowed eight hours for that. - -Higher and higher soared the blimps. A strong wind raged about them, -bucking the roaring kick of the propellers. Higher yet, he gave -command. Higher and still higher, seeking a favorable current, higher -and higher, until it was found--then north--north--where once more -as always the lodestone of Naia of Aphur's being drew him--north and -north. He was going north at last! - -The thought fired him. There was no sense of motion. Even as in the -astral body, it was as though he himself stood silent and all beneath -him moved. Overhead the monster gas-bag glinted like a thing of silver -under the Sirian ray. Below him lay the no longer yellow ribbon of the -Na, framed in the green band of the irrigated lands. - -To the north the Central Sea showed sparkling in the morning sunshine. -And beyond the Central Sea was Mazhur--and beyond Mazhur--Naia--Naia -and Jason, Son of Jason--captive in a hostile land. And Naia's hair -was golden--as golden as the sunshine that glinted now on his flashing -armor--and her eyes were as blue as the blue stones upon his breast, -marking out in flawless outline the Cross of Life Eternal--the Cross -Ansata--and Azil's wide-stretched wings. - -A wonderful, a mighty, a vast exaltation of the spirit seized him. -He was going to her, borne swiftly out across the Central Sea on a -favoring wind, as though Zitu himself had filled the lungs of his -Omnipotent purpose, and were wafting him on his mission of salvation -with a strong, beneficent blast. - -Purposely he had placed the wireless operator aboard the blimp under -command of Rob. That night they exchanged signals--flashing message and -answer between them, as the tireless engines roared. The moons of Palos -rose and turned the Central Sea to indigo and silver--glinted on the -monster racing-bags. Far down, their shadows raced across the tossing -waves beneath them, like the shadows of weird clouds. - -Far off--a blot on the glinting waters--a galley showed. Croft -found himself wondering just what emotions the sight of the four -huge aircraft might cause aboard. At least he was sure the moons of -Palos--those moons by whose light he had first held Naia of Aphur in -his arms and kissed her--had never before beheld a similar sight. For -a long time after he had ceased signaling to Robur's blimp he sat -brooding, staring off across the moon-burnished surface of the waters -which showed on every side. - -And then, wrapping himself in a robe, since the night was chill at that -elevation, he laid himself down and after a time, to all appearances, -he slept. - -In reality, he came to earth as he had come the night on which he had -decided on the step upon which he had now set forth. He came and roused -me and told me all that had occurred on Palos during the intervening -months since we had spoken together last. - -And the thing fired me, woke in me an intense desire, so that as he -paused I cried, "Croft, let me be present--let me see the end of the -thing, at least." - - * * * * * - -He smiled. "Man," he said, "I knew you'd say that, and the thing will -be at night, three, four, five--six nights after this. Listen for my -call then, Murray, and after that--you'll have to shift for yourself." - -I nodded. "Just the same, I'll stick pretty close to you," I declared. - -"You can do it in the shape you'll be in," he retorted, smiling. "On -the last hop off from just south of Helmor's country, I'll be aboard a -plane. Rob knows his work, and he'll captain the blimps. They'll slip -over Berla after dark and light up the buildings fronting the palace -square. There is a bit of country outside the city that I'll make just -about dusk, and land. From there when I see the light of the fire, I'll -simply zoom up over the walls and alight in front of Helmor's doors--or -that's the way I've got it planned. So you see it's lucky you're going -to be capable of speedy motion, Murray, if you expect to go along." - -"But see here," I objected, "won't it be pretty risky coming down -outside the city, like that?" - -He shook his head. "You haven't quite learned Palos yet, Murray. I'll -hit a tract of uninhabited country, of course. If I were a Zollarian, I -could pull the same stunt in the desert outside Himyra's walls. Now, do -you understand?" - -I said I did, and he left me. And that is the way in which I came to -witness the ending of the duel between Zollaria and Tamarizia, but more -particularly between Kalamita and Jason, the Mouthpiece of Zitu, I -shall endeavor to describe. - -Of what intervened during the next five days I know of course only -by hearsay. Briefly, Croft made Niera on time, and came down. The -airplanes--five of them, that is--arrived. The other had come to grief -and been compelled to remain behind. He did not wait for it, but -pressed on. The final stopping-place was reached. - -Croft, to Robur's horror, made use of a parachute with which he had -equipped each ship, and dropped safely to the ground. Robur sailed -into the north, and Croft, waiting until the planes had filled their -fuel-tanks for the final stage of the journey, rose to follow just -after the noontide hour of prayer. - -Afterward he told me that the thing held a strange significance for him -at the time. There was a prayer in his heart as the plane soared up -swiftly--a prayer for success and the safety of those he loved--and he -knew that, back in Himyra, Gaya was praying in a similar fashion for -Robur, for Naia and Jason, and himself. And he knew that, even if in -less definite fashion, the same prayer was in the heart of the nation -whose manhood drove the blimps before him--one of whose daring sons -controlled the rising plane on which he rode. - -The hour of prayer. Eight hours he had allowed himself to cover the -last four hundred miles. If nothing went wrong he would come in sight -of Berla about dusk--and he would keep the blimps in sight, of course. -One hour, two, three passed with the steady drone of the motur in his -ears--four, five, six. Another, and the blimps paused and began a -majestic circling. - -Berla was in sight from their greater elevation, and twilight was -falling. Across it he winked his signal--and was answered by a -responsive flash. The plane fled on, swerving to one side to find the -spot where it should lie waiting. Like a great bat swooping, it sank -and went skimming across the darkening landscape, seeking a place to -alight. In the end it grounded far out beyond the now shadowy outlines -of Berla's walls. - -Croft leaned back in his seat. Briefly he spoke to his pilot and seemed -to rest, sagging inside his supporting straps. But, as aboard the -blimp that first night, his spirit sought the chamber beneath Helmor's -palace--found Naia and Jason on the couch together watching the blue -girl of Mazzeria, who was busy weaving patterns out of straws. Naia of -Aphur--and Jason, Son of Jason--on this night of all nights--safe! - -Croft opened his eyes and lifted his body more stiffly in its seat. -"Zitu--I thank thee," he whispered, raising his face to the now -night-darkened heavens, and then--he sent the call for which I was -listening on earth. - - * * * * * - -Berla of Zollaria. It lay there, huge, dark, slumbrous, safe; secure as -the night pall wrapped it in all, seeming, undisturbed by any alarm of -danger--unapproached by any force of foes. For what could harm Helmor's -city, behind its darkly outlined walls? Four hundred miles of mountain, -plain, and desert lay between it and the Tamarizian border--and as -yet, save for the sending of a delegation to parley, Tamarizia had not -moved. Dark, silent, it lay, save for where on either side of one of -its many gates, the fire urns flared. - -And yet on the darkened terrain beyond them crouched the squat, -wide-winged shape of the Tamarizian plane, with its two men, watching, -watching. And somewhere--high above it rode the blimps, of which -there was no sign. Yet they were there, and the plane was squatted, -watching--and they were things that, swifter than any method known to -Zollaria's craft--swifter than the swiftest racing gnuppas--could cross -mountain and desert and plain. - -Then suddenly--without sound, so high they rode--from out of the -blue-black void of the heavens--there showed a winking light. Ruddy it -was as a falling star--as it glowed briefly and vanished like a fading -spark. And yet, seeing it, one knew that under cover of the darkness, -before the moons of Palos wheeling up like racers of the night revealed -them, the blimps were stealing in. - -Once more the ruddy pin-point winked, twice, thrice, and vanished, and -as it faded for the last time it was answered by Croft himself from the -plane. Briefly his torch glowed and was extinguished and the spot in -the heavens did not appear again. Only Jason spoke to the flier. "Be -ready, Avron." - -And the man replied, "Aye, lord," climbed into the pit of the fuselage, -and began strapping himself in place. - -Croft followed suit. The two men sat staring out towards the walls of -Berla, where the fire urns still made flickering flares against the -gates. - -And that was all. Save for their breathing, the whisper of the night -wind round them, there was no sound. Silent as death itself was the -blimps' approach, and as unsuspected, until presently an arc of silver -appeared above the eastern horizon, and up shot the first of the twin -Palosian moons. - -Its upflung rays fell on a wondrous sight. They struck against -the giant dirigibles, turning them into slowly drifting things of -silver--huge, unbelievable, weird as the moonlight struck upon them, -like monstrous dream shapes--unthinkable bubbles wafted forward on some -unsensed breeze. So they must have burst upon the startled sight of -Berla's people, first, soaring high above the city, circling as though -in search of some definite spot, before they paused, appeared to hover -for an instant, and began settling down. - -"Zitu!" Avron whispered tensely under his breath. - -"Aye," said Zitu's Mouthpiece as though in answer. "Watch ye now, -Avron--watch." - -Down, down sank those mighty glistening shapes from the Palosian -skies--down, down until at length without seeming cause they checked -their descent, and hung gently swaying, until a strange red brilliance -leaped up high over Berla's walls. - -"Go now--in Zitu's name," Croft spoke to his pilot. - -The motur roared--the huge plane quivered, seemed to shake off the -lethargy of its waiting, trundled forward, gained headway, tilted, and -rose. - -Up, up in a reaching slant, Avron drove it toward the growing radiance -before it. And then, like a kite striking home upon its prey, it -swept above Berla's ramparts and plunged down beneath the moon and -flame-illumined gas-bags, toward the leaping fires. - -They leaped, they blazed, those fires spreading in a ruddy band of -destruction before Helmor's palace. They smoked. The wind of night -caught that smoke and swept it off across the city in twisting, -writhing streamers and billows, like the tatters of a trailing shroud. -For an instant it half veiled the racing plane, and Avron coughed. -Then the machine burst through it and swam above the square already -beginning to fill with a running, shouting, wildly gesticulating mob, -beyond which on the steps of the palace itself showed a body of the -palace guard. - - * * * * * - -The fire struck off ruddy flashes from their massed cuirasses and -helmets, pricked out the livid color of their saffron plumes. A captain -lifted a sword and pointed toward the hovering gas-bags with a glinting -blade. The roof of a house crashed down roaring in a fiery dissolution, -casting up a myriad of sparks against the smoke pall of the major -conflagration, from which a sickly, unsteady light was filling all -the square, casting flickering shadows over the jostling mass of the -panic-stricken crowd. - -Above that scene the airplane swam with a chattering motur. The milling -masses heard it and lifted their faces toward it in a fresh alarm. It -turned. It circled back. - -"Down," Croft spoke to Avron. "Land me before the guard." - -Avron nodded, worked with his controls briefly. The plane tilted, -circled again at a lower level--and suddenly with deadened engine -volplaned with the steady-winged swoop of a hawk toward the wide -expanse of pavement, to trundle forward and pause. - -Before it the guard shifted uneasily, watched its slowing advance with -widened eyes and paling faces, a slight backward movement of their -ranks. - -Not so the captain, however. - -"By Bel--he has given one of them into our hands at least. Upon them!" -he roared, and drew his sword to lead them in an overpowering charge. - -"Hold!" Croft rose in his place and faced the quick, forward surge of -the guardsmen. "Naught has Bel given thee, captain. Wherefore spare thy -praises. By design are we come among thee--for speech with Helmor. Put -up thy sword." - -The firelight glinted on him as he left the plane and sprang lightly -to the ground. It shone on his burnished harness, it struck upon his -azure plumes. It pricked out the design of the Cross Ansata and the -widespread wings of Azil on his cuirass. And suddenly the captain -lowered the point of his weapon in a startled recognition. - -"Thou?" he stammered. - -"Aye," said Jason gruffly. "I, Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu--to -hold speech with Helmor, as thou hast already heard. I Jason of -Tamarizia--the one man who may save Berla from destruction--by whose -order what remains once that fire has burned itself to embers--may be -spared. Go say as much to Helmor, and say also that I wait a meeting -with him--here." - -Followed a tense moment, in which quite plainly the Zollarian debated -his course, turning his glance from Croft to the slowly swinging menace -of the moonlighted blimps above him--those glinting shapes so remote, -so detached in their cold, almost frost-rimmed seeming--and yet as the -man before him said the cause of the ravening flames in whose light -that man appeared. - -And as though sensing his thought, Tamarizia's Mouthpiece spoke again: - -"Think not that save by my order any part of Berla will be -spared--neither thou, nor Helmor, nor any of her people. That ye behold -done here may be done elsewhere, Zollarian captain." - -"By Bel--" The captain sheathed his sword. Seemingly the situation was -too much for him to handle unaided. "Restrain the people," he directed -a lieutenant. "Hold him securely and in safety until I have seen this -carried to Helmor's ears." - -The lieutenant saluted. Turning, the captain ran flashing up the -stairs. His subordinates growled a command. The guardsmen advanced, -split, moved off right and left, formed a cordon about the plane and -Jason, facing outward toward the crowds in the square with leveled -spears. - -Time passed. Jason of Tamarizia stood motionless with folded arms. The -people of Berla pressed up to the very spear points, shrieking and -mouthing. The conflagration roared. - -And then the palace doors opened. Helmor and Helmon appeared. Slowly -and without any sign of undue haste they descended the steps until -nearly at the foot they paused. - -The Zollarian monarch and Tamarizia's strong man stared into one -another's eyes, and Helmor caught a body-filling breath. - -"So," he said, "it is thou. Word I had of thy presence, yet hardly it -seemed thou hadst dared." - -Not a line of Jason's set expression altered as he replied, "Wherein -Helmor had right. Naught have I dared indeed. If Helmor doubts it, let -him use his eyes. Let him gaze on yonder fire, and lift his vision to -the skies. There may he behold the cause in those engines with which I -have come upon him, by which Berla shall ere morning lie in ashes, save -I and I only give the word that it be spared. Wherefore I dare naught -in standing thus before him, to offer him the safety of himself and -people. What would it profit Helmor to bid his guardsmen seize me, and -thereby lose his one remaining chance of safety? Has he any means with -which he may combat them--any cover beneath which he shall lie safe -from a rain of unquenchable fire?" - -Helmor hesitated in his answer--hesitated even as those who know that -they are lost. And indeed he must have known it in that instant as -he lifted his eyes to the heavens and beheld there the unbelievable -creations brought against him too remote for any resistance within his -power to reach them, yet near enough to bring swift death upon himself -and his people, as witnessed by the blazing wall of the city, at the -foot of the palace square. And in that bitter moment of realization -Helmor of Zollaria's spirit must have writhed. - - * * * * * - -Now was humiliation come upon him--upon him who had sought to bring it -upon others in his time. Staggered by the appalling swiftness of it, he -found no words with which to meet the situation. And as he lowered his -glance and forced it back to that of the man before him, Croft spoke -again. - -"Nor Berla alone, O Helmor. These things be not of my seeking, nor of -Tamarizia's design. Yet if I return not scatheless from this meeting, -not only Berla but all Zollaria as well shall burn. If I return not -safely that begun this night shall certainly continue, and Tamarizia -shall hurl her total strength against a treacherous nation which seeks -by unlawful methods to further her ends. And in that day Zollaria as a -nation shall go down in a red ruin, from which she shall not rise. - -"We sought not war, O Helmor, nor aught save only peace. Twice have -you loosed your strength against us--and twice has it proved vain. -Yet again you planned our undoing--and this third time you struck -not as a man against men, but against the innocent, the weak and -helpless--seeking through them to win what had been failed of through -force of arms. Helmor of Zollaria struck not at the heart of a man -as he hoped to Zollaria's and his own profit. But now must he face -strength again. - -"Yet even so we come not in war against thee or thy nation, save in so -far as it be needful to prove resistance vain. War we make not against -the defenseless, the weak, nor wish to--and we hold it a thing for -sorrow, were the helpless, the innocent, to perish for Helmor's or -another's sin. Wherefore we come before thee and offer thee peace, O -Helmor--a peace which Helmor needs but say the word to win." - -"Thy price? Name the ransom of Berla, Mouthpiece of Zitu." Suddenly -Helmor appeared to find his tongue. His voice rose hoarsely. "By Bel, I -would not see my people burn." - -"Helmor knowest," Croft said slowly, "I but require of thee my own. -Let Naia of Aphur and the blue girl, her attendant, and Jason, Son of -Jason, be brought forth and placed unharmed aboard the machine Helmor -sees before him." - -"And afterward?" Croft's utterly controlled demeanor, the mildness of -his demands, seemed in a way to disturb Zollaria's monarch, appeared to -excite the suspicion of some hidden trap in his mind. - -"Nay, nothing," the Mouthpiece of Zitu returned. "Have I not said that -I come not in vengeance upon thee? Hark ye, Helmor, I am not driven -by any such intent as that of the woman who having led thee into this -position now plans to cast thee from a throne. Yet, if ye yield not, by -Zitu, whose Mouthpiece men name me--thy throne itself and all it stands -for shall be destroyed." - -Helmor started. Croft's intimate knowledge of a plot against his tenure -of his power seemed to shake him well-nigh as deeply as all else. He -stood silent, once more lost to all seeming in a gloomy consideration, -into which broke the rising voices of the crowd. For they too had -heard from their places outside the ring of threatening spears in the -hands of the guardsmen, and now they cried to him, "O Helmor--yield to -him--grant him his demands nor seek to resist him, O Helmor. Let not -Berla be destroyed!" - -Those cries beat into his ears a very surge of plaint and entreaty. And -hearing it Helmor threw up his head and turned to Croft. - -"This is the sum of your requirement, Mouthpiece of Zitu, which being -granted, shall lead to nothing else?" - -"Aye, by Zitu, on the word of Jason," Croft assented quickly, making -the words both agreement to Helmor's query and an oath. - -"O Helmor--" Once more the plea of a panic-stricken people. - -For a moment Zollaria's ruler gazed out across their terror-whitened -faces. And then he yielded, lifting a hand and upflung arm to calm -them. "Peace. Helmor bows to thy wishes in this matter. Go, Helmon, son -of Helmor, thyself bring forth the women and the child." - -"O Helmor. Hail Helmor! All praise to Helmor by whom we are preserved!" -In swift transition from plaint to plaudits once more came the voice of -the crowd. "Helmor the Wise One--the guardian of his people! O Helmor! -Aye, aye, Helmor--give them to him!" - -They surged forward, lifting their hands in acclaiming gestures as -Helmor turned and began to mount the steps. - -He had won, won! For an instant as the Zollarian prince climbed upward, -Croft found himself unnerved. He had won the desperate venture. A few -moments, a few heart beatings only, and he would look into Naia of -Aphur's eyes, might rest his hand, if so he wished, upon the crown of -her golden hair, winning like even to another Jason, that golden fleece -of his desire. The thought pleased him and he smiled, and turned his -glance toward Avron, staring down unmoved, as it seemed, in all the -tumult, from his place in the fuselage. - -A few moments--aye, a few moments. He faced back to Helmor, standing -with gloomy visage, and let his gaze run past him and up the flight of -steps behind him. A few moments and he would lift Naia and Jason, Son -of Jason, into the pit of the plane behind Avron and rise with them -free of Berla's prisoning walls. - -And then he stiffened. Helmon emerged from the palace, and with him, -Naia of Aphur, and Maia walking beside her, and about them some half -dozen members of the guard. - - * * * * * - -And now no longer was Croft the Mouthpiece of Zitu, but as he watched -the approaching party begin the descent of the stairs, noting the -slender lines of Naia's figure, the death-like pallor of her, straining -his eyes for a first glimpse of the child. A moment--a single moment -his leaping heart told him, and they would be reunited--one moment -only remained of the dreary waiting. Naia of Aphur was coming toward -him--nay, flying toward him. - -For, suddenly, without any warning, she was free of Maia's supporting -figure, clear of the guardsmen, past Helmor and speeding swiftly in the -firelight down the steps. - -Croft opened wide his arms. - -And then she was against him, lifting to his bended face eyes so -filled with maddening horror that they struck fresh terror to his -spirit, beating upon the cross the wings of Azil of his cuirass with -tight-clenched, desperate hands, panting rather than speaking, into his -startled ears the cry of a mother's frenzy. - -"Gone, Jason--gone. They have taken him from me. In the name of Zitu, -hasten to Bel's temple and save him. They have gone to sacrifice our -son!" - -Gone! For a heart's beat the soul of Jason Croft gave ground. Gone. -This, then, was the end of his scheming, his months of weary labor. -With success in his grasp he was beaten. - -"God!" he cried, not knowing in the shock of the moment that he spoke -in English, and releasing the grip of his arms about her body, he -seized her by the arms. His fingers bit into the white, white flesh -upon them. "But--he was safe with thee when darkness fell, beloved." - -"Aye, aye!" She nodded in desperate affirmation. "Scarce had Gor gone -when Helmon came to release us--" - -"Gor!" Croft bent straining eyes upon her. - -"Aye--Gor--creature of Kalamita. He it was who tore him from me, after -he had slain the captain of the guard--saying it was done by Helmor's -order. O Ga and Azil, canst not understand? To the Temple of Bel and -save him or else let Berla be destroyed." - -"Aye, if he dies, by Zitu." Croft swept her close pressed against his -side, and turned to Helmor. - -"Thou hearest, Zollaria, what answer have ye to words of Gor?" - -And in that moment when the balances trembled with the issue of life -and death for himself, his people, his nation, as well as for the other -actors in that tight-gripped scene, of every blended human emotion, -Helmor more than any time in Croft's knowledge of him proved his right -to reign. One quick pace he came toward the Mouthpiece of Zitu, and the -half fainting woman he supported, and paused with hand on sword and -flashing eyes. - -"Nay, by Bel," he answered strongly. "Not by word of Helmor was this -thing come to pass, but by the trickery of another, because of a plot -against me, of which it would seem from his own words, Jason knows. -Helmon, my son--" he turned briefly to the crown prince standing pallid -and shaken before this fresh turn of events--"what know you of this -foul matter?" - -And Helmon answered quickly, "Naia of Aphur speaks truth. Gor slew the -captain who denied him entrance to the chamber, and cowed the guardsmen -with his mighty strength--saying he took the child by thy orders, O my -father; wherein as thou knoweth he lied." - -"Aye." Helmor's features darkened. "Yet sought to take advantage of the -present instance to accomplish the interests of his sweetheart. By Bel, -I swear it. Let Tamarizia say if he believes." - -Deep in his troubled soul Croft knew that he did. The thing was well -in keeping with the methods Kalamita would almost certainly have -employed. Beaten until the moment of the city's panic in her efforts to -gain possession of the son of the man she hated, with a hatred defying -reason--it would have been like her once the aircraft hovered above -Berla to recall Helmor's words that the child should be given to Bel -in the event that Tamarizia refused the Zollarian demands or made any -hostile move. - -She might well have sent Gor on his mission, trusting to the excitement -to gain him access to the palace, to Helmor's former words to overcome -any refusal of his demands on the part of the guard. Such things passed -swiftly through his brain as the crowd again took up its clamor--"To -the temple, O Helmor--to the temple. Death to Gor who has undone us! -Seek and slay him!" - -Jason Croft inclined his azure-crested helm. "Aye, Helmor," he -accepted, "Jason believes. This were the work of Kalamita, not another. -Wherefore--" - -"To the temple!" Naia of Aphur screamed. "In Zitu's name, waste no -more words about it!" - -"To the temple--to the temple!" The words became a beating surf of -sound on the lips of the people. "To the temple quickly, O Helmor!" - -Helmor acted. "Ho, guardsmen, attend me! To the Temple of Bel!" he -roared. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - THE TEMPLE OF BEL - - -To the Temple of Bel! To that ebon dark structure, where in its mighty -enclosure crouched the figure of the unclean god. It was the one -chance--the one remaining hope of a full success in his venture, and -Jason knew it. - -"To Avron--up and remain with him," he cried to Naia. - -"Nay, Jason--nay, my beloved," she denied him, gasping. "With thee. -Keep me in this at thy side." - -"Come, then." He tightened the arm about her yielding waist and crushed -her to him. There was scant time to argue. Already the guard were -forming--massing a wall of their bodies about them. And there was a -thing that demanded his attention. Swiftly he drew his signal-lamp and -pointed it to the skies. - -"To the Temple of Bel! Descend above it!" He sent a message with a hand -that, despite his stern control, was not wholly steady. "To the Temple -of Bel," he repeated, and lowered his eyes to find Helmor's eyes upon -him. - -"I but signed the airships to follow us to the temple," he voiced -an explanation, lest the man misunderstand him, and found himself -wondering if the huge craft would be able to identify and find -it--decided there was naught he could do to aid them, that the carrying -out of the order lay wholly in the hands of Robur. - -And Helmor seemed to understand, though he made no answer, speaking -instead to Helmon. "Remain and guard the machine. Let no one approach -it." - -"To the temple!" Once more the voice of the crowd--a seething mass now -of jostling, pressing bodies--of white faces and lifted arms in the -flickering light of the firelight. - -Helmor answered the rising ululation, "Aye, to the temple. Forward, -guard!" - -Croft lifted Naia of Aphur, holding her terror-shaken figure before -him, cradling it in his arms against his metaled breast. Side by side -he went forward with Helmor as the guard advanced across the square, -breaking a pathway through the mass of the people with their spears. -Slowly at first, and then with a quickened rhythm beat their feet. -Their moving mass gathered momentum as their captain lifted his voice -and called a rising cadence. The light of the blazing buildings shone -sharp upon the spearheads--shimmered and flashed on their glinting -harness as they charged toward the shadowy mouth of a street. - -To the temple--the temple! The thud and clank of their feet, striking -in a measured rhythm, seemed to beat the words into Jason's ears. To -the temple--the temple! Naia of Aphur was praying. As he raced inside -the cordon of other racing bodies, Croft caught the whisper of her pale -lips beneath his own set, straining face. - -"Ga--Azil--Ga, eternal mother--Azil--angel of life--have mercy--spread -thy wings in shelter above him--" - -They reached the street and plunged among its shadows, pounding -with a dull reverberation of many feet along it. To the temple--the -temple. The walls of its banking structures gave back the echo of that -ceaseless rhythm. He glanced at Helmor. Set of lip and narrow-eyed, his -features distorted by the rage that burned within him, the realization -of this latest menace come upon him, the haste that had made him cast -aside all dignity of station, and sent him thus on foot in a last -endeavor to offset it, the Zollarian ran with a steady, unfaltering -stride. - -"Zitu--father of all life--" - -Croft tensed his muscles, pressing the yielding form of Naia closer -to his pounding heart. Save for her whispers, the clank and thud of -the charging body of men, their heavy breathing, there was no sound in -all the night. Behind them Berla was burning, with a lessening glare. -Here only the moonlight cut in silver bands and purple shadows as they -raced. He glanced up toward the azure heavens. His sweat-misted eyes -beheld a drifting shape--huge, too regular of outline for a cloud--the -glistening, glinting envelope of a blimp. - -"They follow us, beloved--Robur follows." He spoke in muffled tones to -Naia--and found her purple eyes lifted darkly to his face. - -Out of one street and into another raced the straining Zollarian -guard, and along it, and into another, and through that into a second -monstrous square. - -The Temple of Bel! Croft knew it--recognized it, felt his spirit once -more falter as he sensed its dark mass lightened by some interior -radiance that shone redly between the mighty pillars, pricking out each -massive column in an inky blackness--the light of Bel's lighted fire! - -Croft sensed its meaning--that Ptah had done his part and ignited the -sacrificial flame in the body of the monstrous god, lifted his eyes -from the fire-etched line of the pillars and found smoke curling in -whirling streamers above the temple façade, lifted his soul in a prayer -that Robur would also see it, mark it a beacon to guide his searching, -and ran on toward the serried flight of steps before him, reached them -and began to climb. - - * * * * * - -Up, up, he made his way with Helmor and the now panting guard. Up, -up--and what sight of horror would that radiance between the ebon -pillars reveal when they reached the top? - -He sickened before the question, found himself straining still ever -upward, made dizzy by his anguished thought. - -"Ga and Azil--Zitu--father of life--have mercy--" - -Suddenly he lifted his arms and shifted the body of Naia, turning it -more wholly toward him, as though thereby to hide from her eyes the -light of the temple fires. - -Up, up--the last step at last. And there, among the pillars supporting -the mighty colonnade, Helmor's party paused. Before and below them, the -vast pit with its rows of surrounding steps, whereon a multitude might -find seats--the idol in its center showed. Men--such as Croft had seen -on the occasion of Kalamita's visit to the Priest of Bel, were working -about the god. Smoke and flame curled from its flaring nostrils as they -fed its inward fires--and its hands, extended flatly, palm up, before -its ugly belly shone redly--they glowed. Heated to a dull incandescent, -they waited the sacrifice. - -So much Croft saw in a single glance, and found his spirit lighten, -even as Naia struggled to her feet and gazed upon the scene before -her--cried out and covered her eyes. - -"Forward." He spoke to Helmor. "Bid the guard surround the idol--seize -the men who attend it and hold them, while we make search for the -child." - -For there was time--time yet to accomplish all his purpose. Bel's -glowing hands were waiting, but not yet had the sacrifice been placed -within them, and deadly purpose wakening swiftly once more in the mind -of Jason, drove out his former fears. Enough he knew of Bel's worship -to know that no sacrifice were acceptable to him, unless placed in the -hands of the god. - -And Helmor seemed to comprehend both his intent and the situation -fully. He addressed the captain of the sweating guardsmen. "Take a -portion of your men--surround the image. Let none approach it." Then as -the officer, saluting, turned to fulfill his orders, he drew back, with -face gone livid, and faltered. "Stay! Nay, now, by Bel I dare not. The -sacrifice approaches. Behold!" - -Lifting a shaken arm, he pointed. Croft followed the direction of his -hand and starting eyes. He turned his baffled glance to the other end -of the mighty enclosure, where at the head of the farther tier of steps -a processional appeared. - -Ptah! He saw him, naked in all his wonderful animal strength save for a -scarlet leathern apron about his bulging loins and a headdress of ebon -plumes, and the glint of metal sandals and casings of metal on his feet -and monstrous calves. And behind him a body of lesser priests. - -So much only he saw at first, and then, as Ptah and his satellites -descended the upper tier of steps, Kalamita, in the veiled beauty -of her physical form, appeared. Kalamita! Woman of flesh and fleshy -beauty--Priestess of Adita. Her perfect body shone in the light of the -sacrificial fires, an iridescent thing of tinted silk and jewels, and -behind her Bandhor and Panthor. - -They descended a single step--and behind them came Gor in his banded -cuirass of copper, on which the light struck dully, bearing the -sacrifice. - -Jason, Son of Jason--he lay upon an ebon-colored cushion, and even as -Croft's agonized eyes beheld him, he lifted little upflung hands and -arms. - -"Ga--and Azil," cried Naia of Aphur in an anguish of recognition. - -Croft whirled on Helmor. "Forward. There remains yet time to save him!" -he roared. - -"Nay, Mouthpiece of Zitu, I dare not." At the end, Helmor balked -the issue. Life-long superstition proved stronger than all other -considerations. "Helmor nor any man may seek to keep from Bel what is -consecrated to him." - -"Ga--" The prayer of a mother to the Mother Eternal. - -The thing was a matter of a few moments. Then Croft cast his glance -upward. - -A monstrous, glistening oblong hung there, slowly turning. He lowered -his gaze and swept it across the floor of the mighty pit, and from -that to Ptah and those behind them. And then his voice lashed back at -Zollaria's monarch. "Does Helmor fear then the fire of Bel--more than -Tamarizia's fires?" - -And Helmor answered. "Helmor, Tamarizian, performs not a sacrilege -against his god. In his hands be it." - -"Then let Helmor behold!" Croft took the only chance remaining. Swiftly -he darted down some half dozen tiers of steps and lifted his huge -signaling-torch to the skies. - -"Set fire to the pit of the temple." - -Once, twice, he flashed that message, even though after the first swift -sending, the blimp began sinking down. And then as it hovered lower and -lower, bulking ever more hugely, he turned and climbed back with limbs -that shook beneath him, to Naia's side. - -For that was the thought born of his desperate need as Helmor weakened -in his purpose--to flood the level space between Ptah and the idol with -a mass of impassable flame--to check him, hold him from the presence of -his god with fire, since he might not do it with men. - -Lower and lower sank the airship. Like a mighty cover settling down -above the open enclosure, it seemed. And as Croft slipped an arm about -the swaying form of Naia of Aphur, it paused. - -Paused, too, Ptah and his fellow priests. They had caught sight of -Croft on the steps beyond the idol--marked the upflung posture of his -arm. Their eyes had leaped above it and fallen on the glistening shape -descending as it seemed, upon their heads. Perhaps consternation seized -them--perhaps they waited merely to grasp its presence. But at all -events they paused with lifted faces. - -And as they stood--the floor of the pit about the idol, beyond it -farther and farther, burst into widening lines of flame. Swiftly those -lines stretched out, spreading, spreading across the sunken level, as -the monstrous shape above it poured down its fiery rain. In it the -image of Bel glowed yet more hotly, became a thing of a myriad licking, -darting, fiery tongues. The men who had stoked the fires within it -vanished, writhing, caught beyond any hope of rescue in the open. - -And whether consternation had first seized the minds of Ptah and his -party, it seized them now. They turned to draw back before the deadly -menace of the sea of fire before them. Too late--its ever widening -circle swung its arc against them. Ptah--Priest of Bel, shrieked once -in mortal anguish, and went down. - - * * * * * - -On the steps of Bel's Temple--on their way to Bel's idol--he and his -fellows sank in a horrid dissolution, with a grotesquely terrible -twitching of tortured bodies, a tossing of arms and limbs. They fell -and, driven by their own contortions, dropped one by one from step to -step among the lapping flames. - -Above them stood Kalamita--Priestess of Adita--stood as one wholly -bereft of motion, until suddenly she shrieked in a voice that rang from -end to end of the temple, turned to flee, and shrieked again, and fell -forward, beating at her body--and Gor, casting aside the child on its -ebon cushion, leaped down and caught her writhing figure in his arms. - -"Enough--enough!" Croft flashed the signal upward, and started running -off between the pillars to reach the further tier of steps from whence -still rang the screams of Kalamita. And as he ran he drew his sword, -and went on clutching it in a tightly gripping hand. - -"After him! Seize Bandhor, Panthor, and the woman. Hold them! Preserve -the child!" Helmor roused from the fear that had held him impotent in -the presence of Zollaria's now discredited god. - -The guard leaped to obey the order. Croft heard the pound of their feet -behind him and ran on. - -A hundred feet, two, three. The fires below him having naught to feed -them, were burning themselves out. He reached the tier of steps down -which Ptah and his fellows had gone to their death. Bandhor and Panthor -stood there, and Gor--his mistress's screams now sunk to moanings--her -once lovely body marked by angry scars where the spattering liquid fire -had sprayed from the lower steps and struck her, yet held a white, -jeweled shape against his mighty breast. - -Toward them, still with his naked sword in his hand, he made his way. -Behind him came Helmor's guard. And yet--as he advanced, oddly enough -Croft gave little attention to them. His eyes seemed centered beyond -all other purpose, on the shape of the ebon cushion Gor had cast from -him ere he leaped to Kalamita's aid--that cushion beside which, wholly -unheeded, lay the form of Jason, Son of Jason--his child. - -Then as he stooped to raise him in hands that trembled, the guard flung -themselves on the two men. - -"Back," Bandhor suddenly thundered. "Back, men of Zollaria! It is thy -commander speaking." - -And Helmor, bursting through the faltering soldiery, answered, "Nay, -not so, Bandhor, thou traitor, any longer--not thou or Panthor, but -Helmor rules still in Berla. Seize him--and lead him to the palace, -there to stand trial with Panthor for his treason." - -Again the guard surged forward, closing about Bandhor and Helmor's -cousin, and Croft found a slender form hurled swiftly against him, -white hands clinging to him--the purple eyes of Naia of Aphur, lighted -with the wild, sweet fires of fulfilled yearning, lifted to him across -the body of the child. - -His heart too surcharged for words, he smiled upon her and laid Jason, -Son of Jason, in her arms. - -With the sound of a caught-in sob, a gesture hungry in its passion, she -gathered him to her, bent her face above him, rocking him gently with -a swaying of her slender figure as one groping baby hand crept up and -dug itself into the soft substance of her gown. Turning with him to the -girl of Mazzeria, whom Croft now sensed for the first time as having -followed from the palace--dogging faithfully her mistress's footsteps -to the last. - -Ga, the Mother--the Virgin--the Madonna, bending in tender brooding -above the infant--pressing it in loving rapture against the greater -bulk of the form that had given it birth. - -From that sight Croft turned away his misted eyes to find those of -Kalamita fixed on him in a stare of well-nigh insane hatred. - -She had struggled free from Gor, and, despite the pain of her burns, -which in their blindly, upflung course, had spared not even the once -beautiful mask of her face, was standing there before him. And, as -their glances met, her tightly held lips parted. - -"Thou--thou," she mouthed; "thou Mouthpiece of Zitu--thou man of -ice and fire--thou wrecker of the plans of Kalamita--thou man like -not to any man before thee--by all the fiends of the foul pit of -the underworld I curse thee--may they torture thy spirit--and that -of her whom I have kept for Zitrans from thee, and bring sickness -and loathsome disease on the child. May its flesh rot and its bones -grow hollow like blasted reeds--may Adita cause thy mate to shrivel -quickly--may she cease to please thee, and yet cling to thee--denying -thee the pleasure she herself no longer gives. May Bel visit his wrath -upon thee for the sacrilege thou hast shown him. I, Kalamita--" - -"Peace." The captain of the guard laid hold upon her. "Thy pleasure -with this woman, O Helmor?" - -And Helmor eyeing her, answered, "Nay--nothing. That she who has turned -the minds of men with her beauty should stand thus now before them, -were punishment indeed. Release her--let her go her ways." - -"Thy fault--thou Mouthpiece. The curse of Kalamita on thee!" Once more -she wheeled on Jason. - -"Nay--curse no more," he told her. "Once thou didst challenge Adita to -blast thy fairness and thou did not accomplish thy ends against me. -And now it is in my mind that thy fickle goddess has taken thee at thy -word." - -"Aye, peace!" said Helmor. "Get thee to thy palace, woman." - -For a moment Kalamita drew herself up before him, and then, flinging -clenched hands above her tawny head in an impotent gesture, she turned -to Gor standing stolidly waiting, and leaning her weight against him, -went with him into the night. - - * * * * * - -And that is all, as Croft would say, I suppose--since when he described -Naia's winning to me at the time of the Mazzerian War he brought his -narrative to a close with their marriage, until I demanded that the end -of the war itself be told. - -So now one may fancy that to him the real ending of the matter would -have been in that moment when he stood there with Helmor, and Naia, -standing with Jason, Son of Jason, held fast against her breast, and -Maia, the girl of Mazzeria, at her side, and knew that Helmor had no -longer any thought save to see him depart with them in safety, that he -and his city might also know themselves safe. - -But to my mind there is more to the story--not so much of an individual -nature, as applying to the future of the Palosian life. - -For, to the ears of my spirit, which had witnessed all the crowded -events, came Helmor's voice addressing Jason: - -"How now, Mouthpiece of Zitu--what else?" - -And Jason answered. "Naught, O Helmor, save that we return to the -machine before the palace, and depart in peace, unless by Helmor's -wish." - -"What mean you by Helmor's wish?" There was no sign of understanding in -the Zollarian monarch's intonation or the now somber lines of his face, -as the last rays of the fire in the vast pit of Bel's Temple struck -upon it. - -Again Croft answered slowly, "Naia of Aphur, wife of Jason, and Jason, -Son of Jason, were seized for a purpose--which Helmor knows---and the -end is--this." - -For a moment he paused and swept an arm about the mighty interior of -the temple--embracing all--the still-smoking figure of the idol--the -bodies of Ptah and his fellow priests, now lying charred and blackened -below him on the serried steps. - -And then as Helmor made no response or comment on that scene of sudden -death and desolation, he resumed. "Yet have I said that I came not in -vengeance against thee, nor in war, nor for any reason save only to -regain my own. Wherefore, I say again to Helmor, now, that the purpose -he had in mind may be served equally in a different fashion--and that -he say the word he may gain in peace what he might not obtain by either -treachery or war--and I say to him also that this night's work has -preserved not only Naia of Aphur and Jason, Son of Jason, to me, but to -Helmor also, his throne." - -And now Helmor spoke, nodding quickly. "Aye--Helmor does not overlook -it. Speak, Mouthpiece of Zitu--how may these things you hint at be -done?" - -Having fully caught his attention, Croft went on, "Let Zollaria and -Tamarizia make a pact of peace between them, pledging themselves -without reservation to sheathe the sword from this hour, nor draw it -one against the other again. Let Helmor subscribe to this, and Helmon, -Helmor's son. Let him proclaim the establishment of schools, the -education of his people. Let him seek for his nation strength through -the growth of knowledge, rather than the strength of arms--" - -Once more he paused, and again Helmor nodded. - -His face lighted swiftly as he caught Croft's meaning. - -"Aye, by Bel," he said. "It is thy knowledge, Mouthpiece of Zitu, that -has made Tamarizia strong." - -"And not Tamarizia only, but Zollaria also," said Jason, "if Helmor -sets his seal to such a bond." - -"By Bel," Helmor exclaimed, as all the suggestion embraced burst -suddenly upon him. "Come then to the palace. Let us speak of this more -fully. Delay thy departure as guests of Helmor and his people till -morn." - -"Aye." Croft assented without hesitation, his stern face strangely -exalted by the thought that out of this night of warring purpose and -emotion, peace between age-old foemen might be born. - -Back, then, they made their way through the streets along which they -had rushed so short a time in so vastly different a fashion to regain -the square before the palace--where only the light of the fire urns now -served to show Avron, still sitting at his station in the pit of his -machine. - -And there Croft, lifting his signaling-flash, sent a final message -to the mighty shapes still circling over the city. "Remain until the -morning. Watch for the plane at dawn." - -Robur's answering flash winked promptly back at him redly, and bidding -Helmon join them, they entered the palace, through which Jason had -flitted in the astral presence so many times. - -Yet different now indeed was the situation, as Helmor summoned -slave-girls to attend on Naia, provide for her every comfort. He left -her with Croft for the moment and Croft drew her into his arms. - -For a long, long moment he held her, sensing her nearness--her -dearness--the truth that now again, not only in spirit but in body, was -she his own. - -"Beloved!" he whispered, and crushed her to him. - -"Beloved!" she whispered, and threw back her golden head to lift her -purple eyes to him. - -So for a long moment, and then she spoke again. "And thou canst -accomplish thy purpose, beloved--were it not well worth suffering, -indeed? Thinkest thou Helmor is taken with the notion?" - -"Aye," said Jason, and he paused as he recalled Gaya's words that out -of his bereavement, his agony of spirit, would come not only peace to -his soul, but a possible peace between the nations--and found himself -undecided, but his own thought of such a peace as he had offered Helmor -had been first inspired by a woman's attempt to give him encouragement -in a troubled hour of need. - -"Zitu grant it." - -Naia nestled against him. "Go then and arrange it. I shall pray for thy -success upon my knees." - -After that, Croft left her, and rejoined Helmor and his son. To that -same apartment in which Jason had inspired his dream of warning against -Kalamita, the Zollarian monarch led them, and there they took up the -matter of a treaty between their nations, at the point where they had -laid it down. - - * * * * * - -Thereafter, while the hours passed, Helmor's expression altered; his -eyes grew darkly flashing; the deeply graven lines in his somber -visage relaxed as Croft expounded the advantages to be gained in a -friendly intercourse between his own and Helmor's people, suggested -with what must have seemed to the two Zollarians closeted with him, -an inspired mental vision. He proposed the terms of the international -coalition--teachers from Tamarizia to instruct the Zollarian -workmen--the establishment of telegraphic communication--a readjustment -of trade relations--the extension north of Croft's interrupted scheme -for a system of electrically operated railroads--the opening of shops -and schools. - -Until at last Helmor, rising in no small excitement, sent Helmon to -summon a scribe, and demanded the immediate drawing-up of a provisional -bond, which Jason should take with him in the morning for ratification -at Zitra. He began a restless pacing to and fro as the scribe set to -work upon it, holding his heavy hands clasped together behind his back -as he paced and turned. - -It was a strange night for Helmor of Zollaria, as he must have thought, -wherein Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu--the man who had thrice baffled his -purpose, sat with him in his own apartment, and rather than crushing -him wholly, now, in his final defeat--placed the objects of his seeking -in his hands--a strange night, indeed, whereon he owed not only his own -throne to his singular foeman--but the promise of a greater future than -ever to his nation--greater than he had dreamed in all his scheming. - -And then--the scribe had finished his labors. Helmor strode to the -table, removed his signet from his finger and affixed its seal to the -agreement. Through the windows of the apartment a faint gray light was -stealing--the harbinger of dawn. - -He replaced his signet, extended his hand to Jason. Across the promise -of a newer dawn for their people Helmor of Zollaria and the Mouthpiece -of Zitu struck palms. - -And in the light of that double dawn, the fullness of that double -peace, Jason and Naia of Aphur, Maia, the girl of Mazzeria, and Jason, -Son of Jason, went down to the waiting machine. - -Croft helped the women aboard and passed up the child. Cased in his -suit and helmet of leather, Avron took his place in the machine. Then -ere he followed, Jason turned to look into Helmor's face. - -"Hail Helmor--and farewell. And thou, Helmon, son of Helmor," he said. - -"Hail, Mouthpiece of Zitu--and Naia of Aphur--and farewell," they -replied. - -Up, up shot the plane; leaving Helmor and Helmon and the soldiery to -mark its swift ascent. Up, up it mounted over Berla, until the sunlight -caught it also, turning its wheeling vanes like the greater shapes -above them to gold. Up, up--the city fell away beneath it as it swung -in an ever widening circle, beneath the mighty ships that all night had -waited for its rising. Naia of Aphur lifted her voice. - -Clear, strong, true, and perfect as a golden bell, it mounted in a -paean of thanksgiving. - -"Hail, Zitu--father of all life--and thanks from a grateful heart. -Hail, Azil--giver of life--who poured life into the mold of life--from -which I was born. Thanks be to thee for the life that is mine--this -life--I hold from thee--to be mine own. Blessings--my blessings upon -thee, Ga--that I am a woman--my thanks for the tears with which, -womanlike, I have washed your feet--not knowing that so I washed out -also sorrow--preparing thereby my heart as a flask for the mellow wine -of life from which now joy is drunk." - -So sang Naia of Aphur, and I recognized the song as one of which Croft -had told me--as one she had sung on another occasion when she bore him -back from the camp of the Mazzerian army under Bandhor--as a chant--a -prayer, used by Tamarizian women for one who had lain at the very door -of death, and returned. - -Here, then, I think is the logical end of the story--with the -great plane driven south by Avron, and behind him, Maia, the girl -of Mazzeria, and Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu, and Naia of Aphur -singing--with Jason, Son of Jason, held safe in her cradling arms. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JASON, SON OF JASON *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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Gíesy. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2,h3 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.poetry .stanza -{ - margin: 1em auto; -} - -.poetry .verse -{ - padding-left: 3em; -} - - - </style> - </head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Jason, Son of Jason, by J. U. Gíesy</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Jason, Son of Jason</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: J. U. Gíesy</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: March 18, 2022 [eBook #67655]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JASON, SON OF JASON ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>JASON, SON OF JASON</h1> - -<h2>By J. U. Gíesy</h2> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> - -<h3>THE GATEWAY OF LIFE</h3> - - -<p>It was midnight when the night superintendent called and told me No. 27 -had died. I rose. The thing was no surprise. I had known it was going -to happen. No. 27 had told me so himself. None the less, I went to -his room. Routine in the mental hospital had nothing to do with that -strange secret held in common between myself and the man—that strange -state of affairs which had enabled him to predicate his own death so -accurately.</p> - -<p>And yet as I mounted the stairs to the room where his body now lay as -a worn-out husk I had none of the feeling which so customarily assails -the average mortal in such an hour. To me it was not as though he had -died. To my mind in those moments it was no more than the casting aside -by the activating spirit of that instrument which for its own ends it -had used. The body then was a husk indeed—an emaciated, worn-out thing -which, because of our mutual secret, I knew had been kept alive by the -sheer force of the spiritual tenant, now removed.</p> - -<p>I stood looking down upon it, with very much the same sensations one -might have in viewing the tool once plied by the hand of a friend. It -was nothing more than that really. Jason Croft had used it while he had -need of its manipulation, and when his need was accomplished he had -simply laid it down.</p> - -<p>Jason Croft. Dead? I felt an impulse to smile in most improper fashion. -Not at all. The man was not only not dead, but I knew—as positively -as I knew I was presently going to leave the room where his dead shell -lay on a hospital bed and return to my own quarters—exactly where he -had gone.</p> - -<p>The statement sounds a bit as though I were better qualified as an -inmate than the superintendent of an institution for the care of the -insane. And I don't suppose it will help any for me to add that I had -seen Jason Croft die before—or that he had informed me on the former -occasion, though in less specific fashion, of his approaching end.</p> - -<p>That was after he had told me a most remarkable tale, which, in -spite of its almost incredible nature, I found myself strongly -inclined to believe. It had concerned Croft's adventures on another -planet—Palos—one of the spheres in the universe of the Dog Star -Sirius, to which he had traveled first by astral projection, but on -which he had found means to establish an actual existence in the flesh.</p> - -<p>"Unbelievable—can a man be dead and yet live again?" you will say. -Well, yes, but—Croft's earth body died just as he had told me it -would, and was buried, and time passed, and this patient No. 27 was -committed to the institution of which I was the head; and when I went -to examine and inspect him, he asked me to dismiss the attendants, and -then he spoke to me in the voice of Jason Croft.</p> - -<p>More than that, he took up the story of his adventures where he had -left off in the previous instance, admitted freely that he had reversed -the experiment by which he had gained material existence on Palos, and, -driven by the necessity of gaining knowledge for use in his new estate, -had deliberately returned to earth. Unbelievable, you will say again. -And again I answer:</p> - -<p>"Yes—but wait."</p> - -<p>Croft was a physician, even as am I. He was a scientific man. In -addition he was a student of the occult—the science of the mind, the -spirit, and its control of the physical forces of life.</p> - -<p>He was an earth-born man. The home in which I first met him contained -the greatest private collection of works on the subject I have ever -seen. In dying he left them to me—I have them all about me. They are -mine. According to his statements and his notations on margins, he had -gone so far in his investigations that he could project the astral -consciousness anywhere at will. And when I say anywhere, I mean it in -the literal sense.</p> - -<p>Many men have mastered the astral control on the earthly plane. Croft -had carried it to an ultimate degree. He shook off the envelope of -the earth atmosphere, led thereto, as he frankly confessed in our -conversations, by the attraction of a feminine spirit, though he did -not know it at the time, and recognized it only when he first viewed -Naia—Princess of Tamarizia—on a distant star.</p> - -<p>I had dabbled in the occult to some extent myself. Hence when he spoke -of the doctrine of twin souls he had no further need to explain. He -alleged that since a child the Dog Star had called him subtly through -the years in a way he could not explain. Once having come into her -presence, however, he knew that it was Naia—the feminine counterpart -of his nature—whose existence on the other planet had called across -the void to him. Or so he claimed. And certainly his portrayal of the -events on Palos were characterized by a detail that made the atmosphere -of his alleged other existence most vividly plain.</p> - -<p>To an accomplishment of his marrying her, Croft declared that he had -done a weirdly wonderful thing. Discovering a Palosian dying of a -mental rather than a physical ailment, he had waited until his death -occurred, then appropriated the still physically viable body to -himself, as he most comprehensively explained, describing his act in a -scientific way that counseled belief while staggering the mind.</p> - -<p>Over that body he obtained absolute control, exactly as he had gained -the same ability with his own. For a time thereafter he led a sort of -dual existence, sometimes on Palos, sometimes on earth, until he had -fully shaped his plans. Then, and then only, did he voluntarily forsake -the mundane life to enter that other and fuller existence he felt that -Naia of Aphur could make complete.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I questioned him closely. I was faced by a most amazing thing. I took -up first the question of time required in passing from earth to Palos. -He smiled and replied that outside the mental atmosphere a man's time -ceased to exist; that it was man's measure of a portion of eternity, -and nothing more, and that he could not use what was non-existent, -hence reached Palos as quickly in the astral condition as I could -span the gulf between that member of the Dog Star's Pack and earth in -thought. All other points I raised he met. Even so it was a good deal -of a shock to find my new patient speaking to me with Croft's evident -understanding, looking at me out of what seemed oddly like Croft's eyes.</p> - -<p>But in the end I was convinced. The man knew too much. He was too -utterly conversant with Croft's accomplishments, his aims and ambitions -and hopes, to be anyone but Croft himself. And, too, he naïvely -explained that it was a poor rule that would not work two ways, and -that he had therefore repeated his experiment in gaining a Palosian -body when he felt the pressing need of a return to earth.</p> - -<p>This night, earlier in the evening, he had bidden me goodbye—told me -he was going back to Naia, the woman he had dared so much to win, his -mate who ere long was to bear him, Jason Croft of Earth, a child. And -now—well, now as before, it would seem he had kept his word. Jason -Croft was dead <i>again</i>.</p> - -<p>Is it any wonder that I felt that strange, almost amused desire to -smile? Dead! Why, Croft, in so far as I knew him, could practically -laugh at death—he was a man who had actually demonstrated, if one -believed his narrative, of course, the truth of the saying that the -spirit is the life. He was a man, who, because of the needs of his -spirit, had deliberately switched his existence from one to the other -of two spheres.</p> - -<p>I gave what directions were needed for the disposal of No. 27's body, -returned to my bed, and stretched myself out. But I didn't sleep all -that morning. I buried myself in thought.</p> - -<p>Both the narratives to which I had listened—first from the man I knew -to be Jason Croft really, secondly from the pitiable wreck he had -employed on his return, that worn-out husk which had just died—had -produced on me a somewhat odd effect. So clearly had he portrayed -the events and emotions which had swayed him in his almost undreamed -courtship of the Aphurian princess that I had come to accept the -characters he mentioned as actually existent persons, acquaintances -almost, just as, in spite of all established precedent, I still -regarded Croft himself as alive.</p> - -<p>Naia of Aphur—many a time as I listened to his account of their -association I had thrilled to the picture of that supple girl with her -crown of golden hair, her crimson lips, her violet-purple eyes. So real -she had come to seem that I had felt I would know her had I seen her -with my physical rather than my mental vision. So real indeed was her -mental picture that when he told me she was about to become a mother -I had cried out, on impulse, that I wished as a medical man I might -attend her—would be glad to see the light in her eyes when they first -beheld his, Jason's, child.</p> - -<p>And Croft had replied, "Man, I could love you for that," and he flashed -me an understanding smile.</p> - -<p>So now that he was gone back to her—I lay on my bed unsleeping, and -let all he had told me unroll in a sort of mental panorama, dealing -wholy with the Palosian world.</p> - -<p>Tamarizia! It was into the empire Croft blundered blindly when he went -to Palos first—a series of principalities surrounding the shore of a -vast inland sea, with the exception of a central state—the seat of -the imperial capital, embracing the island of Hiranur located in the -sea itself, and Nodhur to the west and south. From the central sea a -narrow strait led into an outer ocean to the west.</p> - -<p>This was known as the Gateway. To the north was Cathur, a rugged, -mountainous state, the seat of national learning, in its university -at the capital city of Scira, and east of Cathur was Mazhur, known as -the Lost State at the time of Croft's first arrival, because it had -been wrested from the empire some fifty years before, in a war with -Zollaria, a hostile nation to the north.</p> - -<p>Croft, after gaining physical life on Palos, succeeded in winning it -back, and in gaining thereby the consent of Naia's father, Prince -Lakkon, and her uncle, Jadgor, King of Aphur, to their marriage. It was -at this point his narrative had ended first.</p> - -<p>East of Mazhur, still hugging the sea and extending into the hinterland -of the continent was Bithur. And Milidhur joined Bithur to the south. -West of Milidhur, completing the circle, was Aphur—the name meaning -literally "the land to the west" or "toward the sun." Aphur was -the southern pillar of the Gateway, ending at the western strait. -Nodhur lay south of Aphur, gaining access to the sea by the navigable -river Na, on whose yellow flood moved a steady stream of commerce -driven by sail and oar until Croft revolutionized transportation by -producing alcohol-driven motors. And—if I were to believe his second -account—since then he had actually electrified the nation, harnessing -mountain streams to generate the force.</p> - -<p>Except for the waterways, traffic prior to Croft's innovations was by -conveyances drawn by the gnuppa—a creature half deer, half horse, -in appearance—or by means of caravans of the enormous beast called -sarpelca, resembling some huge Silurian lizard, twice the size of an -elephant, with a pointed tail, scale-armored back, camel-like neck, and -the head of a marine serpent tentacle-fringed about the mouth.</p> - -<p>They were driven by reins affixed to these fleshy appendages, and -streamed across the Palosian deserts, bearing huge merchandise cargoes -upon their massive backs.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Indeed, it was a wonderful world into which Croft had projected -himself. Babylonian in seeming he had described it to me at first.</p> - -<p>North of Tamarizia was Zollaria, inhabited by a far more warlike race. -Its despotic government had long cast a covetous eye on the Central -Sea, through which, and the rivers emptying into its expanse, most of -the profitable trade lanes were reached. Tamarizia, controlling the -western Gateway, had remained master even after the fall of Mazhur, -collecting toll from the Zollarian craft on her rivers despite the -foothold gained on her northern coast.</p> - -<p>East of Tamarizia, beyond Bithur and Milidhur, lay Mazzeria, peopled by -a race little above the aborigine in their social life. Tatar-like, the -Mazzerians shaved their heads of all save a single tuft of hair, with a -most remarkable effect, since the race was blue of complexion and the -prevailing color of their hair was red.</p> - -<p>Mazzeria, at the time of Croft's incursion into the planet's affairs, -was the acknowledged ally of Zollaria, although at peace with -Tamarizia. In earlier times, however, numbers of them had been taken -captive in border wars and brought to both nations as slaves. These, -in so far as Tamarizia was concerned, had later been freed and given -citizenship of a degree constituting in their ranks the lowest or -serving caste.</p> - -<p>Each state was governed by a king, by hereditary succession, in -conjunction with a national assembly consisting of a delegate elected -by each ten thousand or deckerton of civil population. The occupant of -the imperial throne was elected for a period of ten years by vote of -the several states.</p> - -<p>On Croft's advent, Scythys—a dotard—had been king of Cathur, with his -son Kyphallos, the crown prince, a profligate of the worst type, sunk -under the charms of Kalamita, a Zollarian adventuress of great beauty, -with whom he had plotted the surrender of Cathur to her nation in -return for the Tamarizian throne with Kalamita by his side.</p> - -<p>Jadgor of Aphur, scenting the danger, had sought to bind the northern -prince to Tamarizian fealty through a marriage with Naia, his sister's -child. To win Naia and overthrow Zollaria's scheme had been Jason's -task. The introduction of both the motor and firearms enabled him to -overthrow the flower of Zollaria's hosts on a couple of bloody fields. -Victory gained and Zollaria forced to cede Mazhur after fifty years of -occupation, Croft prevailed upon the nation to accept a democratic form -of government, it being at the end of Emperor Tamhys's term. This was -accomplished without too much difficulty.</p> - -<p>As to the Tamarizians themselves, they were a white and well-formed -race. Their women held equal place with men. They believed in the -spirit and a future life. They had made no small progress in the -sciences and arts. They worked metal, gold being as common as iron on -Palos.</p> - -<p>They tempered copper also and used it in innumerable ways. They wove -fabrics of great beauty, one being a blend of vegetable fiber and spun -gold. They cut and polished jewels. They had a system of judiciaries -and courts and a medical and surgical knowledge of sorts.</p> - -<p>They were a fairly moral and naturally modest people. Their clothing -was worn for protection and ornamentation, rather than for any other -purpose. It was donned and doffed as the occasion required, without -comment being aroused. In women it consisted, rich and poor, of a -single garment falling to the knee or just below it, cinctured about -the body and caught over one shoulder by a jeweled or metal boss, -leaving the other shoulder, arm, and upper chest exposed. To this was -added sandals of leather, metal, or wood, held to the foot by a toe and -instep band and lacings running well up the calves.</p> - -<p>Men of wealth and soldiers generally wore metal casings, jointed to -the sandal to permit of motion and extending upward to the knees. Men -of caste wore also a soft shirt or chemise beneath a metal cuirass or -embroidered tunic. Save on formal occasions the serving classes wore a -narrow cincture about the loins.</p> - -<p>Agriculture was highly developed, and they had advanced far in -architecture, painting and sculpture. They lavished much time and -expense in beautifying their homes. They had well-constructed caravan -roads. As Croft had pointed out, he found them an intelligent race -waiting, ready to be trained to a wider craft.</p> - -<p>And among them, in Naia of Aphur, he believed he had found his twin -soul. And he had set about winning her in a fashion such as no other -man, I frankly believe, would have dared.</p> - -<p>He had won her according to his belief and returned to earth, for the -last time, ere he should return and make her his bride. He had told me -about it, and he had cast off his earthly body, severing the last tie -that held him from his life in Palos. He had died.</p> - -<p>He had gone back and found his plans disarranged through the actions -of Zud, the high priest of Zitra, the capital city of Hiranur, where -he had left Naia waiting his return in the Temple of Ga, the Eternal -Mother—the Eternal Woman, in the Zitran pyramid. Zud, moved by -Croft's works and by a story told him by Abbu, a priest who knew -Jason's story, had proclaimed him Mouthpiece of Zitu, thereby raising -an insurmountable barrier, as it seemed, between him and Naia, since -celibacy was one of the tenets of the Tamarizian priests. And yet -Croft had won to her, overcoming all obstacles, even winning a second -war, with all Mazzeria egged on, her armies officered by Zollarians in -disguise this time, ere he gained the goal of his desire.</p> - -<p>These things had been told me inside the last few weeks by No. 27—the -man who had been committed to the institution for a dissociation of -personality, at which he quietly laughed after he had obtained my ear; -because he wished to gain contact with me, who knew his former story, -and win my aid toward the fulfillment of his mission.</p> - -<p>Only he wasn't dead, and I knew it as I lay there with the names of -men and women of the Palosian world buzzing in my head. He had gone -back to them, now that his work was ended—to Naia, his golden-haired, -purple-eyed mate—to Lakkon, her father; to Jadgor, her uncle, and -Robur his son, governor now of Aphur in the palace where his father, -president of the Tamarizian republic, had been king; to Robur, who, -like a second Jonathan, had ever been Croft's loyal assistant and -friend, and Gaya his sweet and matronly wife; to Magur, high priest -of Himyra, the ruling red city of Aphur, by whom Croft and Naia were -bethrothed to Zud himself, to whom he had taught the truth of astral -control. And I found myself portraying them as Croft had described -them, predicating their thoughts and feelings, as I might have done -those of any man or woman I knew on earth.</p> - -<p>Actually I was projecting my intellect, if not my consciousness, to -Palos. The thought came to me. In spirit, if not in perception, I was -there for the moment with my friend. In spirit at least I was bridging -with little effort billions of actual miles. Thought and spirit and -soul. They are strange things. Croft, if I was any judge, had gone back -to Naia—and there was I lying, picturing the scene, where she waited -for his coming in their home high in the western mountains of Aphur, -given to them by Lakkon, a wedding gift, after the war with Mazzeria -was won. Croft had gone back to Palos, and here was I picturing the -thing in my spirit, certainly as plainly as any earth scene I had ever -known.</p> - -<p>His body would be lying there, covered with soft fabrics, waiting for -its tenant on a couch of wine-red wood such as the Tamarizians used—or -perhaps of molded copper. And Naia—the woman who had given him her -life, would be watching, watching for the first stir of his returning.</p> - -<p>Only—I smiled—Croft had told me he could gain Palos as quickly in the -consciousness as I could project myself there in my mind—so, by now, -that stirring of her strong man's limbs, beneath the eyes of the fair -watcher, had occurred, and once more those two were together.</p> - -<p>I smiled again.</p> - -<p>The picture of that reunion appealed. There was nothing else to it at -the instant. For even in my wildest imaginings I did not in the least -suspect what its nearness, its clearness, the vividness of its seeming, -might portend.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>No, even though I myself had delved more or less deeply into occult -lore, with a resulting knowledge of the subject that had brought about -the sympathetic understanding of all Croft had told me from first to -last, I had little or no conception that night of the inward meaning -of the distinctness with which I could conjure up the scene of his -return to Naia, or to where the ability might lead. Rather, I felt -merely that through his narrative of her wooing he had built up within -my mental cells a picture of the fair girl now his bride, so clear, so -positive in seeming, that to me she appeared no more than a charming -personality—a feminine acquaintance, such as one might on occasion -meet. She was no more removed, so far as my feeling of familiarity with -her was concerned, than had her residence been not on Palos, but simply -across the street. It is so easy to bridge distance in the mind.</p> - -<p>I slept after a time, as one will, drifting from continued thought upon -one subject into slumber. And I woke with the thought of Croft's weird -homecoming still in mind. It stayed with me more or less, too, in the -succeeding days.</p> - -<p>Naia of Aphur! Oddly I dwelt upon her. Jason himself had told me that -she knew me—had actually seen me—that he had brought her to earth -more than once in the astral body—had pointed me out to her as the one -earth man who knew and believed his story—that she looked upon me as a -friend.</p> - -<p>The thing seemed some way to establish a sort of personal bond, just as -the secret Croft and I had kept between us made me feel toward him as I -have never felt toward any other man.</p> - -<p>Jason Croft and Naia of Aphur—the interplanetary lovers. It was -certainly odd. I knew her, even though I had never seen her; save -through the instrumentality of his description of her, and the -resultant picture printed on my mind. Yet I could close my eyes at will -and see her, slender, golden-haired, with her lips of flaming scarlet, -and her violet-purple eyes.</p> - -<p>And I knew her home. I could lift it into my conscious perception as a -familiar scene. I could imagine her moving about it, young, vibrant, -happy, alone or with Croft by her side. I could fancy her bathing -in the sun-warmed waters of the private bath in the garden—the -gleam of her form against the clear yellow stone of which it was -constructed—until she seemed the little silver fish Croft had called -her, disporting in a bowl of gold, behind the white, screening, -vine-clad walls. Or I could dream of her walking about the grounds, -with the giant Canor—the huge, doglike creature she called Hupor, who -was at once her pet, her companion, and guard. Distant? Why, she seemed -no more distant to me in the days after Croft had gone back to be with -her when her child would be born than some fair maid of earth waiting -for the coming of her lover across a dividing wall in an adjacent yard.</p> - -<p>And yet so blind is the objective mind, that even then I did not -suspect I had established a sympathetic chain of interest between the -atmosphere of her existence and myself, capable of stretching out to a -most peculiar climax in the end. Then, one night something over a month -after No. 27 had died and been laid away, I dreamed.</p> - -<p>I don't say I thought of it as a dream at the time. Then it was all too -seriously, too grippingly, real to seem other than the actual thing. -It was only after it was over that I thought of it as a dream—perhaps -because, despite the occurrence and all Croft had told me, I was still -not fully convinced.</p> - -<p>Later—well, that's the story. I'll let it unfold itself.</p> - -<p>I went to bed that night and fell asleep. How long I slept I do not -know. But a voice disturbed my slumbers after a time. At least it -disturbed the restful unconsciousness of my spirit. To this day I am -not sure whether or not my body moved.</p> - -<p>"Murray—Murray." I heard it, dimly at first, but insistent. It kept -repeating itself over and over. Beyond doubt someone was demanding my -attention. I sought to rouse.</p> - -<p>"Murray—in the name of Zitu—and Azil—"</p> - -<p>I stiffened my attention. It was nothing short of startling to hear -those words spoken.</p> - -<p>Zitu was God in the Tamarizian language, as I knew, and Azil was the -Angel of Life—as Ga was the Virgin Mother. Ga and Azil—the mother and -the life-bringer—they were the ones to whom the Tamarizian women most -frequently prayed. I gave over my endeavor to waken my sleeping body -and lay straining the ears of my spirit to the voice.</p> - -<p>It came again. Whoever the speaker was, he seemed to know he had -stirred my conscious perception.</p> - -<p>"Murray—I need your advice—your council. Naia needs you. It's life -and death, Murray. You told me you would gladly render her assistance -as a physician. Murray—will you come?"</p> - -<p>My spirit staggered. It was most amazing. For now I knew that the -speaker was Jason Croft.</p> - -<p>I knew that he was appealing to me in the name of Zitu and Azil—in the -name of motherhood—that he was calling on me as a brother physician, -by the oath of my profession—in the name of all that was highest and -holiest in life.</p> - -<p>I knew that Naia's hour was upon her—and I knew it as clearly as if -the thing were taking place somewhere within a neighboring home on -earth. I lay and let the knowledge beat in upon me. I recalled in a -flash all he had told me concerning medical knowledge on Palos. If some -complication in the birth of their child impended, there would be none -on that far planet to whom he could turn for aid. He knew more than all -the physicians of Palos put together, but—</p> - -<p>"Murray!" the voice repeated. "Murray, in the name of God!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>There was a desperate urge—a desperate plaint about it. I reached a -decision. I had never married. There was no one dependent upon me. With -a strange thrill I realized the fact. If I failed to return from this -strangest of calls to which a medical man was ever bidden, if the body -of me were not to be revived, I would be little missed.</p> - -<p>So what did it matter? A man—or most men—surely could die but once; -and how better than in performing the duty of a physician, in an -endeavor to save other life? I recall now that such thoughts flitted -swiftly through my brain, and left me ready to dare the venture -suggested by Croft's voice, if thereby I might render an intimate -service to him and Naia of Aphur, in spirit if not in the flesh.</p> - -<p>"Murray!"</p> - -<p>Again the agony of a strong man's appeal for all he held dearest in -existence.</p> - -<p>I think the lips of my sleeping material being must have moved at last. -Be that as it may, I know I answered:</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>And I know Croft sensed my acquiescence, for his response was beating -into my consciousness in a flash.</p> - -<p>"Then—fix your mind on our home in the western mountains, visualize -it, Murray, as I have described it to you. Will your conscious presence -within it. I shall be waiting for you. Call up the scene and demand -that our will be granted. Think of nothing else."</p> - -<p>Save for the directions for reaching to him, the thing was as real as a -telephone message, and the assurance that the husband of your patient -would be waiting your arrival at his house. But there was about Croft's -promise to await my coming a definite note of conviction in my ability -to encompass our mutual purpose that aided me most materially in what -followed, as I now confess.</p> - -<p>He was so seemingly sure that I would not fail them—that what -assistance I could render would be granted—that for the time being -it overthrew all doubt of success. Too, I had grown so accustomed to -thinking of Naia of Aphur as a woman—a palpitant creature of radiant -flesh and blood—that the very reality of her seeming robbed somewhat -of its weirdness, its eery quality, the fact that I was about to -respond in the astral body to an urgent medical call. Consciously then -I sought to follow Croft's directions.</p> - -<p>I fastened my thought on his Aphurian home.</p> - -<p>I strove to exclude everything else from my mind. I brought up the -picture of it as a thing at the end of a distant vista, down which I -must pass to attain it, and—all at once that picture moved!</p> - -<p>I say it moved, because that is how it at first appeared. At all -events, it seemed to come toward me with amazing swiftness.</p> - -<p>For an instant my comprehension faltered, and then I knew. I knew I -had gained my purpose—that I was astrally out of my body, even though -I had not known the instant when I had left it; that I was speeding -with incredible rapidity toward the scene into which I had wished to be -projected; that darkness was all about me, like an impenetrable wall; -that I was like one in an infinite, an interminable tunnel, with the -lighted picture I had conjured up at the end.</p> - -<p>Then that too faded, dissolved, lost its comprehensive quality, and -gave place to more finite detail, and—I was in a room. But it was not -strange. I knew it—recognized it instantly, thanks to Croft's previous -words.</p> - -<p>Its walls were hung with purple hangings shot through with threads of -gold. There was a shallow pool of water in its center edged round with -white and golden tiles. Beside it on a pedestal of wine-red wood there -stood a figure—the form of a man straining upward as if for flight, -with outstretched arms and uplifted wings, translucent—formed of a -substance not unlike alabaster—the shape of Azil.</p> - -<p>That too I recognized in a flash, and I seemed to catch my breath. -At last I was on Palos! This was Azil, the Angel of Life, before -me—poised by the mirror pool in the chamber of Naia of Aphur—ablaze -now with the light of many incandescent bulbs in copper sconces against -the walls. All this I saw, and became conscious that, as well as light, -the chamber was now full of life.</p> - -<p>Naia of Aphur! She lay before me on a copper-moulded couch—and I -turned my eyes upon her, her body beneath coverings of silklike fabric.</p> - -<p>A woman, of whom two were in attendance, wearing the blue garment -embroidered with a scarlet heart above the left breast—the badge of -the nursing craft, as Jason had told me—spoke to Naia in soothing -accents the words of which I could not understand.</p> - -<p>"Murray!"</p> - -<p>Whirling, I beheld Jason Croft. Rather, I seemed to see two Jason -Crofts, instead of one. One sat in a chair of the same wine-red wood -of which the pedestal supporting Azil was formed, in the posture of a -man in more than mortal slumber. One floated toward me, ghostlike—a -shimmering, shifting, vaporlike semblance of the other as to physical -shape.</p> - -<p>And it was this second Croft that seemed to speak.</p> - -<p>I say seemed, because as I recall the episode now I know that -communication was in reality by thought transference, although it -appeared then to reach the understanding in the form of spoken words. -It came over me instantly that Jason had purposely assumed the astral -condition to welcome me on my arrival here.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I had been too much occupied with my surroundings until then to give -thought to my own possible appearance. But as I put out a hand in -answer to his single word of greeting, I found it no more than a thin -diaphanous cloud. I was even as he was—a nebulous something. Still, -that was to be expected. I put it aside and considered the man before -me. The features of his astral presence were actually haggard, marked -by a suffering plainly mental, yet akin in its way to the lines that -contorted Naia of Aphur's face in her present mortal woe.</p> - -<p>"Croft, in God's name what is the trouble?" I asked as once more a low -sound of smothered anguish came from the couch behind me.</p> - -<p>Nor do I think I overshot the mark in declaring what followed to have -been the most remarkable medical consultation mortal man might know. He -lost no time in explaining the situation. It wasn't his way.</p> - -<p>He gave me at once an exact and scientific understanding of her -condition, ending his narration simply:</p> - -<p>"Murray, you know how I love her. I faced the thing as long as I -could have alone. And then—knowing all that depended on me—I became -unnerved, and called for you. There was no one else—and you'd said -you'd be glad to attend her. Can you blame me, my friend, now that you -see her?"</p> - -<p>I shook my head in negation, turning it for an instant toward the -glorious woman shape on the copper bed. "Can she see me? Does she know -I am here? Can I speak with her?" I questioned.</p> - -<p>"She will sense your presence at least," Croft said. "I shall revivify -my body and draw the chair in which it is sitting close beside the -couch. You will sit there, Murray, and I shall tell her you are -present, watching, nerving me to my task, before I set to work. She -knows I called you, Murray, and now you must help us both. Your brain -must use my hands to save her. Come—what do you advise me to do, -Murray?"</p> - -<p>I told him as soon as he had brought his almost panting response to -an end. His exposition of the problem we faced had made it dreadfully -plain.</p> - -<p>He heard me out and then nodded with set lips.</p> - -<p>"I—I'll do it, Murray," he said. "I—I felt it was the thing, -but—without counsel—simply on my own judgment, I could not do it. -And—you must coach me. I'll work in a purely subjective condition. -That way, even in the body, I'll be able to sense the guiding impulse -of your brain. God, man, how I need you! Come!"</p> - -<p>The form beside me vanished. The body in the chair flung up its head -and rose. It pushed the chair it had occupied quite to the side of the -copper couch, and bent to speak to the woman who lay upon it.</p> - -<p>I followed. I sank into the seat provided. Croft straightened. Naia -turned her head directly toward me.</p> - -<p>I looked for the first time into her violet-purple eyes.</p> - -<p>They were clear, steadfast, flawless as a perfect amethyst, though -darkened by the ordeal through which she was passing—the eyes of a -true woman, high-spirited, brave, loyal, and pure. They strained toward -me. And suddenly she threw out a perfectly rounded arm, a slender -hand, as one who asks for succor. Her lips parted, and once more she -smiled, a smile so wistfully yearning that my whole heart answered its -appeal.</p> - -<p>This was Naia of Aphur—wife of my friend Jason Croft. In that instant -I felt she was worth all that he had dared to win her. This was Naia, -the woman who months ago had told him that in the silence of the night -she had heard the beating of the wings of Azil, the bringer of new -life, because of which I was here now beside her in that holiest of -moments in a medical man's existence, when with hand and brain he waits -to welcome a new life's birth.</p> - -<p>Her lips moved. Distinctly I heard her speak:</p> - -<p>"Dr. Murray—good friend of my beloved, who tells me of your presence -in response to his appeal for your assistance to us—I bid you welcome -to our home. Thrice welcome are you, upon whose coming depends, as he -tells me also, our future happiness together, as well as the life of -our child."</p> - -<p>She addressed me most surprisingly in English, until I bethought me -that Croft had doubtless taught her the tongue, exactly as he had -taught her so much else; to fly the first airplane in Palos, the -control of the astral body itself. Her words moved me oddly. I rose to -answer:</p> - -<p>"I am more than happy to be here, Princess Naia, and to bid you be of -good cheer, remembering that even now Azil stands close by the gateway -of life, in charge of a newborn soul."</p> - -<p>And then I sank back, confused. I had spoken wholly on impulse, voicing -the inmost emotions of my heart, forgetting my nebulous condition -entirely for the instant, in the spell of what seemed so real. With a -feeling akin to acute annoyance at my inability to speak thus to her -directly I resumed my chair.</p> - -<p>But even so, it seemed that I had reached her—that in some way akin to -that in which Croft had assured me he would be able to follow my mental -direction while working, she had sensed my meaning and intention. Women -are intuitive by nature, more susceptible to the waves of a personal or -thought vibration. Her lips moved again as I ceased speaking.</p> - -<p>"Azil," she whispered. "But—that new soul is so long in passing, my -friend."</p> - -<p>I turned to Croft.</p> - -<p>"Come," I hurled my thought force toward him. "Let us spare her more -bodily anguish than must be endured. Let us make an end."</p> - -<p>Of what followed I shall say no word. Suffice it to state that Jason -Croft labored, grim of lips and pallid of feature; that I sat in that -weirdest position of assistance capable of conception; that the lights -burned on in that room where the pale form of Azil spread his wings on -the pedestal of wine-red wood; that the eyes of Naia of Aphur widened -until they were two dark pools no more than fringed by the purple -iris; that the two female attendants waited, intent on naught save the -catching, the rendering of obedience to each of Croft's intense though -low-pitched words.</p> - -<p>And then suddenly the man turned to me a face transfigured past -anything I had ever pictured—a thread of sound—a wailing, trailing -vibration—the first note of waking vocal strings, pulsed through the -room—and Jason Croft the physician, the father, was kneeling beside -that couch of copper, no longer the iron-nerved worker, the laborer for -unborn life, but the husband, the lover, clasping the slender body of -Naia of Aphur in his arms, and shaken by a strong man's sobs. I turned -away my eyes.</p> - -<p>And then his voice boomed out, strangely exalted and triumphant:</p> - -<p>"Murray—we win—win, man—thanks to you and—God!"</p> - -<p>I turned back. Croft spoke to one of the attendants. She crossed to -a curtained doorway and lifted the purple drapings. There stole into -the room a girl of Mazzeria—a graceful creature, for all the odd blue -color of her skin. Twin braids of ruddy hair fell from her head to her -waist. Her figure held all the untrammeled litheness of a panther as -she advanced. Across her outstretched arms she bore a pure white cloth.</p> - -<p>Upon it, the child of Jason Croft and Naia of Aphur was placed.</p> - -<p>She wrapped the fabric about it, cradling it against her breast. She -turned to Naia, smiling, sinking down beside her on her supple rounded -thighs.</p> - -<p>And then—for one brief instant I saw the light of the Madonna flame in -those wonderful eyes—the light with which Naia the mother looked first -on Jason's—son.</p> - -<p>Croft addressed me.</p> - -<p>"Maia," he said softly. "I've described her to you before if you -remember, Murray. She asked that you might be permitted to attend -the—the little one."</p> - -<p>His voice broke. His face was weary, overstrained, worn. I understood. -The graceful girl was Naia's personal attendant—the Mazzerian woman, -who had aided her mistress in saving Croft's life at a time when he was -taken captive during the Mazzerian war. I nodded my comprehension. He -bent again as though by irresistible attraction above the couch where -the blue girl still was kneeling, and Naia seemed waiting his undivided -attention. Once more I turned my head. It was the holy moment—the hour -of realization between man and woman.</p> - -<p>Through the half-drawn curtains of a window, light stole into the room. -It shamed the incandescents in their sconces. A finger of golden glory -touched the tips of the upflung wings of Azil. With a start, I realized -that the night of anguish was ended—that new life had come into the -house of Jason—with the dawn.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> - -<h3>THE CHRISTENING</h3> - - -<p>I went toward the curtains and stood looking out between them, removing -so far as I could even my invisible presence from the tableau behind me.</p> - -<p>The attendants were moving about. I heard the soft pad of their -gnuppa-hide sandaled feet, the softened tones of their voices. I heard -Naia speaking and Croft's deeply quivering answer, and once more the -wail of the child.</p> - -<p>"Murray," Jason was speaking to me. I sensed his touch on my arm. Again -he was in astral form. "Come, while the women perform their task."</p> - -<p>My glance shot beyond him to where his physical body was seemingly -lost in a lethargy of exhaustion, once more in the red wood chair. It -did more. It fell on Naia. The ray of sunlight had lowered as Sirius -had mounted above the eastern horizon. It made her golden tresses seem -more than ever an aureole about her face on the pillow—a face grown -exquisitely tender, lighted not merely with the sun of morning, but by -the inner, the newly ignited glow of motherhood. I turned from it and -followed Croft through the curtained doorway of the chamber, onto the -balcony, along which one approached the room.</p> - -<p>He had described it minutely to me, but even so I marveled at it as -we stood together, sensing its proportions, its brilliant yet not -offensive blendings of yellow and white and red. White was the balcony -rail about it, red and yellow the alternating tiles that paved its -floors. Red and yellow, too, were the steps of the stairs that mounted -to the balcony from either end of the court, and red the carven pillars -that supported the balcony on a series of arches, between which pure -white examples of Palosian sculpture showed. Golden were the plates of -glass in the roof above us—open mainly now to the air of heaven, that -the flowers and plants and shrubs which dotted the unpaved portions of -the court beneath us might breathe.</p> - -<p>And then I think I must have started very much as Croft himself had -done the first time he beheld such a sight, as I became conscious of a -man, blue as the blue girl of Mazzeria in the room behind me, wearing -upon his shaven poll a single flaming tuft of red. He was a stalwart -man, and he bore a skin equipped with a sprinkling-nozzle upon his back -while he sprayed the beds of growing vegetation—accompanied in his -occupation by a slow-stalking beast remarkably like a hound.</p> - -<p>Croft noted the direction of my glance and manner. "Mitlos—our -majordomo, and Hupor," he said and smiled. "Zitu man, when I told you -about them, the last thing I dreamed was that some day you should see -them."</p> - -<p>"And now?" I returned with a strange inclination to chuckle as I -thought that Jason was no longer alone in being the first mortal to -reach Palos in the astral presence, even though his potent will had -helped me to my present position.</p> - -<p>"And now"—he laughed in a tone of exultation—"you see not only them, -but me, husband of Tamarizia's most beautiful woman, and thanks to -you—the father of her child."</p> - -<p>"Nonsense," I exclaimed, doubly abashed by his praise and my thoughts -of a moment before, "I did nothing—what can a ghost accomplish?"</p> - -<p>He turned fully toward me. His eyes burned with the strong fire of his -spirit.</p> - -<p>"I came here even as you are, Murray, and"—he waved a hand in a -comprehensive gesture—"I have accomplished this, and other things -besides—yet not so much that this morning—the most wonderful of -all my span of existence, I have either words or deeds in which the -assistance your presence within the last few hours gave me, may be -repaid."</p> - -<p>And no matter how he voiced it, I knew he meant it. The sincerity of -his feeling forced itself upon me.</p> - -<p>"Let us not speak of payment," I said—and I confess I felt embarrassed -by the value he seemed to place upon what was no more than my agreement -with his own valuation of a now favorably passed condition. "As it -happens, Croft, my presence here was no more than the granting of an -expressed wish."</p> - -<p>He nodded. "The thought is father to the deed—isn't it, Murray? I -thought of that last night. Come—I'll show you about the place."</p> - -<p>Turning he led the way along the balcony to one end. We went down the -red and yellow stairs.</p> - -<p>At their foot was a group of sculptures—the figure of a man straining -to defend a crouching woman from the fangs of a rending beast. It was -of heroic size and wonderfully perfect in detail. I recalled it from -Croft's description of it, and how once he had told Naia that so he -would defend her were his right to do so granted. Well—last night I -had seen him do it. I had seen him strain body and soul to guard her -from the yawning jaws of death. I said as much.</p> - -<p>He gave me a glance. "You're an odd sort, Murray. You've a lot of the -symbolism, the mysticism of life in your make-up. Come along. Let's get -a breath of the morning air outside."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Once more I followed his lead across the red and yellow court where -unknown plants bloomed about us on every side. Mitlos, intent on his -duties, knew not of our passing, but Hupor sensed us, I think, and -turned his huge head toward us, and stood looking at us out of amber -eyes. Then we were outside the arch of a doorway at the head of a -flight of pure white steps, on a far-reaching esplanade.</p> - -<p>On every hand there were mountains, wooded on their sides. The house -stood on one side of a natural mountain valley, in the emerald cup of -which was a tiny lake, its waters gilded now by the rays of the Dog -Star. And winding past it, and off along the flank of the hills in a -series of perfect tangents was a wonderfully metaled road. I followed -its turnings until I lost them, and my vision found itself baffled by -a further reach of the landscape, blanketed as it seemed beneath a -singular dun-colored haze.</p> - -<p>In its way the scene was not unlike that of a morning on earth. I -turned my eyes back to the dim shape of Croft beside me. He lifted -an arm. "Over there is Himyra," he said, pointing, "but a ground fog -is hiding the desert. If you'll look across it, however, you'll see a -silver sort of shimmer. That's the Central Sea."</p> - -<p>Himyra—the capital of Aphur—the Central Sea. And this was Palos. -The weirdness of the whole adventure came upon me. It was hard to -realize. And the sun up there was Sirius and not the sun to which I was -accustomed.</p> - -<p>Abruptly Jason chuckled. "Murray—do you remember the night my -housekeeper thought I had died, and routed you out in a storm, and you -came to my house and compelled me to return from Palos by the infernal -insistence of your will? Well, tit for tat, old man. That night I did -your bidding, but last night I called you here."</p> - -<p>"Quite so," I assented, smiling. In a way his remark seemed to lighten -the atmosphere between us. I caught sight of a rapidly moving object. -"Look there, Croft—that's one of your motors or some or sort of speedy -contraption coming up the road."</p> - -<p>He glanced down the course of what I could not but agree he had done -well at first to compare to the ancient highways of the Romans because -of its permanent type of construction.</p> - -<p>"Lakkon, by Zitu!" he exclaimed. "I telephoned him last night, but—I'd -forgotten all about him. He said he'd drive out the first thing in the -morning, and he seems to be burning the wind. See here—I'll have to -leave you, Murray, long enough to welcome grandpa, if you don't mind."</p> - -<p>I nodded. Lakkon was Naia's father. And it was no more than natural -surely that he should be hastening to her, especially as she was the -old noble's only child.</p> - -<p>"Run along," I said. "There's plenty to look at. I'll amuse myself." -Then, as an afterthought, I added, "Only don't spend too much time with -him. I've got to be getting out of here, Croft, or someone's likely to -fancy Dr. Murray is dead."</p> - -<p>It had just occurred to me that it was morning also on earth and that -unless I returned to my body, I couldn't tell what might happen in the -institution of which I was the head.</p> - -<p>Croft understood my meaning.</p> - -<p>"You're right. I'll be as brief as possible," he agreed and vanished, -leaving me quite to my own devices.</p> - -<p>I smiled. If one considered it was rather odd to be telling a man to -go get back inside his own body in order to welcome his father-in-law -in the flesh—or to contemplate a return flight across billions of -ethereal miles to accomplish a reunion between my material body and -myself. Myself. I took a deep breath of the mountain air—at least, -I went through the conscious effort with all the satisfaction of -fulfillment. I was myself, really. I felt it, knew it—and I felt a -buoyancy, a lightness, such as I had never known before now that the -weight, the restraint of the body was removed.</p> - -<p>I stood and watched Lakkon's motor arrive. I saw Croft's material form -stalk forth to meet him at the head of the stairs. I saw Lakkon descend -from his car and hurry upward, the strong figure of a man with graying -hair, an expectant light in his beardless face. I marked his dress.</p> - -<p>It consisted of a tunic of purple, embroidered with an intricate design -in small green stones, skirted, falling to just above the knees, and -the metal, ankle-jointed combination of greaves and sandals Croft had -described, plainly fashioned of gold, and reaching above the bulge of -his muscular calves.</p> - -<p>He met Croft and crashed his flat palm upon his shoulder with an -exultant gesture. Croft extended his arm and laid his hand on Lakkon's -shoulder. The two men passed inside.</p> - -<p>I turned away. There was something vastly formal, vastly ancient, -about that greeting—an old world atmosphere—that spoke of age-long -custom, despite the throbbing motor in which the noble had reached -the house of his daughter. There was almost something Biblical about -it, the thought came to me. They had met and laid their hands on each -other's shoulders—two strong men, and looked into one another's eyes. -I knew it the Tamarizian greeting of unfaltering friendship, no more a -greeting than a pledge.</p> - -<p>Well, then, Lakkon had gone to see his daughter. I gave a glance to -the driver of his motor—a chap dressed plainly in blue unembroidered -tunic, and copper leg-casings, with a fillet supporting a sun screening -drape of purple fabric, about his head. Then I turned and made my way -into the garden. It had occurred to me to examine the private bath.</p> - -<p>I found it, screened behind vine-clad walls, and slipped inside it, -past a staggered entrance wall that screened its gate. It lay before -me, a limpid pool in a basin of lemon stone like onyx save that it was -neither mottled nor veined. It shimmered in the Sirian ray, an oblong -of water as brilliant as a bit of polished silver, inside the expanse -of the enclosure, paved with alternating squares of rock-crystal and -pure white stone. I stood gazing upon it, recalling that it was here -Croft had once met Naia of Aphur—the first time when in defiance of -all social custom on Palos, she had yielded him her lips.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Then I went back to the front of the house, and seated myself on a -carven stone bench. I lifted my eyes to the light-filled heavens. This -was Palos—and up there somewhere or down or sidewise—or however you -chose to call it—was earth. It was like Omar as to direction when he -says:</p> - -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse"><i>"For Is and Is not though with rule and line</i></div> - <div class="verse"><i>And Up and Down without, I can define—"</i></div> -</div></div> - -<p>Anyway, out there somewhere in the void there floated the mundane -sphere, where the body of me might even now be exciting consternation -among the staff of the hospital, where it had been moved and held a -little prestige in its work. And here was I. Suddenly there stole over -me the sensation that the whole thing was a dream excited by Jason's -stories—a feeling that I ought to rouse myself and get about my -business. I rose. I felt all at once restless, vaguely disturbed. I -turned and found Jason beside me.</p> - -<p>"I was longer than I meant to be, Murray," he said. "And, see here—I -know you'll understand me when I tell you it's past ten o'clock on -earth."</p> - -<p>I nodded. It was no time for misunderstanding or niceties of speech. -More and more I was finding myself filled with a vital urge—to be away -from here and about my own affairs.</p> - -<p>"To tell the truth, with all respect to your feelings and those of -Naia, I was getting impatient of your coming," I replied.</p> - -<p>"She sends you her deepest thanks, and the blessings of Zitu and Ga the -Mother," he responded quickly. "I know you know how I feel, old fellow. -Now fix your mind on your body—and try to open its eyes."</p> - -<p>I was ready. I put out a hand and laid it on his shoulder. He did the -same. We looked into one another's faces.</p> - -<p>"Some time—you'll come again," Croft told me. "And—now that we've -established the astral power, I'll come to you, Murray—and when -I speak you will answer. Don't forget it. Man—mayhap we'll build -Tamarizia up together—at least, I can come to you like this from now -on for knowledge—conversation. Can you see where the thing may lead -to?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," I said. "It's big, Croft—big. But if I don't get out of here -now it may lead a very important part of me to the grave. Make my -adieus to Naia. I'd envy you, man, if you weren't my friend. Now—do -what you can to help me, for I'm going to try a pretty broad jump, as -such things are considered."</p> - -<p>I closed my eyes.</p> - -<p>A sound like splintering wood assailed my ears. A blended sound of -voices beat upon them.</p> - -<p>"Murray—Murray—doctor!"</p> - -<p>There was no doubt about it. A very human voice was calling to me—a -hand laid hold upon my shoulder—only it wasn't the hand Jason Croft -had laid upon it in farewell. The thing bit into the flesh. It seemed -trying to shake me.</p> - -<p>With an effort I lifted my lids and stared up into the face of a -hospital orderly, strained and anxious. I was back on earth, there -wasn't any doubt about it. I was on earth, in my room in the mental -hospital and in bed.</p> - -<p>"Yes," I said; "yes."</p> - -<p>The man's breath actually hissed as he let it out. He stammered. -"You'll excuse us, doctor, but you didn't show up and you didn't answer -when we rapped—and—well—we broke in the door at last. It seemed -best."</p> - -<p>His use of the pronoun arrested my attention. I made another effort and -sat up. The orderly had fallen back from my bedside as he spoke, and -beyond him I saw a nurse—a woman—not blue-robed like those I had seen -in Naia of Aphur's apartments, but crisply gowned in white—and back of -her the door of my own chamber, sagging open with a broken lock.</p> - -<p>"It's all right, Hansen," I made answer. "I must have been pretty sound -asleep." There wasn't anything else to say, any use to attempt fuller -explanation. "What time is it?" I asked.</p> - -<p>"Ten thirty," said the nurse, consulting a watch on her wrist. "You're -sure you feel all right, doctor?"</p> - -<p>"Perfectly," I nodded. "If you'll withdraw, I'll get up."</p> - -<p>She left the room and Hansen followed. I rose and began to dress. -Outside a brilliant sunlight was visible through my windows. It showed -me familiar objects. The Palosian landscape had faded. It had been -after ten when Jason had come to me, to, as it were, speed a parting -guest, and now it was half after ten, and I was back on earth. Well, he -had told me the gulf could be bridged by the spirit in a flash.</p> - -<p>Or had he? I fumbled my way into my garments in a somewhat clumsy -fashion. I felt odd. Just what had happened, I asked myself. And it -was then that the thing began to seem like a dream to me, really, no -matter how vividly real it had seemed while it occurred. Save only for -that vividness I think I would have considered it no more than a dream -indeed.</p> - -<p>But dream or not, it continued to go with me through all the familiar -routine of the succeeding days. It kept bobbing up, in all its colorful -details. I kept recalling that gorgeous chamber in which I had seen, -or seemed to see, Naia of Aphur. I could even recall the soft thud of -Lakkon's metal sandals as he mounted toward Jason, waiting to welcome -him at the top of a flight of pure white stairs. And I could see again -that light I had seen in the purple eyes of Naia—that exquisite look -of the Madonna, I had seen in the faces of other new-made mothers, -and in their eyes. Yes, if it had been a dream instead of an actual -occurrence, it had been very, very real.</p> - -<p>For the life of me, I couldn't decide. The mind of me balked no matter -what the spirit decreed. As an actual fact, I wanted to believe I was -in a somewhat similar position to men I have known, who tried to accept -a religion, feeling their salvation depended upon it, and yet could not -quite compass full acceptance in the end.</p> - -<p>At the last I settled down to a sort of compromise with myself, based -on my recollection of Croft's assertion that he would come to me some -time for an astral conversation, similar to those meetings with Naia he -had employed to sway her decision, before he finally won her and that I -myself should visit Palos some time again. If those things happened I -felt I could give credence without reservation. I did a lot of reading -in Croft's books and waited. But he did not come.</p> - -<p>A month passed and a little more, approximately such a span of time as -they called a Zitran on Palos, where the year was a trifle longer than -ours, though divided in similar fashion into twelve periods. I had -about settled back into acceptance of a completely corporeal routine, -and then—once more I had word of Jason's son.</p> - -<p>"Murray—Murray," a voice whispered to me in my slumber.</p> - -<p>It roused me. I sat up, distinctly conscious of an intelligent presence -in my room.</p> - -<p>"Murray—get out of that cloud, and let's talk," what seemed a whisper -prompted.</p> - -<p>Something happened. Suddenly I was intensely awake, and I saw—the -nebulous form of Jason, seated against the metal rail at the foot of my -bed.</p> - -<p>"That's better. How would you like to take another trip to Palos?" he -inquired.</p> - -<p>He smiled as he said it, and I answered in similar fashion. "If I can -make the round trip a little quicker I wouldn't mind it. What's wrong -up there now?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing's wrong up there. Everything's all right."</p> - -<p>His expression quickened. "But what happened?"</p> - -<p>I told him, and he nodded. "Well, this will be different as you'll get -back before morning. Murray, both Naia and I want very much that you -should be present in so far as you can, two nights from now, at the -christening of our son."</p> - -<p>The christening of his son. The thing thrilled me. It was real then, -and not a dream after all. I had really gone to Palos that night over a -month ago, and now—Croft had kept his promise. He was here asking me -to essay the venture again.</p> - -<p>"Of course," he said as I delayed my answer in the grip of full -realization, "you'll see without being seen, but—after it's over—Naia -wants to meet you astrally at least. Will you come?"</p> - -<p>Naia wanted to meet me. After the thing was over and the others were -gone, we three would meet as Croft and I were meeting now and establish -a personal relation.</p> - -<p>"Will I?" I exclaimed. "Well, rather."</p> - -<p>Croft smiled. "It will be a somewhat brilliant spectacle. You'll enjoy -it."</p> - -<p>We talked for an hour after that, before he vanished, and I found -myself sitting bolt upright in bed, staring into the darkness and -filled with the firm conviction that on the second night from this I -would witness the christening of Jason's son.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>That conviction went with me during the two succeeding days and it was -with the positive expectation of its fulfillment that I locked myself -in my room and stretched myself out on my bed the second night.</p> - -<p>I lay there and fixed my mind on the home of Lakkon in Himyra—the -great red city of Aphur, where Croft had said the ceremony would occur. -I pictured it even as I had pictured Jason's home in the mountains, its -splendid court paved with the purest of rock-crystal—he had fancied it -was glass when first he saw it—its circling balcony reached at either -end of the court by yellow onyxlike stairs.</p> - -<p>I focused every vestige of my will on reaching to it, and—suddenly—it -seemed that I heard Croft calling me just as he had said he would do; -the sense of lightness, of untrammeled freedom I had experienced on the -other occasion came upon me—and—I was there.</p> - -<p>Light, color. They were all around me. The flawless crystal of the -floor caught the radiance from the lights above them in a million -facets, broke it into a myriad flashing pin-points of refraction -until the whole, vast court seemed paved with a shimmering iridescent -carpet. White was the balcony about it, and the pillars on which it was -supported, and the gleaming bits of sculpture between. And the shrubs, -the banks and hedges of vegetation, in the unpaved beds of the court -were green, save that they were blooming, loaded down with colorful -flowers everywhere.</p> - -<p>Tables a-glitter with gold and glass stretched down the central portion -of the sparkling pavement in the form of three sides of a rectangle, -with a purple-draped dais at the closed end. Guests thronged the vast -apartment, seated on chairs of wine-red wood or reclining on couches -interspersed among the beds of flowering vegetation. Nodding plumes of -every hue and shade graced the heads of the women. Of every grade of -richness were their jewel-embroidered robes. Nor were their men-folk -any whit behind them in the lavish ornamentation their tunics or metal -cuirasses displayed.</p> - -<p>Men and women, they were like birds of brilliant plumage, and as the -lights struck down upon them, save for the gleam of the bared arms -and shoulders of the women, the glint of their fair limbs through -the intricate slashings of their leg-casings and sandals of softest -leathers, the rose tint of their knees, they blazed. A babble of -voices—the rhythm of music from concealed harps, was in the room. I -indulged in a single comprehensive glance and looked about for my hosts.</p> - -<p>But I did not find them anywhere among their guests. Nor did Jason -appear to greet me, though that I did not expect. We had arranged -between us that he should summon me just before the ceremony occurred, -and that we would meet only after the departure of the guests. Hence, -failing to sight either Croft or Naia or even Lakkon, I made shift for -myself.</p> - -<p>A trumpet blared with a softened tongue. I became aware of a page in -purple garments, standing with the instrument at his lips, on the -topmost tread of one of the flights of yellow stairs.</p> - -<p>The thrum of the hidden harps quickened. The assembled company rose. -They stood and faced the stairway where, now, something in the nature -of a ceremonial procession showed.</p> - -<p>Naia and Croft came first, Naia in white from the tips of her slender -sandals to the feathers that nodded from a fillet of shimmering -diamondlike jewels in the masses of her golden hair. Croft led her -downward. He was in all his formal harness, golden cuirass, on the -breast of which glowed the cross ansata and the wings of Azil in -azure stones—golden greaves and sandals gem-incrusted, golden helmet -supporting azure plumes.</p> - -<p>And after them came Maia, the blue girl of Mazzeria, bearing on a -purple cushion, the child.</p> - -<p>Lakkon followed, walking side by side with a man, stalwart, grizzled, -strong-faced, clad in a cuirass of silver, rarest of all Tamarizian -metals, wearing the circle and cross of Zitra, the capital city of the -nation, done in more of the diamondlike stones upon his armor.</p> - -<p>Jadgor, I thought; Jadgor, president of the Tamarizian republic, -recognizing him from Croft's former descriptions and the quality of his -dress.</p> - -<p>Behind them, azure-clad—the cross ansata on his breast, a flame of -vivid scarlet gems—stalked a man, white-haired and most benign of -appearance in company with a second, more stalwart, also in azure -robes. They carried staves tipped with the looped cross and were -followed by a boy supporting a tray of silver, on which were two silver -flasks and a tiny, blazing lamp.</p> - -<p>A man with a cuirass, on which showed a rayed sun, and wearing plumes -of scarlet, and a woman, scarlet-robed, with the same ruddy feathers -above her soft brown hair brought up the rear.</p> - -<p>Zud and Magur, and a temple boy, Robur and Gaya, his wife—high priest -of Zitra and his deputy of Himyra, governor of Aphur and his consort, I -named them to myself.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>While the company kept silent and the harps filled all the air with a -sort of triumphant paean, the little procession advanced. It reached -the foot of the stairs and crossed to the dais, mounted its steps. It -formed itself in a shimmering semi-circle, Croft and Naia—and Maia -kneeling before them in the center—the others on either side, and -before them the boy of the temple and the two priests.</p> - -<p>Him I named Zud, because of his bearing and his mane of snowy hair, -raised his stave. The music died. Silence came down for a moment, and -then the voice of Magur rose:</p> - -<p>"Hail Zitu, giver of life, and Ga, through whom life is given, and -Azil, bringer of life, we are met together that a name may be given -unto this new soul thou hast seen fit to assign to the flesh.</p> - -<p>"Greetings to you, Naia, daughter of Ga, and to you, Jason, Hupor, -named Mouthpiece of Zitu among men through whose union Zitu and Ga have -expressed their will that life shall remain eternal, renewing its fire -from generation unto generation, in the name of love. Is it your will -that a name be given this, thy child?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, priest of Zitu." Naia and Jason inclined their heads.</p> - -<p>"And how call you it between yourselves?"</p> - -<p>"Jason, son of Jason," came Croft's voice.</p> - -<p>"Then present him unto Zud, high priest of Zitu, that he may receive -Zitu's blessing at his hands," Magur said.</p> - -<p>The girl of Mazzeria raised the cushion of her arms with the child upon -it. The temple boy advanced his silver tray, and knelt. Zud uncorked -the silver flasks.</p> - -<p>"Jason, son of Jason, in the name of Zitu, the father, and Ga, the -mother, and Azil, the son, I baptize thee with wine and with water -and light," he began. Moistening his fingers from one of the two -flasks, he went on, "With wine I baptize thee, which like the blood, -invigorates the body, and strengthens the heart and makes quick the -brain." Bending, he touched the child on the forehead, poured water -from the other flask into his palm and continued, "I baptize you with -water which nourisheth all life, purifies all with which it comes in -contact, makes all things clean."</p> - -<p>He paused and sprinkled the glowing little body before him, took up the -light and a tiny bit of silver I had not noted before and threw into -the little face a golden reflected beam. "With light I baptize thee -Jason, Son of Jason, since by the will of Zitu it is the light of the -spirit which fills the chambers of the brain. May that light be with -thee ever and forever, nor be absent from thee again."</p> - -<p>Of course I didn't understand it. It was only afterward when Croft -had translated it to me that its inward meaning was plain, but the -solemnity of the ritual, the rhythm of well-balanced words, the quiet -attention of the assembled guests and the reverent voice of the priest -affected me, who stood unseen with the company on the dais, as he -baptized Jason's son.</p> - -<p>And then he took the cushion from the kneeling girl of Mazzeria, lifted -it, turning to face the brilliant assemblage.</p> - -<p>"Jason, Son of Jason," he cried, holding the infant toward them.</p> - -<p>"Hail, Jason, Son of Jason," the guests responded like a well-drilled -chorus, and the thing was done.</p> - -<p>Followed a feast, similar I fancied in every detail to those Croft had -told me he had witnessed at first and been privileged to attend. Men -and women reclined at the tables on padded divans. Blue servitors moved -about, filling the golden and crystal goblets with wine, loading the -golden plates with food. Once more the harps broke forth. And suddenly -from under the farther yellow stairway there broke a band of maidens, -clad in garlands of woven flowers, and danced to the music of the -harps, with a waving of slender arms, a bending of supple, unrestrained -bodies, a flashing of whitely rounded limbs. With dances and music the -feast ran to an end.</p> - -<p>The guests departed, last of them, according to Tamarizian custom, -Jadgor, president of the Republic, the guest of honor, and with him -Gaya and her husband Robur, governor of Aphur and Jadgor's son. Naia -took the child into her arms from the hands of its Mazzerian attendant. -She and Jason moved toward the stairs. I knew that the hour I had -waited had come.</p> - -<p>I followed up the stairway and along the balcony and to a room—hung -here in golden tissues, furnished with wine-red woods and twin couches -of molded copper—with the mirror pool in its center and once more the -figure of Azil close beside it as in Jason's home.</p> - -<p>Naia placed the child on a tiny couch and covered its sleeping form -with a bit of silken fabric. She turned to Jason, her blue eyes -shining. He drew her into his arms and held her, smiling.</p> - -<p>"There is yet one guest, beloved," he said in English.</p> - -<p>"Aye," she responded softly; "but—one who understands the heart both -of the wife, and the mother of Jason's son."</p> - -<p>"And awaits a welcome from her," said Jason. "Come, beloved." He led -her to one of the copper couches and sat down with an arm about her -white-sheathed form.</p> - -<p>From it there crept a lovely thing—an exact replica of it—the very -essence of it, as indeed it was and seemed, as the lights in the -chamber flooded down upon it. And that shape stretched out its slender -hands. It swayed toward me, with Croft's astral presence close behind -it.</p> - -<p>"At last," said Naia of Aphur, "I may welcome you, Dr. Murray, as mine -and Jason's friend."</p> - -<p>"At last, I may converse with Naia of Aphur, and thrill with the glory -of her—a thing I have long desired," I replied, and took her shadowy -hand and raised it to my none less shadowy lips, yet with a distinct -sensation of the contact none the less.</p> - -<p>She smiled, and glanced at Jason. "Beloved, are all the men of earth so -courtly? It was even so if you remember that you met me first in the -flesh."</p> - -<p>Croft chuckled.</p> - -<p>"Life is much the same on earth or Palos," he made answer. "Well, -Murray, what do you think of Palosian life?"</p> - -<p>"Babylonian," I said. "You were right in the simile beyond question. I -was thinking tonight when I watched it that it was almost a pity in one -way you should be changing it all with your innovations."</p> - -<p>He nodded. "In a way I've thought as much myself. I get your meaning. -But I'm going to try and preserve it at least in part."</p> - -<p>"Babylonian?" said Naia in a tone of question.</p> - -<p>Jason and I explained, and she heard us out.</p> - -<p>"Oh, but—things must change, must they not, Dr. Murray?—and the -common people will be so much happier for the knowledge Jason brings to -Palos. And even I—think where I and my child would be now save for -the knowledge possessed by a man of earth. It is to you and Jason that -we owe our lives. Think you not that I carry your name to Ga and Azil -in my prayers—that I have wished to meet you in order to express my -thanks myself?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Her words gave me a feeling of something like exaltation, even while -in a way they embarrassed. "I, too," I faltered, "am very glad of the -meeting, to be able to assure you that it was my happiness to serve -you, and to wish you and Jason the happiness of each other, and your -son a long and useful life."</p> - -<p>She glanced toward the tiny couch and back again, smiling. "Life," she -said softly. "It is so wonderful to hold him—to realize that his life -is but the blending of Jason's and mine. Sometimes I even think that -I understand in a measure what Ga must feel as she guards the eternal -fire."</p> - -<p>And what is one going to say to a wife and mother when she talks like -that? I know I mumbled something to the effect that what Ga probably -felt was an all compelling compassion and love. And then I asked Croft -to translate the words of the baptismal ceremony as voiced by Magur and -Zud the high priest.</p> - -<p>He complied and I questioned him of Jadgor and Gaya and Robur, -confirming my recognition of Naia's relatives and his friends. -Conversation became general for something like an hour, and then Jason -prompted. "Beloved, shall we accompany Murray somewhat—show him Himyra -in passing when he returns?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, as you like," she assented. "And he must come to us again. Now -that our need has rendered possible such communion it will not be -necessary for you to seek earth in the flesh when you need additional -knowledge, or leave me overly long again."</p> - -<p>Croft nodded. "Yes, Murray is going to have his hand in Tamarizian -affairs from now on, and the boy there will know more than any man ever -born on Palos in the end. Well, Murray, want to see Himyra?"</p> - -<p>"I've always wanted to see it since you told me about it first," I -assented.</p> - -<p>"Then come along."</p> - -<p>"But," I added as he led the way with Naia through one of the open -windows of the chamber. "I never expected to see it exactly like this."</p> - -<p>Naia turned her eyes and smiled as we floated free of the house and -upward under Croft's guiding will. "Dear friend," she said, "you know -so much of us that to me it does not seem strange to find you one of us -at last."</p> - -<p>"Behold Himyra," said Croft, and flung out a shadowy arm.</p> - -<p>The city lay beneath us. I saw the double row of lights that fringed -the flood of the Na, the mighty pyramid of Zitu, up-reared against the -skyline, black now instead of red, save where the lights threw ruddy -splashes upon it, banded with white at the apex with the pure white -temple of Zitu upon its truncated top—the long line of the houses of -the nobles of the old regime, fronting a wide street at the top of the -river embankment in an amazing vista, set down each in its private -grounds among night-darkened shrubs and trees, the wide-flung palace -of the governor of Aphur, once the palace of Jadgor, Aphur's king. -The thing swam a shimmering vision before me under the light of the -Palosian moons. I strained my eyes and saw the mighty sweep of Himyra's -shadowy walls.</p> - -<p>It moved me oddly. Already I knew so much of the city's history as -involved in Croft's romance. I turned my eyes.</p> - -<p>"Himyra," I said, "I shall not forget it—nor Naia of Aphur, nor Jason, -mouthpiece of Zitu, nor Jason, Jason's son. Zitu guard you, my friends. -I must be going."</p> - -<p>"Zitu guard thee," Naia answered.</p> - -<p>And suddenly I was back in my own room, remembering her parting smile.</p> - -<p>These things have I narrated in order to show how there was built -up between Croft and Naia of Aphur, his mate, and myself, a subtly -intimate relation that must, as I hope, make what followed plain.</p> - -<p>Life went on pretty much with me after that for some further eight -months, however, before the events I intend to relate occurred. Now and -then during the interval Jason Croft came to me in the astral presence, -and on several occasions I succeeded by my own endeavors in visiting -him and Naia in their home.</p> - -<p>Between them they taught me somewhat of the Tamarizian tongue, Croft -explaining that as all life was the same in reality, and the thought -back of the word similar in intent even though the word itself might -vary in sound, all languages were really one in thought and purpose. -With that as a key, I soon discovered that the spoken words of those -about me were not difficult for one in the astral condition to -understand—that the vibrations of their thought affected the astral -shell in a manner that made their meaning plain.</p> - -<p>I suggested to Croft that it was because of that very thing he had so -readily apprehended the speech of Tamarizia when he first projected -himself to Palos and came down outside Himyra's walls, rather than -because of the similarity of their speech to the Sanscrit, now nearly a -forgotten tongue on earth, and he nodded and smiled.</p> - -<p>"Exactly, Murray," he agreed, "but then I didn't realize it altogether, -and—" He broke off and glanced at his wife.</p> - -<p>"And you had something else to think about," I said, grinning as I -recalled how he had seen Naia that first morning and followed her to -Lakkon's house, drinking in her beauty.</p> - -<p>"It's true I wasn't very logical in my considerations the first time I -heard the language," he replied, and Naia of Aphur dropped her eyes. -The inner fires of her spirit seemed to quicken. I think she would have -blushed had she been in the flesh instead of sitting there with us like -an inexpressibly lovely wraith.</p> - -<p>So at least in those months I acquired a fair understanding of -their speech, and I came more and more to regard their home in the -western mountains of Aphur, across the desert from Himyra, on Palos, -with the same intimacy of feeling I might have experienced for the -home of two friends of earth. My conversations with Jason came more -and more to resemble consultations on modern affairs. He asked me -constantly concerning this and that fresh progress in mundane matters. -He discussed with me his plans for improving material and social -conditions on Palos.</p> - -<p>He had already established a series of public schools for the masses -where, before his arrival, education of a sort had been provided only -for the nobles and men of wealth. Plainly the man was planning to do -more where he had already done so much. He had given them moturs—as -they called them—airplanes, electricity, printing, telephones of -short radius at least, weapons by which Zollaria's schemes had been -overthrown. And now he planned to lead them toward higher standards of -national and commercial and individual life. And but for what occurred -there is no telling what, working together as we were at the time, we -might have accomplished.</p> - -<p>Indeed Croft had established both wireless and telegraphic -communication between Zitra and Himyra, and was planning railways on -which he intended to run motur-driven trains—was dreaming of a great -beltline about the Central Sea, with lateral branches to reach every -part of the nation.</p> - -<p>And then—one night he called me to him as he had called me the night -of Jason's birth—and I found him in the self-same chamber, with the -purple draperies half torn down and trampled—the fair form of Azil -drowned in the mirror pool, beside which the dead body of Mitlos the -Mazzerian majordomo lay sprawled.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> - -<h3>NAIA OF APHUR</h3> - - -<p>Violence, conflict. The marks of the thing were on every side. The -ghastly gash in the breast of Mitlos bore dumb testimony to the fact -that the man had battled grimly till he died.</p> - -<p>I gazed into Jason's face, even in its astral semblance haggard.</p> - -<p>"Croft," I stammered, "what in Zitu's name has happened?"</p> - -<p>He jerked out an arm in an all-embracing gesture.</p> - -<p>"Gone, Murray," he told me with a vibration of agony in his answer; -"both of them—both Naia and the—child."</p> - -<p>"Gone?" For a moment my senses seemed whirring. "Croft—what do you -mean? Gone—where?"</p> - -<p>"Into the western mountains, toward the outer ocean—she told me, -Murray. She came and told me as soon as she felt it safe to do so. She -came to me tonight in the Zitran pyramid—astrally, of course. You know -I told you I was going to Zitra to see Jadgor in a matter concerning -the government railroad control—"</p> - -<p>I nodded.</p> - -<p>"She found me there tonight. She had been afraid to leave the body -before, lest something happen to little Jason. It was last night this -thing occurred—and my body's still in Zitra." I sensed the tenseness -of his emotion. "I'm so utterly impotent to help her, Murray. Would -Zitu I were here to follow and wrest her from them."</p> - -<p>"From whom?" I questioned. Plainly he knew more of the matter than I -did—as much at least as Naia had told him. "See here, Croft—"</p> - -<p>He appeared to grip himself as he answered. "Forgive me, Murray. The -Zollarians, of course. It was an armed band of those Sons of Zitemku -that attacked here in my absence. There"—he pointed at the body of -Mitlos—"lies an example of their work."</p> - -<p>His words whipped my attention—brought up a vivid picture of all the -abduction of Naia and her child by men from the northern hostile nation -might embrace.</p> - -<p>"Zollarians?" I said. "She told you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes." He nodded. "They—they must have been planning it, Murray—they -must have been using spies."</p> - -<p>"Unless," I rejoined, "it was merely a wandering band of marauders." -I had a general knowledge of the western coast of Aphur and the -intervening country. Practically uninhabited, wild and rugged, it would -be easy, I thought, for men of such ilk to have landed on its shores.</p> - -<p>"Wandering band?" Croft said with something like impatience. "Murray, -talk sense. They knew enough to seize Naia of Aphur—the fairest woman -of her nation, of its best blood—the wife of the Mouthpiece of Zitu, -who has twice defeated their schemes and their armies—and her child."</p> - -<p>I nodded. He had not lost his ability to judge the situation even then, -and judge it clearly. I ceased offering either suggestions or comment -and asked a question:</p> - -<p>"Then what do you intend?"</p> - -<p>"I intend to follow her—learn what is behind this damnable action -first."</p> - -<p>"Astrally?" I recalled that more than once ere this he had adopted such -means to gain information toward Zollaria's undoing, and I began to -comprehend.</p> - -<p>He gave me a glance. "Of course. It's the only way I can follow with -the cursed hulk of me in Zud's pile of rock in Zitra. And I want you -to go with me tonight. Man, I'm trying to keep as cool as I may, -but—I'm in need of sympathetic support. Before Naia left me she said -they stopped for an hour's rest, but that before daylight faded they -had seen the outer ocean from a hill, and a ship. I think that ship is -waiting for her, Murray—and that once we are on it, to see and not be -seen, hear and not be heard, we shall learn something of the truth."</p> - -<p>"Then let's get on it," I suggested. "This is a terrible ordeal for -her. When she came to you tonight, was she frightened?"</p> - -<p>"Frightened?" Suddenly Croft drew himself up before me. "Naia—Naia of -Aphur frightened—" And then abruptly the force of his thought wave, -beating upon me softened. "Or if she felt fear, Murray, it was for the -child, and not for herself."</p> - -<p>He turned toward the tiny couch where the infant had been wont to sleep -between the twin couches of its parents, and stood brooding down upon -it. "Now Zitemku take the scum of life who have made my house empty," -he burst forth, and seized my hand. "Come."</p> - -<p>In a flash we were outside. And as on that night after the christening -of Jason, Son of Jason, when Croft and Naia showed me Himyra, we -floated upward. Only now there were no lights to fasten the attention, -no mighty piles of architecture, no wide embracing walls. There were -just the tumbled masses of the mountains, their sides cut and gashed -by night-filled ravines and tortuous canyons, and the silvery radiance -of the Palosian moons, and the stars. I recalled that once in the past -Croft had called Naia of Aphur, still then a maiden, forth from her -body and floated thus over Aphur's hills from the house we now were -leaving.</p> - -<p>And then his voice was in my ear.</p> - -<p>"Look, Murray—they've reached the shore-line, and—they're building a -flare."</p> - -<p>I turned my gaze into the west, where low down on what might or might -not be the horizon, but was certainly not the heavens, there winked a -point of light, too ruddy, too unsteady, to be a star.</p> - -<p>We swept toward it. For the first time I saw the Zollarian manhood in -the light of the leaping fire they had built upon a beach. Tawny-haired -they were, for the most part, stalwart, with muscular arms and heavy -limbs, as they stood straining their vision across the water toward -the moonlighted shape of a ship—or perhaps galley were a better term, -since it seemed to be equipped with banks of oars as well as sails.</p> - -<p>So much I saw—the ship, the bodies of the men, the glint of the -firelight on spearheads, and the short metal scabbards of swords, not -unlike the ancient Roman weapons, to judge by their dimensions, and -then Croft led me to where Naia and the blue girl of Mazzeria were -seated, little way apart.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Maia was speaking softly as we reached them. "My mistress, you are -quite assured then that the Hupor Jason understands?"</p> - -<p>"Aye." Naia bent her cheek to rest it against the head of the infant. -"Be of good courage, Maia, and fear not."</p> - -<p>"I fear not for myself, but for you and that one against your breast," -the blue girl answered. "Had it been my part to do so, I had done as -Mitlos and died in your defense."</p> - -<p>"I know." Naia stretched out a hand and touched the girl upon the -shoulder. "May Zilla bear Mitlos as tenderly as my thoughts shall hold -him—and did I not name you my sister Maia, after you rendered me aid -in preserving my lord—and did you not insist on coming with me, though -these men did not desire to take you, saying you were the child's -attendant?"</p> - -<p>"I came gladly," the blue girl said quickly, "yet do I not understand -these sleeps in which you lie as dead, and I remember once when Mitlos -and I worked above you thinking Zilla had taken your spirit, before you -were the Hupor Jason's bride—and it was even so with the Hupor himself -in the camp of the Mazzerian army, when we went to save him—"</p> - -<p>"Peace, girl," Naia interrupted, and paused and caught her breath -sharply, as Jason bent the force of his presence on her.</p> - -<p>She smiled, handed the child to Maia, and reclined her body on the warm -sand of the beach. Then she let the fair astral tenant of her body -steal forth!</p> - -<p>"Beloved," said Jason Croft, and drew her close. "Beloved—woman of -gold—we have heard your words, I and our friend of earth."</p> - -<p>Naia turned her head toward me from the shelter of his arms.</p> - -<p>"Once more," she addressed me, "you come to our aid, good friend. Did -Jason, my lord, call you to him?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, Princess of Aphur." I inclined my head, finding the Tamarizian -idiom in that moment best fitted to my tongue.</p> - -<p>She spoke again to Jason. "You have followed me, beloved; what else -lies in your mind?"</p> - -<p>"Naught for the present," Croft told her. "It is plain that they intend -taking you upon yonder ship, and we shall follow you aboard it. It is -our purpose to learn, in so far as we may, what these spawn of Zitemku -and Lith, his filthy consort, have in mind. Yet fear not—though I do -no more than this in the spirit, I shall do much more in the flesh, -once the spirit is informed."</p> - -<p>"I shall not fear," said Naia of Aphur. "Have I not given myself wholly -into your keeping? My part it shall be to meet what Zitu sends upon us -boldly and without fear, and safeguard that smaller Jason, who even -now is a mirror of his father."</p> - -<p>"And thyself, beloved," Croft added quickly. "Look to thyself. It were -hard choice for a father between child and mother, but—"</p> - -<p>"Nay! Say no further," she stayed his almost passionate answer swiftly. -Yet something like an inward fire seemed to light her mistlike form -until it glowed.</p> - -<p>"By Bel—they are awake out there at last," the sound of a rough voice -drifted to my ears.</p> - -<p>Croft turned his head at the same instant, toward the group of -Zollarian raiders and the ship beyond them, between which and the beach -a boat now appeared.</p> - -<p>"Aye," growled another speaker. "And time enough. Look to the women and -the slave."</p> - -<p>"The time is at hand, beloved," I heard Jason speaking. "Return, soul -of my soul, to your beautiful mansion—and think not I shall not be -near."</p> - -<p>For a moment he clasped her closer and sank his lips to hers uplifted, -and then—she was gone and her body stirred, sat up as two of the -Zollarians approached and ordered her to rise.</p> - -<p>"What did they mean by 'the slave'?" I questioned Jason.</p> - -<p>"Wait," he said as another group of Naia's captors led a blue man into -the light of the fire. "Bathos—one of my house servants," he went on. -"Now, for what purpose in Zitu's name have they brought him along?"</p> - -<p>I could offer no suggestion, and I didn't try. The boat had reached the -beach by the time the women and the blue man had been brought to the -edge of the water, and now they were thrust in. Part of the Zollarians -crowded aboard, and the boat shoved off, leaving the rest of the band -to await its return.</p> - -<p>Croft and I followed, as propelled by the straining muscles of -well-nigh naked rowers, it moved across the waves. With a sense of the -bizarreness, the weirdness, of it all, I found myself perching upon a -gunwale, while Croft actually took his place at Naia's side.</p> - -<p>It was an odd sensation to realize myself a part of that strange -archaic scene; wherein a beautiful woman had been abducted, and her -captors, bronzed men dressed more in the fashion of the soldiery -of forgotten empires than anything else, drove their boat across a -moonlight silvered tide. I found myself wondering how they would have -acted could they have seen us seated there among them. But they did -not, and the steady sweep of the oars brought us presently close to -the side of the galley, up which the Zollarians swarmed on down-flung -ladders to reach the deck.</p> - -<p>Naia and Maia followed, climbing a ladder with surprising ease until I -recalled what Croft had told me of the wiry strength in Naia's supple -figure in the past, and I considered the bodily freedom allowed by the -Tamarizian fashion in dress. Last of all to leave the boat, before it -returned to the beach, came Bathos, whom, being blue, the Zollarians -had termed a slave, as were all of his race born of captive parents, in -the nation to the north.</p> - -<p>I glanced about me, recognizing the craft as similar in the main -details at least to those Jason had found in common use on the -Tamarizian rivers and the Central Sea, when he had reached Palos first. -There was a high deck forward, a lower deck in the waist, where the -oarsmen sat on benches, close to a series of ports in the skin of the -vessel, through which were thrust the butts of the heavy oars. Aft -again was a second higher deck, covered by an awning beneath which were -placed padded divans and several quaintly shaped and ornamented chairs. -Indeed, the vessel was nothing less than regal, as I perceived. Green -was the awning and the sail on the gilded mast running up between the -banks of rowers' benches.</p> - -<p>Gilded too were the railings of the twin stairs that led up to the -after-deck on either side, from the lower level of the waist. And the -sheathing of the decks seemed to be made of closely fitted strips of -the wine-red wood, customarily used for the fashioning of couches and -divans and chairs.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Plainly, then, we had come aboard the craft of someone of more than -ordinary station, I thought, and gave my attention to a man standing on -guard beside a door in the facing of the space between the level of the -after-deck and the waist, where, as I judged, whatever private cabins -there might be on the vessel would be placed.</p> - -<p>Huge he was and florid, muscled like an ox, his mighty thorax banded -with metal, fitting him so closely that the bellies of the shoulder -muscles bulged above their upper edge. Head, shoulders, and arms -were naked, as were his legs save for a short cloth skirt below his -armor, falling half-way down his thighs, and the metal casings on -his heavy calves. Thick-lipped, flat-nosed, bulging of forehead, he -was a veritable giant, his appearance little short of ferocious as he -leaned on the haft of a spear and watched, straightening to attention -only when the captain in charge of the raiding party advanced with his -captives toward him. But only for a moment. Then as the captain paused, -without speaking, he shifted his spear, put out a hand, and opened the -door.</p> - -<p>It gave into a passage, with curtained doorways on either hand and a -lighted apartment at the farther end, toward which Naia, her maid, and -Bathos, with the Zollarians who led them, passed.</p> - -<p>They reached it, and then, in so far as sensation went at least, I -gasped. The room was ablaze with lights that struck back on every hand -from woodwork carved and tooled in most magnificent fashion, hung with -woven fabrics of green shot through with threads of gold. But if the -apartment was amazing in its appearance, its occupant was in no way -overcast. Rather, she seemed the center of all its blended richness -of furnishing and color. I say she because it was a woman who lay -stretched on a couch of what seemed molded-silver. And such a woman! -For a single instant, as I saw her, she seemed more gorgeous in her -voluptuous physical perfection than anything in all that gorgeous place.</p> - -<p>Tawny she was as a lioness, of hair and eyes, as she lay there on that -splendid couch, draped with the mottled hide of some tawny beast; -lithe as a tigress she appeared in all her supple, wonderfully rounded -length, save for a jeweled girdle supporting a drapery of almost -transparent tissue. And as she lifted her fine torso, raising herself -to a sitting position before the captain, who sank with uplifted hand -to a knee before her, one sensed there were tiny bells on the jeweled -bands about her tapering ankles that tinkled as she moved.</p> - -<p>Suspicion, swift as a lance-thrust, came upon me as I saw her, even -before the captain spoke. "Hail to thee, Kalamita, Priestess of Adita, -goddess of beauty; thy servant returns from that mission on which it -was thy pleasure to send him, bringing with him those thou named."</p> - -<p>Kalamita! Kalamita, the Zollarian, magnet of the flesh, by whose -shameless charms and yet more shameless favors Kyphallos, Prince of -Cathur, had been seduced. Well I thought was she named magnet—and one -could fancy how she might draw men to her as irresistibly as the moth -is drawn by the flame, and with equally fatal results. I glanced at -Croft.</p> - -<p>His face was a blended thing of conjecture and consternation on thus -once more beholding Zollaria's lovely magnet of the flesh. But he said -no word, though his hand crept out and touched me as we stood side by -side to watch.</p> - -<p>Kalamita smiled. "'Tis well, Ptoth," she made answer. "Arise. You have -proven faithful, and you shall have your reward. Found you any obstacle -worth naming on your mission?"</p> - -<p>"Nay, Sister of Bandhor," said Ptoth, rising. "None but the house -slaves lay there to oppose us—one we brought with us, since so it was -ordered—the rest were slain."</p> - -<p>I glanced at Croft again, and he nodded. I understand that, although -he had made no mention of it, the fact to him was already known. And -I felt my own anger harden. Mitlos was not the only one of Jason's -retainers who had paid the penalty of their fidelity to his trust. The -entire foray had been a deliberate bit of murder.</p> - -<p>"'Tis well," said Kalamita again, turning her tawny eyes beyond Ptoth -to where Naia and the others stood. "Found you any trace of this -Mouthpiece of Zitu?"</p> - -<p>"Nay," the captain answered, smiling, "but we left him ample trace of -us."</p> - -<p>Kalamita's whole expression darkened. Her amber eyes flashed. "Aye—and -may Adita forsake my beauty and blast it if I give him not another. Let -this woman wait, and bring me his slave."</p> - -<p>Ptoth turned to Bathos, seized him by an arm, and flung him at the feet -of the woman on the couch.</p> - -<p>The blue man groveled. He made no attempt to rise.</p> - -<p>Kalamita put out a pink-nailed foot and touched him.</p> - -<p>"Come, get up," she prompted. "How are you called?"</p> - -<p>"Bathos," the servant faltered, lifting himself on limbs that shook -beneath him, to stand with downcast eyes.</p> - -<p>"Listen, then, Bathos," Kalamita continued. "Canst find the way over -which my captain led you, and return?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, if I be granted the chance." Bathos glanced toward the end of the -passage.</p> - -<p>"It will be granted, provided you will bear a message."</p> - -<p>"Aye, I will bear it," Bathos assented promptly.</p> - -<p>"Then give ear. It is for your lord. Return to his dwelling and from -there to Himyra; seek out one in authority, and bid him send word to -the Hupor Jason that the woman he has taken to wife and her child are -in Kalamita's hands. Say further that they shall be taken to a place I -know of and held until I have received word from him, and that I shall -await his coming in a hunting house, one of my possessions, in the -mountains north of Cathur's border, half a sun's journey, where, when -he comes to listen to my requirements, he will be led by men who will -lie in watch. Repeat now my own words to me, Tamarizian canor, and make -no mistake in the telling. I desire that this Hupor Jason fails not to -understand."</p> - -<p>Bathos complied. He mumbled the message quickly, too fired by the -thoughts of freedom, as it seemed, to resent in the least Kalamita's -use of the word canor, the Tamarizian equivalent of dog. "So shall I -say to the one I find to send word to the Hupor Jason," he made an end.</p> - -<p>Kalamita nodded and turned to Ptoth. "He has his lesson. Take him and -see him put ashore. That done, see that we turn north at once, and say -to Gor that I deny my presence to any, as you pass him. Take also the -blue girl with you. I would deal with the other alone. You may leave -her the child."</p> - -<p>Ptoth threw up an arm in flat-handed salute and bowed, motioned Bathos -to precede him, and caught Maia by an arm. Gor, I fancied, must be the -name of the giant on guard at the outer door. And, too, I fancied that, -under the conditions, Bathos's message was going to be old news when -delivered.</p> - -<p>I glanced at Jason, and found his expression one of intense attention. -He seemed to feel my gaze, however, and shook his head slightly, as -though to say this was no time for anything more than observation.</p> - -<p>I turned back to the two women, now confronting one another.</p> - -<p>Ptoth and his charges had vanished. They were alone, Kalamita, the -Zollarian adventuress, the lure of men, and Naia, Princess of Aphur, -with the son of a man in her arms.</p> - -<p>For a moment each seemed appraising the other.</p> - -<p>Then Kalamita rose.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was like Aphrodite rising, the tissue of the draperies dependent -from the gem-incrusted girdle clasping her rounded body seeming no more -than a white foam, a shimmering streaking of froth, more than half -revealing what it concealed. She went a lithe pace forward and paused, -still holding the woman before her with contemptuous yellow eyes.</p> - -<p>"So," she said, "at last I see Tamarizia's most beautiful woman, and -find her rather pale of feature, rather wide-eyed, possessed of a not -unattractive figure, but scarcely so favored of Adita as I have been -led to believe."</p> - -<p>"Favored rather by Ga, the true woman, Kalamita," Naia returned in -level accents, glancing down at the child in her arms. "You do well to -call on Adita, goddess of the unclean love."</p> - -<p>For the moment the Zollarian made no answer. Once more her yellow eyes -flashed. Scarcely, I thought, had she looked for the cold taunt from -Naia's lips, aimed at her own unsavory reputation.</p> - -<p>Then, "By Bel, you dare such speech to me!" she cried. "Think you I -have it in mind to treat you as my prisoner or a guest?"</p> - -<p>"As prisoner, I pray Zitu," said Naia of Aphur. "Other treatment from -Kalamita were disgrace."</p> - -<p>"By Bel!" Kalamita mouthed again, her face distorted with passion, and -flung herself back on her couch. "You have a bold tongue at least." -I thought she seemed disconcerted. She was breathing deeply. "How -think you your Mouthpiece of Zitu will accept your being prisoner to -Kalamita?" she asked.</p> - -<p>For the first time Naia's pale face twitched. But only for an instant, -before she controlled it and rejoined with proudly upflung head, -"Jason, my lord, will answer that question to Zollaria and Kalamita in -person."</p> - -<p>"Bel grant it." All at once Kalamita laughed. "If so I shall have -something to say to that self-exalted spirit—that panderer to priests, -who scorned the open offer of my favor for the softer affection of -yours."</p> - -<p>Once more I glanced at Croft, and found his face contorted at the -woman's reference to the time he was captive during the Mazzerian -war. And, too, I found myself thinking that, no matter to what extent -Zollaria might be involved in the abduction of Naia and Jason, Son -of Jason, Kalamita as her agent was bent on glutting a personal -revenge—that here was the old situation of a woman scorned.</p> - -<p>Then once more Naia of Aphur was speaking. "Jason, my lord, like to the -wild gnuppa of the mountains, prefers that the fountain at which his -thirst is slaked be clean—and like it once it is captured, when led -to a foul spring, he refused."</p> - -<p>"Thou fool." Kalamita sprang up. The action held all the lithe menace -of a tigress's spring. She began pacing the floor with an undulant -swing of her body, a tinkling of her anklet bells. "Thou fool," she -said again. "Think you not I shall make you repent these words—or -that, save this Mouthpiece give heed to my demands and those of my -nation, he shall return to your arms, or see your offspring again?"</p> - -<p>"Nay," Naia said, as Kalamita came to a panting pause before her, -"these things lie with the gods, Zollarian magnet. Once ere this, when -you fancied you had tricked me to my undoing, the plans of Zollaria -went amiss, and the menace was removed by death. Bzad, the Mazzerian to -whom I was to be betrayed, paid for his attempted aid to you with his -life, and his body was spewed forth from the Central Sea, refused even -by Tamarizian waters, to lie rotting on the shores of Anthra, where it -was your custom to dally with Cathur's prince."</p> - -<p>"Whom you consented to wed," Kalamita sneered with a curling lip.</p> - -<p>"To whom it was planned to give me as a sacrifice," said Naia, "if so -by it were possible to stay his hands from treason and offset the work -of your unholy charms. Tell me, Zollarian, stand I prisoner to all your -nation, or to Kalamita alone?"</p> - -<p>I felt a quiver shake me. For all the scathing tongue-play in which she -had been indulging, Naia of Aphur had herself in hand. She knew Croft -and I were present, that we could see and hear and understand. And she -asked a question, fully aware that our presence was something Kalamita -could not know.</p> - -<p>Nor did she. Something like gloating leaped into her tawny eyes as she -turned again to her couch and sat down.</p> - -<p>"So," she said, smiling coldly, "we begin to stand on common ground. -You stand prisoner to all Zollaria, wife of Jason, you and Jason, Son -of Jason. There be two forms of warfare, Aphur, that of wits as well -as that of arms. Wherefore, in your capture and that of your child, I -serve both the interests of my country and my own. It was so Bandhor, -my brother, and I planned."</p> - -<p>Naia nodded. Her tone became one of musing. "Bandhor and Kalamita, his -sister, on whose beauty he mounted to his position as general of all -Zollaria's armies, rather than by any ability of his own, and the -court of Zollaria at Berla, have planned before."</p> - -<p>"Aye," said Kalamita quickly, "we planned, and had won, save for the -undreamed weapons this Mouthpiece of yours brought against us—weapons -against which no army might stand. Yet before he reclaims Naia of -Aphur and her suckling—the secrets of those weapons shall be known. -The Zollarian and the Tamarizian armies shall stand on equal footing -again. Your Mouthpiece and your nation shall go down through Naia of -Aphur—and what then of Jason's son?"</p> - -<p>Once more I caught my breath. Once more Naia of Aphur went pale as -the full scope of Zollaria's scheming was revealed with its undoubted -future crop of bloody war, wherein Zollaria would indeed take the field -on equal footing with the Tamarizian forces, should Naia's welfare -compel the Mouthpiece of Zitu to yield to the demands for ransom the -Zollarian woman so confidently proposed. I saw the astral form beside -me clench its shadowy hands, sensed something of Jason's emotion, and -then Naia of Aphur made answer.</p> - -<p>"Yet not so surely on equal terms, Zollaria, since he who made the -weapons of which you desire the secret may have others still in mind. -'Tis a poor plan to purchase or barter with unlaid eggs."</p> - -<p>Croft's presence beside me breathed an exclamation softly. "By -Zitu—woman of gold."</p> - -<p>But Kalamita stretched her rosy arms and limbs with a tinkle of little -bells, and remained upon the couch. A glint of something like amusement -waked in her narrowed eyes.</p> - -<p>"Your position is worth considering, Aphur," she said slowly. "It may -even be put in the agreement that he shall refrain from attempting what -you suggest—or that, should he attempt it, the act be an excuse for -war."</p> - -<p>"In which, were the excuse used against her, Zollaria would perchance -again be foiled?"</p> - -<p>"And Naia of Aphur, and Jason, Son of Jason, be emptied of the spirit."</p> - -<p>"Nay—that is with Zitu," Naia made answer. "Ere this my lord has saved -me from the embrace of Zilla. I trust him wholly." And all at once she -smiled.</p> - -<p>Kalamita frowned.</p> - -<p>"By Bel, at least you have spirit," she said in almost wondering -fashion.</p> - -<p>"Which will not break before you, Priestess of Adita." Naia began a -slow rocking of the infant Jason in her arms.</p> - -<p>The act seemed to drive Kalamita to fury. Once more she lifted herself -to a half-sitting posture. She threw out a jewel-banded arm and -pointed. Her voice came shrilly—the voice of the termagant robbed of -all pretense of control, or poise. "Go—hide yourself in one of the -rooms yonder—get out of my sight."</p> - -<p>Then, as Naia moved toward the mouth of the passage and the curtained -doors of its rooms, she relaxed. A quiver shook her. "Now, Bel and -Adita befriended me, and give me my will of this woman. Adita judge -between us and blast her beauty. Her son to thee, Bel, if Tamarizia -refuses our demands, as a sacrifice. I swear it," she cried.</p> - -<p>"Come." I sensed Croft's emotion-clogged direction.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>We made our way outside. The ship was in motion, the benches filled -with straining rowers, between whom stalked men in armor bearing -knotted lashes—the green sail spread to what there was of breeze. -Kalamita's galley was straining north, bearing Naia of Aphur and Jason, -Son of Jason, helpless captives aboard her.</p> - -<p>"Where now?" I asked.</p> - -<p>"Zitra." Croft seized my arm in his grasp. Then the creeping galley, -the moonlighted flood of the outer ocean, were behind us, the tumbled -region of Aphur's hills were beneath us. They too fell away and gave -place to the shimmer of the Central Sea. An island appeared in its -center—the walls of a mighty city. White they were as milk in the -moonlight—white as the foam of the sea. And the city was white when we -reached it, all white and purple shadows, with the mighty pyramid of -Zitu lifting the pure white temple on its lofty top above the walls.</p> - -<p>"Zitra," said Croft again. "I've got to get back in the flesh."</p> - -<p>And even as he spoke, I sensed that we were in a room somewhere within -the pyramid itself. Bare was its floor of tessellated paving, bare were -its walls save for here and there a light in a metal sconce. Bare, too, -it seemed of furnishings, save for a chest of metal, a stool and a -couch, on which the body of Jason found a place.</p> - -<p>The astral Jason seated himself beside it, and fastened me with his -eyes. "You heard, Murray. You see what they intend." And then his -expression altered. "Saw you ever a more glorious woman than Naia, wife -of Jason? Well, I've got to get to work. I've got to save her."</p> - -<p>"Just how?" I questioned, baffled, I confess myself, as to how the -thing might be accomplished.</p> - -<p>"I don't know," he admitted rather slowly. "Beyond the first step, -that is. I'll explain things to Jadgor and Lakkon, of course, and I'll -have a wireless sent to Robur at Himyra. After that—well—you heard -the instructions given Bathos. There's no denying Kalamita has won the -first trick by her unexpected attack—or that she'll enter largely into -the rest of the affair until it's finished, but—since she's sending -me word to meet her, I think I'll fall in so far with her proposal and -meet her face to face."</p> - -<p>"You mean, you'll go up there north to Cathur in the mountains?" I -asked, surprised he should consider the action for a second, and with -a feeling that his sense of bereavement, the anxiety of the husband -and father to extricate his loved ones from the hands of their captors -quickly, were certainly swaying his mind.</p> - -<p>He nodded without other answer, his expression one of a frowning -consideration.</p> - -<p>"And thereby lose the second trick and the game altogether," I -rejoined. For it had come to me that Kalamita's suggested meeting was -in the nature of nothing more nor less than a trap.</p> - -<p>"Eh?" Croft threw up his head. His glance burned into mine.</p> - -<p>"Do you really think if you went up there to meet that tawny she devil, -the Mouthpiece of Zitu—Tamarizia's big man—would be given chance to -return?"</p> - -<p>For a moment after I finished Croft said nothing, and then, "By -Zitu—Murray, you're right! I must have been blind! I'll—I'll have to -send another than myself. We've got to keep a few cards in our hand. -But—consider my position."</p> - -<p>"I do," I said. "I understand it perfectly, old man. I don't expect a -man to keep cool in a game where the stakes are his wife and son."</p> - -<p>He shook his head. "It isn't that only, Murray. I dare not sacrifice -Tamarizia, either—and I won't fail Naia. Think, man—think—there must -be a way to serve both ends."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps what Naia herself suggested," I made tentative answer.</p> - -<p>Pride flashed momentarily in his eyes and died. "The invention of -another—a superior weapon," he said. "Zitu—the thought fired me -when she named it. Hah! She knew we were present—and she led the -conversation to inform us in advance of what was proposed. It was like -her, Murray, but—man, how can I risk it? You heard that fiend of -Adita's oath after Naia left her—to Bel with Jason's son."</p> - -<p>"I know," I said slowly.</p> - -<p>"But do you know its meaning?" Croft's question was strained.</p> - -<p>"No," I admitted.</p> - -<p>"Murray"—he leaned toward me; there was agony in his thought -vibration—"they practise the hellish rites of ancient Phoenicia in the -northern nation. The child would be burned."</p> - -<p>Burned—Jason, Son of Jason—a living sacrifice! The rites of the -Phoenicians! The thought staggered me, revolted, as it lifted to -mind the picture of Moloch—the brazen god into whose insensate arms -children and babes and maidens were cast—and I recalled that, as well -as Moloch, that savage divinity had been known as Bel, and marveled -at the similarity of names. A tremor of horror shook me. And yet by -a strange association of thought, as it seemed to me then, another -thought was born. Bel—Moloch—flame. On impulse I named the thing to -Croft, and waited, until:</p> - -<p>"Zitu—God," he said, and then, "Man—it may be the answer, if there is -nothing else. Now, I've got to let Zud and Jadgor and Lakkon know what -has happened. And I've got to get a message off to Robur. He's Naia's -cousin, as I've told you, and I love him like a brother. Will you go -with me on my missions, or will you return to your body, as I must to -mine?"</p> - -<p>"If you don't mind," I decided, "I'd like to know all that happens, and -I'll linger around until dawn."</p> - -<p>He nodded. "I'll be glad to feel you with me, and as soon as I reach -Himyra I'll manage to visit you again. Look into the thing you -suggested, won't you?"</p> - -<p>"Go on. Get about your business," I told him. "I'll have the -information for you the next time we meet, if I can find a certain man."</p> - -<p>The body beside which he had been sitting raised itself on the couch -and swung its feet around. It rose. "You've got to find him, man," -Jason's physical voice told me without making the least break in the -conversation, as he began to dress. "You know, Murray, I can perceive -you dimly even so, and I can get your thought waves, of course—just as -Naia was able to do the same thing the night of Jason's birth—so if -you have any more suggestions to offer in what occurs inside the next -few hours, make them of course. I'm not exactly myself. My spirit is -still hot within me, where presently I think now it is going to grow -deadly cold."</p> - -<p>He jerked the fastenings of his leg-casings into position and clasped -the belt of a short sword about him. "Now, I'm going before Zud first."</p> - -<p>He turned to a door that slid back before his touch into a recess in -the massive wall. I followed him into a corridor, constructed top -and floor and sides of huge blocks and slabs of stone, lighted at -intervals by a lamp whose rays served to no more than partly dispel the -night-shrouding gloom. Age—age—the age of the pyramids of Egypt. The -thing impressed me. Countless generations had passed since mortal hands -had set those walls in position, where Jason's sandals now clanked -along the passage. And then he paused before another door, lifted his -sword, and rapped with its hilt for admittance. From somewhere a night -breeze sighed along the hall and stirred the plumes of azure on his -helmet.</p> - -<p>"Who calls on Zud?" a voice came muffled through the door.</p> - -<p>"Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu, man of Zitu," Croft replied.</p> - -<p>The door slid back. Zud stood before us, blinking aged eyes.</p> - -<p>"Mouthpiece of Zitu," he questioned, "what does this visit betide?"</p> - -<p>"Work of Zitemku and his agents," Croft said hoarsely, stepping inside -the high priest's apartments and pausing while Zud closed the door.</p> - -<p>"Thou knowest of my sleeps, O man of Zitu—and what occurs at times -when my body lies sleeping, and how my spirit gains knowledge beyond -the power of most men in the gaining—for I have explained to thee, and -shown thee somewhat, O Zud, so that by thyself something of the same -power was attained," he went on.</p> - -<p>"Hence will ye give credence when I declare to you, in the name of -Zitu, that this night the woman whose union with me was blessed by -thyself appeared to me, saying my home in the mountains of Aphur had -been assailed by a Zollarian band, and that she had been carried -from it with our child—and ye will credit me still further in that -I left the body and went to my house, and found things even as she -had described them, and that I followed her to the shore of the outer -ocean, and aboard a ship, whereupon was Kalamita, the Zollarian woman -of whom thou knowest—and that even now she is carried to Zollaria -captive, to be returned to Tamarizia and my house only for a price."</p> - -<p>He paused and caught a heavy breath, the fingers of his left hand -toying with the jeweled hilt of his sword.</p> - -<p>"Zitu," stammered the high priest, advancing a step to lay a withered -hand on Jason's shoulder—"may he befriend thee, and guard the woman I -know thou lovest. In what way may I aid thee, Jason?"</p> - -<p>"In no way, save that I desired your acquaintance with the knowledge. I -go now to Jadgor, and Lakkon, her father," Croft replied. "Grant us thy -prayers, Zud, and those of the Gayana, since once she lay among them -waiting to be my bride." He turned to the door, crashing it back with -a wholly unneeded force, and strode off, clanking down the passage, -leaving old Zud staring after, out of troubled, aged eyes.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> - -<h3>JASON TAKES THE TRAIL</h3> - - -<p>At another door he stopped, wrenching it open and laying hands upon a -cord that hung within it. He jerked upon it, released it, and stood -waiting with hands clenched as though in impatience, until there rose -slowly into sight a platform, upon which he stepped. The platform sank -slowly, carrying him downward inside a rock-faced shaft, which ended in -a dimly lighted chamber, where blue men strained about a capstan and -windlass by means of which the primitive lift was controlled.</p> - -<p>"Hai! The Mouthpiece of Zitu requires a motur and one to drive it," -Croft addressed the man in charge.</p> - -<p>The fellow saluted and turned away. I saw there were several moturs -parked against one of the chamber walls. And too, I recalled that Croft -had found a similar arrangement in the pyramid of Himyra when first he -called on Magur, save that then the room had been used to house the -carriages and gnuppas of the priests.</p> - -<p>Croft strode toward one of the waiting cars, and a man appeared. As -Jason climbed to a seat he took his place at the wheel and the engine -roared. Blue men set open a heavy door and stood aside. Through it the -car darted out of the base of the pyramid to reach the street beyond -it.</p> - -<p>"To the palace of Jadgor, and hasten!" Jason cried.</p> - -<p>Then, as the motur fled between the white-walled houses of Zitra, he -leaned back, his face pallid in the moonlight beneath his plumes of -azure. His lips parted. "Zitu—Zitu," I caught a whisper, and knew that -to him in the urge of his need its progress seemed slow, no matter -how swiftly it moved. Yet in reality the time was very short ere the -official residence of the President of Tamarizia was reached.</p> - -<p>Jason was out of the motur almost before it paused. And then for the -first time, save as he had described it, I saw the inside of the former -imperial palace, with its silver-sheathed beams supporting the roof of -varicolored glass above the inner court, its tessellated pavement of -sparkling crystal and silver and gold, across which, once he had gained -admittance, Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu, strode toward the captain of the -guard.</p> - -<p>The soldier came to attention, saluting with uplifted palm.</p> - -<p>"Go," Croft directed. "Say to Jadgor, President of Tamarizia, and -Lakkon of Aphur, that the Mouthpiece of Zitu seeks speech with them -concerning a matter of importance."</p> - -<p>"Aye, Hupor and Mouthpiece of Zitu." The captain saluted again and -departed at once.</p> - -<p>We waited, Jason and I, Croft a commanding figure in his physical -presence, clouded of brow and set of lip, standing with bent crest -and deep-heaving chest while the guardsmen watched out of speculative -eyes this proud man of their nation who came on some urgent, undreamed -mission in the night, myself seeing it all but unseen by any save Jason -dimly, as he had said.</p> - -<p>The captain returned.</p> - -<p>"If my lord will follow...." He spoke in suggestive fashion, saluted -once more, and waited his superior's pleasure.</p> - -<p>"Lead on." Croft lifted his bended head and followed his clanking -escort up a flight of crystal stairs and down a far-reaching corridor, -resplendent with scarlet hangings on walls of silver and gold.</p> - -<p>Before a door of silver embossed with the circle and cross of Zitra, -the captain paused, striking three times against the metal surface with -the butt of his copper sword.</p> - -<p>Jadgor himself set the portal open, peering at Croft from dark eyes set -on either side of a high-bridged, slightly aquiline nose. Seen so, he -seemed a less commanding figure than in official dress, for now he was -gowned merely in a shirt of silken fabric, reaching from his strong -neck nearly to his heels.</p> - -<p>"Hai, Jason, what cause, in Zitu's name, brings you to disturb our -slumbers?" he began as Croft passed inside.</p> - -<p>"Cause in plenty," Croft made answer, his glance sweeping the -apartment, "of which I would speak with you and Lakkon. Cause enough to -warrant the driving of sleep from your eyes."</p> - -<p>Jadgor closed the door and turned.</p> - -<p>"Come, then," he said, and led the way toward a farther room, hung in -scarlet, furnished with a silver bed and table and carven chairs of the -usual red wood, in one of which sat Lakkon.</p> - -<p>Croft followed, and just inside the door of the sumptuous apartment he -paused.</p> - -<p>"Behold in me, Jadgor, and Lakkon, father of Naia, my wife, a messenger -of evil tidings," he said hoarsely, "in that the house of Jason in the -mountains has been betrayed, and the light of it removed."</p> - -<p>"Betrayed?" Lakkon stiffened.</p> - -<p>"Removed?" Jadgor repeated. "Jason, what mean you?"</p> - -<p>"Sit, Jadgor," Jason suggested. "My heart is heavy within me, and there -is much to be made plain concerning the affair."</p> - -<p>Jadgor complied without shifting the scrutiny of his keen eyes from -Croft's face. Croft himself drew a chair to the silver table, where -the other two men had taken place. And then he told them all that had -happened, from first to last, save that he omitted any mention of my -presence.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>As he spoke, I watched each face. Plainly the men believed him. Their -expressions gave no evidence of doubt. They had been given sufficient -proof of his astral ability in the past, and they did not question the -truth of what he alleged he had discovered in the spirit while his -physical body seemed wrapped in heavy sleep. Jadgor held his thick-set -figure stiffly. He clenched his heavy hands. Horror waked on Lakkon's -sternly molded features. And at the end it was Jadgor, the soldier, the -patriot, the man who had labored to make strong his nation, who spoke -first.</p> - -<p>"Now, by Zitu, and by Zitu," he roared the Tamarizian double oath, -and struck the burnished top of the table with his fist, "are the -affronts—the annoyances—the ceaseless schemings of these spawns of -Zitemku beyond Tamarizia's borders to never cease! And if not, what -duty lies to Tamarizia before that in the fulfillment of which Zollaria -shall be crushed? Jason, twice have you led the armies of Tamarizia -against them and their allies. Gather them once more together, with my -approval, and punish these treacherous beasts."</p> - -<p>And if I had thought him more the man and less the statesman when first -I entered the room and viewed him in undress, I felt myself moved to -reverse my judgment now. This was no lesser spirit, stern of visage, -glaring half risen from his seat toward Croft, leaning slightly toward -him, still resting his weight upon the knotted knuckles of his heavy -fist.</p> - -<p>Croft, too, I am sure, was momentarily moved by Jadgor's swift -readiness to resort to arms, since for an instant, as the president -faced him, his own eyes fired. But then he shook his head slightly, -setting the azure plumes on his helmet nodding.</p> - -<p>"Nay," he said slowly. "Nay, Jadgor—I am a man, as thou art, and the -notion quickens my pulses, but—in my judgment this matter is less to -be settled by force of arms than by a resort to craft."</p> - -<p>"Hilka!" Suddenly Lakkon's voice broke forth. "Hold! You would balk -the issue? You would seek by a use of trickery—a matching of wits—to -answer an insult to Tamarizia and thyself? Was it for this I gave my -consent to your union with my daughter—or that she went down to the -gates of Zilla's realm in the bearing of your child? Has marriage -softened you so much, Jason, that the blood turns to water in your -veins? Now, by Zitu—"</p> - -<p>"Hilka! Hold!" Croft mouthed his own words at him. His face was pallid, -its eyes narrowed, its lips gone livid. "Father of Naia—I respect thy -surprise and grief, and therefore forgive your words. Yet speak not so -concerning my position in this affair, until you consider all sides of -the matter. Think you that, had I any suspicion of what was intended, I -had left her whose love is the crowning glory of my existence unguarded -in my house? Nay, by Zitu—she had lain in the house of Robur, son of -Jadgor—safe within Himyra's walls. And take thought on what I have -told you, Lakkon. Recall the oath of Kalamita. Consider, in judging -my position, that a resort to arms would forfeit the life of your -grandson and my child. Since you are a father, take heed of a father's -fears."</p> - -<p>His voice faltered. He bent forward, resting his head upon folded arms -on the table. For the first time in all his life on Palos, Jason's -haughty crest was bowed.</p> - -<p>Jadgor glanced at Lakkon. He nodded. "By Zitu, my brother, we were -overquick. It were well that Jason appears to have kept his wits."</p> - -<p>The anger faded from Lakkon's face and he rose. Passing about the -table, he laid a hand on Croft's bended shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Your pardon, my son," he stammered in the embarrassed fashion strong -men use on such occasions. "I was over hasty. What, then, do you -propose?"</p> - -<p>"As yet I know not." Jason lifted his head and turned clouded eyes on -Lakkon. "Nor would I have you in this matter think me cold. Word I -will send to Robur, and myself shall depart for Himyra at once. Let -Jadgor give me orders for the captain of his swiftest galley. Even so -my man Bathos will reach the city ere I arrive. And since this Kalamita -proposes a meeting at which Zollaria's demands will be presented, it -occurs to me that as a first step she should be met."</p> - -<p>Jadgor appeared to consider. "But not by the Mouthpiece of Zitu?" he -said at last.</p> - -<p>"Nay?" Croft eyed him sharply.</p> - -<p>Jadgor nodded. His first flash of spirit appeared to have passed. -"Think you Zitu's mouthpiece would be permitted to return from such -a meeting? And we are to match treachery by craft, we must guard -ourselves from traps. Ill as are the circumstances that confront us, -were they not a hundredfold increased with Jason in Zollaria's hands? -Then indeed would Tamarizia find herself in evil case!"</p> - -<p>Lakkon's old eyes widened under his grizzled brows. "You suspect a -trap, then, Jadgor?" he questioned.</p> - -<p>"Aye, and this lure of the flesh, this Kalamita, is connected with -it," Tamarizia's president declared. Warrior, he was prone to think -first of arms, but as it seemed to me now, not lacking in statecraft -either, once he gave his mind to it. "To me it seems she has taken into -account the hearts of men, in sending word of the meeting—deeming the -husband and father would rush to his and his country's undoing without -due consideration of where his act might lead. Against such an ending, -thanks be to Zitu and Jason's ability to obtain knowledge in his -death-like sleeps, we are forewarned, and Tamarizia keeps what yet she -has. What say you, Jason?"</p> - -<p>"That Jadgor's words lighten my position somewhat," Croft made -answer. "Since, had his mind not so clearly seen what in my belief -was intended, it had been no easy task to make my stand in the matter -understood, and perchance I would have seemed to him and Lakkon rather -a man of milk and water, than one of blood—"</p> - -<p>"Nay," Lakkon interrupted, his face gone haggard, "forget my words. -Horror of what had befallen had dulled my understanding, husband of -Naia. How mean you—that Zollaria's terms shall be refused?"</p> - -<p>"By Zitemku, the fiend of the foul pit of damnation, what else?" Jadgor -roared before Croft could answer. "Does Tamarizia weaken herself or -yield one hand's-breadth to that northern horde?"</p> - -<p>Croft nodded. "Zollaria's demands may not be granted. Let that be -understood," he replied to Jadgor's outburst.</p> - -<p>Lakkon winced. "Thou canst say so, who having asked me not to think -thee cold, seem yet so little moved?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>For the second time Croft stiffened at his father-in-law's words. His -face flushed deeply, and he rose, towering, the splendid figure of a -man, against the end of the table, while Jadgor and Lakkon watched.</p> - -<p>"Tamarizia must not be weakened," he reaffirmed his position. "Cold -I may seem to Lakkon, and little moved, and now, thanks to him, I am -cold indeed. Yet have I sworn an oath not to fail her who looks on me -to save her. And I shall succeed in what I am undertaking, without -forgetting the interests of this nation, or—by Azil himself I swear -it—let all men cease to speak of Jason as one among living men. From -here I go to send a message to Robur, and after that upon a galley. -Come, Jadgor, give me your order to its captain that he may prove -bidable to my commands."</p> - -<p>For a moment as he ceased speaking silence came down in the room -where the lights pricked out the azure cross and wings of Azil on his -cuirass, as he waited. Cold he had said to me he would become and to -Jadgor and Lakkon cold—as cold as some deadly tempered weapon, in -all outward seeming now he was. Lakkon's expression altered, became -embarrassed. He glanced from Croft to Jadgor, and moistened his lips -with his tongue.</p> - -<p>Jadgor moved. He left his seat, found wax-coated tablets and a stylus, -and returned. For a moment or two he wrote rapidly, cutting his -official mandate to the captain of the galley into the virgin surface. -Then, rising, once more he handed it to Croft.</p> - -<p>"Go," he said, "and Zitu go with you. You will keep us informed in this -matter?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, as it progresses." Croft accepted the tablet. "Zitu keep you, -Jadgor." He turned to leave.</p> - -<p>"Jason," Lakkon quavered.</p> - -<p>Jason paused.</p> - -<p>"Depart not from me in anger. I sought not truly to give you fresh -offense. And—and carry my blessing to my daughter when next you meet -her in the spirit, as she has told me thou canst."</p> - -<p>For a barely perceptible interval Croft appeared to hesitate, and then -he caught a heavy breath.</p> - -<p>"Against the father of Naia of Aphur it were hard indeed for anger to -find a place in my heart. Zitu be with you, Lakkon, also," he said, and -left.</p> - -<p>Outside the room he made his way, outside the palace of Jadgor, once -more to a seat in the motur, and in it toward the city walls and the -foot of a mounting flight of stairs.</p> - -<p>A sentry stood with sword and spear before them. Croft addressed him. -He saluted and permitted him to pass. Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu, -climbed up in the silvery moonlight, his shadow a purple blot beside -him, to reach the top at last. And there strangely in all that archaic -scene he paused before the door of a hut, above which towered the -spidery outline of a wireless mast. For an instant he turned his eyes -outward over the expanse of the Central Sea, and then he passed inside.</p> - -<p>A man seated at a table, with the key of the wireless before him, -started to his feet.</p> - -<p>"A message to Robur, Governor of Aphur in Himyra, and quickly," Croft -said.</p> - -<p>The operator regained his seat and produced his headdress, clamping -it against his ears. Croft gave the message. There came the hissing -crash of the spark. Strange, I found myself thinking as I watched—an -anachronism surely that this youth of Palos, clad in plain tunic and -sandals and leg-casings of leather, above which showed the sinewy -flesh of his lower thighs and knees, should be sitting here on top of -the ramparts of a walled city, hurling forth across the ocean beyond -him the potential Hertzian waves. And yet it was no more strange than -that I should know it—than that the grim-visaged man in the metal -harness of a Tamarizian noble was the one through whose genius it was -inspired.</p> - -<p>And then the thing was done. The crashing of the spark was silenced. -Croft tossed a coin on the table and passed outside and down the -stairs. And when next the motur paused he gave the driver another -coin and dismissed him. He stood before a galley, moored close to the -semi-circular quays of Zitra's inner harbor, stretching like a pool -of liquid silver beyond him to the mighty sea-doors that closed the -entrance to it in the overarching walls.</p> - -<p>But though I thrilled to the massive grandeur of the picture, Croft -heeded it little. To him it was an old scene, and, too, he was ridden -with the spur of haste.</p> - -<p>"Hai! Captain of the watch, aboard the galley!" he hailed sharply and -stood waiting until a head appeared above the rail of the waist and a -voice replied:</p> - -<p>"Who calls?"</p> - -<p>"Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu, with the mandate of Jadgor from the palace -of Jadgor. I would come toward you," Croft made answer.</p> - -<p>The head disappeared. For possibly two minutes nothing happened, and -then a gangway was shoved out to reach the quay.</p> - -<p>Croft strode along it, presented Jadgor's tablet to a suddenly wide -awake captain, and was led to an apartment under the after-deck, -richly furnished in red woods and hangings of scarlet, the personal -color of Jadgor's house.</p> - -<p>Life woke on board the galley. There was a tramping of feet, a sound -of voices bawling orders, suddenly the sibilant hiss of water past -the hull. The galley heeled slightly on the long arc of a circle, -straightened back to an even keel. Through the windows let into the -stern I became conscious of a graying of the eastern heavens, and then -a shadow fell upon us. It came to me that the monster sea-doors were -opened to permit our passing.</p> - -<p>Croft sank down upon a couch of burnished copper and sighed. He turned -his glance about the apartment. "Are you still here, Murray?" he -questioned.</p> - -<p>"Aye," I bent my thought upon him, and he smiled a trifle wanly as he -caught the form of my answer.</p> - -<p>"Better be going," he said. "But give me the benefit of your thoughts -in the next few days. If you've waited until now, you've had recent -proof of how hard it is for the father to hold his personal interests -of lesser importance than matters of state."</p> - -<p>"Nonsense, man," I returned. "We'll beat them. Once you're in Himyra, -you and Robur will get your heads together, and I'm going to work -collecting all the information I can obtain on the device I suggested -earlier tonight."</p> - -<p>"Do so." He nodded and stretched himself out on the couch. "I'll use -it if we can think of nothing else. You and Rob—" All at once he used -a diminutive form of Robur's name, of which he had told me before. -"Murray, I thank Zitu for you both. I know I have your sympathy and -understanding, and—I'll find the same things once I am in Himyra. I'll -see you inside the next few days, of course."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>From now on this narrative must become, until the end, an account of -Croft's efforts toward the rescue of Naia and Jason, rather than of -things experienced by myself. For now I was become little more than his -lieutenant on earth—a collector of knowledge to whom, when he came in -the astral presence to gain it, he told how that knowledge was to be -employed.</p> - -<p>In the body he went to Himyra first. But astrally he willed himself -back that morning after I had left him, aboard Kalamita's gilded craft, -where rather than the tawny siren, the lure that led him was his wife -and child. Naia of Aphur—the love of her, as ever since first he had -seen her, was a flame in Jason's breast.</p> - -<p>Gor he found sleeping within the passage, sprawled barrierlike inside -its door. Kalamita, too, lay wrapped in slumber, her scheming brain at -rest. Inside one of the curtained apartments Maia slept also on a couch -drawn crosswise of the door. Naia of Aphur alone was wakeful, brooding -with troubled eyes above the sleeping infant.</p> - -<p>To Croft, as he saw her, she seemed then the embodiment of all the -meaning involved in the wonderful statue of Ga the Eternal Mother he -had seen once in the quarters of the Gayana—the Tamarizian vestals -brooding above the altar of the sacred fire, with the form of a babe on -her knees.</p> - -<p>Thrilling at sight of her so, he stood before her.</p> - -<p>"Beloved," he called her.</p> - -<p>She stiffened to attention, lifting her head. Her lips moved.</p> - -<p>"I have waited thy coming, Jason," she whispered, her fair face -lighting as she responded to his summons.</p> - -<p>"You heard all, know all?" she questioned as Croft drew her wraithlike -form inside his yearning arms.</p> - -<p>"Aye—golden woman—and marveled at thy spirit," he made answer, ere -he told her what he had accomplished and gave her Lakkon's message, -mentioning at the end the possible means of rescue I had suggested.</p> - -<p>"Zitu!" Naia faltered. "It were strange indeed, were it not, if the -answer to this riddle be found by our friend of earth?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, strange," said Jason, "yet not more so than that, despite their -knowledge, I stand here now before you."</p> - -<p>"Yet he is wise," she replied, clinging closer to him, "in that he saw -quickly the true meaning of the meeting between you and herself this -Zollarian woman saw fit to propose. Myself have I promised throughout -the night that, once you had come again to me, I would see you warned."</p> - -<p>Croft smiled in rueful fashion. "Jadgor, too, was against it. It would -seem that all perceived the motive of it, save only Jason alone."</p> - -<p>"Ah, but"—Naia lifted a hand to lay it against his cheek—"Jason, my -beloved, was overwrought."</p> - -<p>"Aye," he confessed; "and now it appears to him that it was on that -Kalamita counted to lead him into a trap."</p> - -<p>"And will count," said Naia, "not knowing the strange power you have -taught me, by which we meet."</p> - -<p>Croft nodded. "And through which their every move may be watched. To -my mind, beloved—this meeting on which she is bent at present must be -brought about."</p> - -<p>"But not by Jason!" The fires of Naia's astral body paled in swift -alarm. "Not by you, beloved."</p> - -<p>"Nay," Croft reassured her, "not by Jason, but another, in a fashion, -once I am in Himyra, Robur and I shall devise."</p> - -<p>"Hold, then." Naia paused to consider before she went on quickly. -"Perchance against a woman, a woman's wits may aid you. Told she not -Bathos to say this meeting would be north of Cathur—and sought she not -once ere this, when before you fought to make me thine, beloved, to -work harm to Tamarizia through Cathur's prince, so that the succession -was lost to Koryphu, his brother, and in the elections for governor, -even though he sought to gain the station, he was ignored? Think you -not that in Koryphu, Scythys's younger son, you may find one with hate -in his heart for this woman and an agent to your hand?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, by Zitu!" Croft cried, gazing into her lifted face out of -startled eyes. "Naia, you have said it. Koryphu, and he will consent, -is the man."</p> - -<p>And so to Scira, capital city of Cathur, he willed himself.</p> - -<p>Long familiarity with Scira made it easy for him to reach the -residence, which, after the overthrow of his family, had become the -home of Cathur's lesser prince. And there he found Koryphu, always -unlike Kyphallos, his brother, more or less of a student, already busy -with the tablets and scrolls that as yet in Tamarizia took the place of -books. Satisfied that his man would be easy to locate when needed, he -returned to the galley at once.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Thereafter followed a weird four days and nights, during the lighted -portion of which Croft occupied himself as best he might, while the -galley plowed across the Central Sea toward the mouth of the Na, up -which lay Himyra. And when the daylight faded he stretched himself -on the couch in his apartment and joined Naia in the spirit, going -with her north to a Zollarian seaport, and from it in gnuppa-drawn -conveyances wherein the passengers reclined on deeply padded cushions, -toward Berla, discovering thereby that no matter what Kalamita may -have said to Bathos regarding the place of Naia's holding, she was to -be taken to the seat of the Zollarian government first. So much he had -learned both from his astral conversations with her and the remarks of -the guards which reached his ears, by the time Himyra was reached.</p> - -<p>Himyra. Croft stepped upon its quays, where lapped the yellow Na, with -a feeling of relief. Himyra—home. It was so he regarded that red city -more than any other place on Palos outside his own house. Himyra—it -was here he had labored—here he had molded the present strength of the -Tamarizian nation—from here he had gone twice to make good his claims -of that strength—here, outside the circling walls towering like ruddy -buttes above the sands of the Aphurian desert, he had seen Naia of -Aphur, read love in the depths of her purple eyes first.</p> - -<p>"Jason!"</p> - -<p>He whirled, to behold Robur coming toward him from a motur.</p> - -<p>"Rob!" He turned in his direction.</p> - -<p>They met, and Robur clasped him to his breast.</p> - -<p>"My brother in all but birth," he said with emotion. "Would Zitu he -had not sent this thing upon you. Gaya sends her greeting. Myself I -timed your arrival, and so soon as the gatemen reported your galley's -passing, drove down to carry you to a friendly house."</p> - -<p>"Like thee, Rob," Croft said, his heart warmed by such a meeting. "In -Himyra, and thy presence, I breathe easier than for days. Bathos, my -servant, has arrived?"</p> - -<p>"The sun before this," Robur returned as they moved toward his waiting -motur. "Himyra, Aphur, and Robur stand ready to aid you in all things -toward the rescue of our cousin. Jason need but say the word."</p> - -<p>"Presently," said Croft, "when I sit in the presence of Gaya and Robur, -my true friends."</p> - -<p>Suddenly he found himself yearning for the compassion of the gentle, -brown-haired matron, Robur's wife, who ere this had listened with -patient understanding to his troubles—had aided him more than she -knew herself in Naia's wooing. He laid a hand on Robur's knee as the -Aphurian drove the motur up the easy grade of the embankment to reach -the thoroughfare fronting the Na. "Then, Rob, must you aid me both as a -man and an avenger indeed."</p> - -<p>"Zitu!" Robur eyed him. "Are you, then, so broken?"</p> - -<p>Croft's expression hardened, his voice deepened.</p> - -<p>"Aye—I am shaken, Rob, but—once let my course in this be plain, and -you shall find me far from a broken reed."</p> - -<p>"Hai!" Robur nodded. "That is better—more like the old Jason. For a -moment you dismayed me."</p> - -<p>He reached the top of the embankment and increased the motur's speed.</p> - -<p>In through the wide doors of the palace, with their doglike guardians -of stone, and their weblike wings, to the red court where blue men -sprinkled water upon the ruddy pavement, he drove. Past sentries armed -with spears and short swords, who sprang to swift attention at sight -of Aphur's governor, and the Mouthpiece of Zitu—the wonder worker of -their nation, descending from one of his own creations—he led Croft -into a private wing of the palace, and through it to the inner court, -where Gaya waited on a couch beneath a striped awning, close to the -sun-kissed waters of the bathing pool.</p> - -<p>Croft's heart swelled as he once more entered the well-known lounging -place. Here Naia and Robur and he had played at ball more than once -together. Here it was she had called him Aquor, when they bathed. And -in those shimmering waters he had caught his "little silver fish". -For a moment his eyes dimmed as he bent above Gaya's hand, in silent -salutation, not trusting himself to speak—so that, moved by a swift -emotion, the woman caught his face as he raised it between her palms -and kissed him on the cheek.</p> - -<p>"Jason, my friend," she said softly, "take thought that the ways of -Zitu are past understanding, and that from this further ordeal now laid -upon you may come a double peace."</p> - -<p>"Hai!" exclaimed Robur quickly. "Give heed to her, Jason. At times she -seems given prophetic vision. Perchance this double peace is for thee -and Tamarizia also."</p> - -<p>"Zitu grant it," said Croft, deeply affected by Gaya's greeting. "It is -of that we must speak after I have made certain things plain."</p> - -<p>Robur nodded. Gaya returned to the couch. The two men drew other seats -beside her, and Croft narrated his story.</p> - -<p>"First in my mind comes this meeting with the woman herself. Since she -journeys first to Berla, it is certain some time must still elapse ere -she goes to her hunting lodge. And as regards the meeting itself, here -is what I propose." He rapidly outlined a plan for sending a Tamarizian -party into the mountains north of Cathur, and at the last he mentioned -Koryphu's name.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Hai!" Robur's face lighted. "Now, by Zitu, Jason, you have found the -proper man. True is he in his heart, as I believe, and a sufferer -from his brother's treason. He should welcome this task as a means -of proving his loyalty to his nation and in so much reestablishing -himself—and where were a better agent to represent us before this -unclean woman, by whom his brother was disgraced?"</p> - -<p>"Naia brought the man to my mind," said Jason, unwilling to appropriate -the credit.</p> - -<p>"Aye"—Gaya smiled—"the step savors of a woman. Kalamita will gain -small satisfaction when she meets him face to face. It is a proper -choice."</p> - -<p>"He lies at Scira?" Robur questioned.</p> - -<p>Croft nodded. "Aye—I have visited him in spirit inside the last five -days—and found him busy with tablets and scrolls, more student than -man of affairs."</p> - -<p>"Then," Robur declared with quick decision, "we go to Scira and lay the -matter before him without delay."</p> - -<p>"Nay"—Croft shook his head—"first shall I be present in Berla in my -own fashion when Naia arrives. Meanwhile, Robur, you and I arrange -other details for the mission to this meeting, and prepare to reopen -the shops."</p> - -<p>For a moment Robur regarded him out of narrowed eyes, and then he -nodded. "Has the Mouthpiece of Zitu some new device for the making, he -will find me ready to work with him upon it as in the past."</p> - -<p>Jason smiled at his ready acceptance. There had been no time when -he had failed to find Robur's interest in the modern innovations he -had introduced on Palos lacking, or had been denied his aid in their -production. The Aphurian was of a most progressive mind.</p> - -<p>"Nay," he said now, "I know not, nor will till after this meeting with -the Zollarian woman. And after that it may be I shall revisit earth."</p> - -<p>"Earth!" Robur exclaimed. "When last you attempted such a matter, the -thing was an affair of Zitrans. Think you—"</p> - -<p>"Hold, Rob," Jason interrupted. "Within the last cycle—I have visited -and conversed with a man of earth in the spirit rather than the flesh."</p> - -<p>Gaya caught her breath sharply. Both she and Robur knew the history of -Croft's former mundane existence. Yet now she seemed shaken.</p> - -<p>"Jason," she faltered, "as man I know you, yet are there times when to -me you seem more like to a spirit in man's form even as on a time Zud -of Zitra said." Her eyes were wide.</p> - -<p>Croft turned to her.</p> - -<p>"Man is a spirit, Gaya, my friend and wife of my all but brother," he -said slowly. "Yet now my spirit is heavy, in that I am a man bereft. -Wherefore, ere this thing be finished, I shall work in body and spirit -to regain what I have lost."</p> - -<p>"Enough," Robur prompted. "This is between ourselves. Man thou art, and -husband and father. This visit to earth has somewhat to do with a new -device?"</p> - -<p>"Aye—should nothing develop from the meeting after Koryphu's return, -if he accepts. Rob, have you stores in plenty of metals, rubber, and -cloth?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, in plenty—and if not, since Koryphu's mission will take the best -part of a Zitran to arrange and carry out, it were possible to put -double shifts at the forges and send the weavers to their looms."</p> - -<p>"Then do so," Jason accepted, filling his chest with a heavy -inhalation, "for it is in my mind that ere Naia and Jason, Son of -Jason, shall see Aphur again strange things shall be seen in the skies."</p> - -<p>"In the skies!" Robur cried, his dark eyes flashing.</p> - -<p>"Aye," said the Mouthpiece of Zitu, "in the skies."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> - -<h3>IN BERLA</h3> - - -<p>Freedom of action, cooperation, a friendly understanding, marked the -following days for Croft. That night he visited Naia while his body lay -in a room in Robur's part of the palace, covered with a silken tissue, -worked over by Gaya's own maids, whom she sent to rub into its stalwart -muscles, soft, nourishing, perfumed ointments, such as the Tamarizian -nobles used.</p> - -<p>He found the Zollarian party not far from Berla, confident that the -succeeding day would see them inside the city itself. He returned to -Himyra for a few hours, spoke with Gaya and Robur, stretched himself -out once more, and willed himself back to Naia, and slipped into the -conveyance where she rode with Maia and Jason, very much as he had sat -and gazed upon her, drunk with the beauty of her, the day he had seen -her first outside Himyra's lifted walls. So it was he had promised her -the night before he would accompany her into Berla when she arrived.</p> - -<p>The entry itself was made a spectacle for the crowds. In fact, it was -clear to Croft that the thing was staged. Whatever doubts he may have -entertained concerning Zollaria's participation in Kalamita's abduction -of Naia and Jason as a state, vanished, leaving a cold conviction that -the woman had acted less as an individual than in an agent's place.</p> - -<p>Outside the walls of Berla the party was halted by a patrol. The -curtains on Naia's carriage were drawn back, leaving the occupants -exposed. Guardsmen approached and placed golden bands joined by a -golden chain upon her slender ankles, and on her arms. A chariot such -as the Zollarians used in war, save that it was burnished to the last -degree, as it advanced behind green-plumed gnuppas harnessed four -abreast, emerged from Berla's gate and deposited a massively built -warrior, in splendid harness, beside the conveyance in which Kalamita -rode.</p> - -<p>Croft recognized Bandhor, general of the Zollarian army, as Kalamita -appeared. She flung herself from her carriage, her face distorted with -displeasure, almost before his chariot had paused with lunging steeds.</p> - -<p>"By Bel, what is the meaning of this interference with my entry into -the city?" she broke forth in a voice of passion.</p> - -<p>"Interference! Nay, it is a triumph. They make a holiday of your return -with your captives, priestess of beauty," Bandhor roared.</p> - -<p>"Holiday? Triumph?" the woman repeated with a curling lip. "Are we then -at war, Bandhor, since I departed?"</p> - -<p>"Nay," he returned, viewing her rage with what seemed a sense of -amusement. "Nor will be—since Kalamita brings with her the guarantees -of peace. Come, I will lead you into the city."</p> - -<p>For a moment his sister considered, tapping the metal of the roadway -with a sandaled foot. Plainly her displeasure in this change of -whatever plans she may have had was in no way diminished, but in the -end she accepted. "So be it. But wait." She turned and disappeared into -her carriage, from which after some few moments she again emerged.</p> - -<p>She had altered her dress, and now in the Sirian sun she blazed. -Jeweled shields, supported against her fair skin by a gem-incrusted -harness, covered her breast—a green skirt embroidered with flashing -stones fell from a scintillating girdle about her hips and thighs. -Green were the plumes above her tawny hair, and the sandals on her -feet, the casings on her calves. A barbaric picture, she strode toward -Bandhor's car with its restive gnuppas.</p> - -<p>"If we triumph, let us triumph fitly," she said in scornful fashion, -and stepped into the driver's place. "It is my pleasure, Bandhor, my -brother, to lead my triumph myself."</p> - -<p>Gathering the reins into her hands, she turned the gnuppas back toward -the gate of the city in a swirling smother of dust.</p> - -<p>"Thou tawny devil!" Bandhor cried, his eyes flashing with admiration -as he caught the tail of the rocking car and sprang aboard. "Forward, -Zollarians—into the city!"</p> - -<p>The patrol that had stopped them formed on either side of Naia's -carriage. Kalamita's party fell in behind it. They passed through -the gate, and between the living banks of a swarming, jostling, -neck-craning crowd that lined the main avenue of Berla as far as the -eye could reach.</p> - -<p>Their advent excited a roar. Small doubt but their identity was -known—or that this haling of the wife and child of the strong man of -Tamarizia, captive, seemed a triumph to the minds of the Zollarian -populace indeed. Yells, shrieks, and screeches filled the air. Curses -of every degree of vileness were mouthed. The mob jostled, pressed -closer to the carriage of the captives. Someone threw a stone. Naia -lifted Jason and placed him under the rear wall of the conveyances, -where it curved upward to form the canopy or top.</p> - -<p>Her body formed a shield before him. For the rest, her pale face -remained unmoved in its haughty calmness. Watching her, Croft's heart -was filled with pride. Maia crept to her and crouched on the cushions -beside her, plainly frightened. But save for that instinctive guarding -of her offspring, Naia of Aphur gave no sign of fear.</p> - -<p>"Hail to Kalamita, priestess of beauty. Hail Bandhor. Hail to Kalamita, -who brings to Zollaria those through whom she shall be made once more -stronger than the strongest," the populace roared.</p> - -<p>It occurred to Croft to see how Kalamita herself was receiving -the acclamation. He left Naia's vehicle briefly and joined himself to -the woman, reining the prancing gnuppas with a practised hand.</p> - -<p>He found her face wreathed in a forced smile, and her tawny eyes, back -of their fringing lashes, ablaze.</p> - -<p>"Who has spread the report that these shall make Zollaria strong?" she -hissed at her brother.</p> - -<p>"Helmor," he told her after a moment's hesitation. "So soon as your -advance messenger reached Berla, he commanded the success of your -mission announced."</p> - -<p>"Helmor," said Kalamita thickly. "Him whom Tamarizia has most -grievously defeated. Is the emperor one to gain credit from my work -before the masses, or a fool to consider a thing as accomplished ere -it is done? Was it not agreed between us, Bandhor, that after she -should have been brought quietly to Berla she should be taken into the -mountains until I had tricked this Tamarizian Mouthpiece?"</p> - -<p>"To a meeting?" Bandhor muttered.</p> - -<p>"Aye, to a meeting," said his sister, "after which he also would have -been in our hands."</p> - -<p>"Provided he came to the meeting."</p> - -<p>"Came?" Kalamita curled her lips as she answered. "You, Bandhor, are -one to whom women are no more than a moment's toys, but to that one, -that pale-faced creature, behind us, means more. Aye, he had come, for -I sent word that <i>I</i> held the woman, and bade him to a meeting to give -ear to <i>my</i> demands."</p> - -<p>"By Bel," growled Bandhor, "Helmor believes it not, and who was Bandhor -to stay his hand? Say what you will to me, my sister, but, once we -reach the palace, curb your tongue."</p> - -<p>"Nay—I fear him not." Kalamita shrugged her shoulders. "This display -is a mistake, as I shall show him. The matter should have been -conducted in quiet, till it was past."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Vastly pleased that Kalamita's plans were already going contrary to -her liking, Croft returned to Naia, and remained throughout the noisy -progress until the palace was reached, and she was led inside between -double rows of guards.</p> - -<p>Into the palace of Helmor, Emperor of all Zollaria, her golden head -proudly lifted, Naia of Aphur passed, walking with steady footsteps -once her shackles were removed. And Maia followed across a huge -interior similar in most respects to the Tamarizian structures, bearing -in her blue arms Jason's son. Palace guards opened a door before them. -They passed into an audience chamber to stand before Helmor at last.</p> - -<p>He sat there on a silver chair upon a dais, the steps leading to which -were spread with gorgeously colored rugs. And as her guards led Naia of -Aphur toward him, with Kalamita and her brother close behind them, he -glowered.</p> - -<p>Croft knew him by sight. There had been a time when he had forced -him on a stricken field to enter his own armored motur, prisoner of -war, and guarantee of an early peace, on the day Zollaria's hopes of -conquest over Tamarizia had gone down in red defeat. And now he watched -as he opened his lips to speak, in a somewhat taunting fashion:</p> - -<p>"Greetings to Naia of Aphur, whose presence gives all Zollaria -pleasure, in that times are changed, and that where once Helmor was -held hostage for Tamarizia's demands, Naia and her child are now the -guests of Helmor until their ransom be paid."</p> - -<p>For a moment the woman before him said nothing, staring straight back -into his gloating visage out of steady purple eyes. And then her lips -parted. "And were apt to be a guest overlong, should Zollaria ask more -than Naia of Aphur, or any other woman, were worth?"</p> - -<p>"Say you so?" Helmor seemed somewhat taken aback by that haughty -response, at which the quick fires of admiration stirred in Jason's -spirit. "Yet perchance the Tamarizian Mouthpiece will place upon her a -greater valuation than she lays upon herself."</p> - -<p>"Those things lie with the gods, Helmor of Zollaria," Naia said, though -at mention of Jason her delicate nostrils twitched.</p> - -<p>"Did Helmor say that this woman lies as <i>his</i> guest?" Kalamita cut into -the ensuing pause.</p> - -<p>Helmor turned his eyes upon her. "Aye, priestess of beauty, now that -you have so faithfully accomplished the task entrusted to you."</p> - -<p>"The first step, Helmor," Kalamita dared to correct him, advancing -close to the foot of the dais. "Naught save that is accomplished as -yet. And was it not agreed between us that she should remain in my -charge until after I had met this Mouthpiece and spoken with him?"</p> - -<p>"Aye," Helmor admitted somewhat sharply. "But—since you departed upon -your mission I have taken thought."</p> - -<p>"And Helmor has thought what?" Kalamita stiffened, drawing up her -supple, unrestrained figure to its fullest height.</p> - -<p>Helmor's visage darkened. "That were this Mouthpiece as clever as he -appears, he will not fall into your trap. Wherefore, it were best to -retain the woman and child he values in a strong place."</p> - -<p>"And forsake the meeting on which we were agreed and of which I have -already sent this Mouthpiece word?" Kalamita questioned further.</p> - -<p>"Nay." Helmor smiled. "The meeting shall take place. Said you aught in -your message, save that she was held by you in a place he knew not of, -and that he needs must speak with you of her ransom?"</p> - -<p>"Does Helmor think Kalamita a fool?" The Zollarian adventuress smiled.</p> - -<p>"Nay—the question were useless, since it was in her mind the matter -first had shape," said the man on the dais.</p> - -<p>"And Helmor, who changed his form, sending Bandhor and his guardsmen -forth to change into a paltry triumph what had been better carried -out in secret, nor mentioned until the matter were concluded, in the -judgment of her who, as Helmor himself declares, conceived it first," -the woman before him retorted and broke off. Her tawny eyes were -flashing, the green plumes above her upflung head were aquiver, the -jeweled shields against her rosy bosom rose and fell quickly as she -panted rather than breathed.</p> - -<p>For a time Helmor regarded her closely before he answered.</p> - -<p>"Enough," he said at last. "Much may be forgiven to beauty—and much I -forgive to Kalamita. Yet lies there a point beyond which Helmor grants -it not to any man or woman to question his words. Wherefore give ear, -and heed to Helmor. This meeting shall take place. Since naught was -said of Zollaria's part in the woman's capture, wherein falls it out -any different from what was planned—save that she lies in Berla rather -than in another place, under Helmor's protection rather than in fair -Kalamita's hands?"</p> - -<p>"Helmor does not trust his agent with a thing of so much value?" -Kalamita flung her challenge full at the emperor of her nation, -taunting him, daring him, as it seemed, to answer.</p> - -<p>And all at once it seemed that Helmor evaded.</p> - -<p>"Nay," he said slowly. "None doubts Kalamita's loyalty to the interests -of her nation. Yet were it best for her to lie doubly safe should -Zollaria's demands be refused, or this Mouthpiece fail to appear at the -meeting she has proposed."</p> - -<p>Once more the form of Kalamita stiffened into a haughty posture.</p> - -<p>"Refused?" she flared. "Nay, Tamarizia dares not refuse, since I -shall say to their Mouthpiece that I have taken an oath that unless -Zollaria's demands are quickly granted I shall offer the child in -sacrifice to Bel. And by Bel himself—"</p> - -<p>Naia of Aphur caught her breath and drew back a pace, staring at the -woman before her out of widened eyes, as innocence may always stare at -the incarnation of vice.</p> - -<p>So for a horrified instant she stood, and then, turning to Maia, -swiftly she seized the child, straining it for a moment to her breast, -and then extending it on quivering arms, uplifted to the man above -her.</p> - -<p>"Helmor of Zollaria—in the name of Zitu!" she cried.</p> - -<p>"Hold!" Helmor roared. "Peace, Naia of Aphur. It seems well I have -decided on your safety."</p> - -<p>He turned to Kalamita. "And it seems clear to me, sister of Bandhor, -that in this you would serve your aims of vengeance as well as your -country's ends. Ere this it has come to my ears you have cause for -anger against this Mouthpiece because of a slight placed upon you. -And in that it is not my wish to in any way obstruct you, save only -as toward a glutting of your hatred against him, you would lessen -Zollaria's chances of gain. Yet an oath to Bel is not to be lightly -broken. And—should Tamarizia finally refuse to yield in this matter -or chance a resort to arms against us, we may surely need his favor. -Wherefore I pledge you the word of Helmor that, should those things -transpire, I shall place the child directly in your hands."</p> - -<p>"Helmor has spoken." With an unholy light in her voluptuous face, -Kalamita knelt before him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Croft writhed in his spirit, at the meaning of Helmor's words—the -picture of Jason, Son of Jason, torn from the breast against which -now he rested all unknowing, and fed into Bel's foul body filled with -flame. The thing was unthinkable to a man or woman of a nation where -the gods were no longer savage spirits to be appeased by blood and -suffering, but divinities actuated by mercy and love.</p> - -<p>And, too, a sudden swift regret assailed him that though he had known -of Kalamita's purpose from the first, he had said nothing concerning it -to Naia, thinking thereby to save her from the consideration of it. For -now the horror came upon her without warning, and she swayed upon her -feet so that Maia put out a hand and drew her back against her body in -support, and Kalamita, noting the action, turned to her from Helmor.</p> - -<p>"What now of that spirit you boasted would not break before me, -Tamarizian?" she hissed.</p> - -<p>The thing struck Naia of Aphur like a whip and saved her from what -seemed an impending collapse. She forced up her head to meet her -tormentor's taunt.</p> - -<p>"As yet it has not broken," she denied. "Rather will Zollaria's -footmen, her horsemen, her nobles, all that strength of which she has -boasted in the past, be broken if this thing is dared. And think not -the blood of a suckling will give Bel strength enough to aid you, -against the vengeance Zitu's Mouthpiece shall send upon you. Zollaria -may call upon Bel in that day, but—by Zitu, I swear it—she shall call -in vain."</p> - -<p>"Enough," said Helmor. "Guards, let this woman be removed, with her -child and slave, and kept in a safe place under penalty of death -to them who watch her, if save by Helmor's orders, they be harmed. -Kalamita, arise. You will depart to the place appointed for this -meeting, so soon as we have considered together concerning Zollaria's -demands."</p> - -<p>Kalamita rose to her feet. Naia's guards led her and Maia out.</p> - -<p>Croft went with them. Already he knew in the main what Zollaria would -ask—knew in his soul that her demands must be refused for Tamarizia's -good. There remained then naught for him save to support Naia in so -far as he could in the spirit, and devise some means of freeing her -from her present position, other than any true consideration of what -Zollaria might propose.</p> - -<p>And now it appeared to him that the best he could do was to bring about -delay in whatever negotiations might grow out of the situation—to see -them dragged out without a definite decision—to gain time, wherein he -might think and scheme. Or if there were no other way, seek to perfect -some such device with which to strike a counter-blow against Kalamita's -nation as that I had proposed.</p> - -<p>Such thoughts held him, therefore, as he followed out of the audience -room and along a corridor and down a flight of steps to a room deep -amid the foundations of the palace into which Naia and her maid and -child were thrust.</p> - -<p>A litter of straw was upon the floor. It was dimly lighted by a single -oil-lamp in a sconce against one wall. There was a copper couch with -a none-too-clean sleeping pad upon it, and nothing more. With a quick -rebellion of the spirit, Croft found himself thinking that it was not -so Helmor, when a prisoner of Tamarizia, had been housed.</p> - -<p>Yet he had no fear of Naia's welfare, the measure of her endurance, -remembering how she had lain in the forests of Mazzeria, her fair skin -blue so that she might seem one of their own women to any Mazzerian -prowler, when she had flown to his rescue over Atla's walls, during -the Mazzerian war. Wherefore he waited until Maia had induced her to -stretch herself upon the couch, and taking the child in her arms had -crouched beside her on the straw, rocking it gently and crooning to it -a quaint Tamarizian song. And then as Naia's lips moved and he caught -her whisper, "Beloved," he answered:</p> - -<p>"I am here."</p> - -<p>She sighed, and her body relaxed as its astral tenant stole forth.</p> - -<p>"You heard all, beloved?" she questioned as they sat together in the -weird communion of spirit with spirit that was theirs.</p> - -<p>"Aye," Croft told her.</p> - -<p>"Now Zitu help us!" Naia of Aphur cried. "For if my spirit be not -broken, as I said to that fiend in the form of woman, yet it is shaken -within me, Jason, because of that little life Maia now holds in her -arms."</p> - -<p>"Nay—fear not." Jason drew her to him and told her his plan to gain -delay while perfecting his other plans. "Azil gave not the spirit of -our son to us, beloved, to be set free in Bel's unclean arms."</p> - -<p>"Zitu grant it." Naia glanced about the barren chamber. "Forgive me my -weakness, Jason. If delay seems best to you, I shall endure it, so you -come to me frequently to tell me of all of your progress."</p> - -<p>"Aye." Croft's soul rebelled at the thought of her durance in such -quarters, though there seemed nothing else for it. Still the thing -hardened his purpose, drove one more argument nail-like into the -determination forming in his mind. "Here we may meet in safety since -Helmor himself denies all access to you. And I shall visit earth, -beloved, ere I come to thee again."</p> - -<p>"Earth?" Naia's glance flamed with quick understanding.</p> - -<p>"Aye." For a moment man and woman looked into one another's eyes, -sensing those things as yet in the dark womb of the future, before -Croft concluded his answer with a grim assurance. "And when I return, -unless our good friend has failed in his efforts, strange things shall -come once more out of Aphur, and even as Naia of Aphur warned them in a -prophecy of horror, Helmor and Bandhor's shameless sister shall call on -their impotent god in vain."</p> - -<p>"Zitu!" Naia's astral form lighted with comprehension of his meaning. -"Now are you Mouthpiece of Zitu again wholly."</p> - -<p>Behind them the blue girl of Mazzeria still crooned to the child which -she was holding in her arms.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>These things Croft told me on the night he kept his promise to visit -me again. From Berla he went to Himyra first, speaking with Gaya and -Robur, directing the latter to mobilize the workmen who had labored on -the airplanes, before the Mazzerian war. Croft also visited the motur -shops and gave command for the immediate inception of work on engines -of a somewhat more powerful design than any used on Palos heretofore.</p> - -<p>Robur accompanied him on his rounds, his lips set, his dark eyes -flashing as he listened to Croft's directions concerning his as yet, to -Rob, not fully understood plans, his admonitions for the production of -a certain quality of cloth, the mixing of vast quantities of what was -in reality little more than a rubberized paint. But at least here was -work to hand in plenty—and work that spoke of more work to follow, to -the Aphurian's mind.</p> - -<p>Furthermore, Croft requested that he see what airplanes were already -constructed, thoroughly overhauled, as part of the preparation for -Koryphu's mission into the mountains north of Cathur. And that part of -his intentions he explained.</p> - -<p>"They follow a course of deception already, Rob, and two may play at -the game. Much must be done ere we attempt a rescue, and toward the -doing we must needs gain time. Wherefore since to the minds of Helmor -and Kalamita it is unknown that I am forewarned of their intent to hold -Naia in Berla, rather than in the place of which by Bathos she sent me -word, it appears best to me that we make it seem we are deceived. These -planes shall mount the air from Cathur, therefore, and fly above the -mountains in advance of Koryphu's party, as though seeking for some -place of concealment, wherein her captives may lie hid. Thus we shall -help Kalamita play her part to her mind at least, and perchance throw -at least some dust in Zollaria's eyes."</p> - -<p>Robur nodded. "I sense your plan, Jason," he agreed. "Yet I have taken -thought that a plane may fall, and that it is the secret of the moturs -which Zollaria wishes in part to gain. How then if disaster comes upon -one of your men? Would it not in so much weaken Tamarizia's hand?"</p> - -<p>Croft smiled rather grimly. "Aye, Rob. The point were well taken, nor -has it escaped my mind. To such an end each flier must be provided with -a device by which his motur may under such conditions be destroyed, and -with orders to burn his machine, escaping thereafter by the aid of the -other planes on duty with him, or in any way he can."</p> - -<p>Once more Robur nodded.</p> - -<p>"Aye," said he, "you think of all things. And this other device toward -the forming of which you are preparing?"</p> - -<p>"Nay," Jason replied. "It depends upon my visit to earth, after which I -hope to give you plans and figures."</p> - -<p>"Zitu grant you be successful," said the Governor of Aphur. "You will -seek this knowledge when?"</p> - -<p>"Tonight," Jason told him; "after which Scira must be visited and the -consent of Koryphu to head the party to this meeting with Kalamita -gained. She will lose small time in hastening to it, hoping to add -another prisoner to her number, despite the fact that Helmor has -altered her plans."</p> - -<p>"Aye, and were swift moturs or an airplane to descend upon her lodge -after Koryphu has reached it, it might be that Tamarizia would have -a prisoner to exchange with Zollaria without a longer waiting," Robur -growled, and laid a tense hand on the hilt of his sword.</p> - -<p>Croft eyed him for a moment of heavy silence.</p> - -<p>"That, too, have I thought of, Aphur, yet though we match craft with -craft and violence with violence, if the need arises, let none say that -Zitu's Mouthpiece counseled the violation of an embassy's seeming or -used it as a mask to another purpose than that to which it sets forth."</p> - -<p>"But—if this Zollarian plans to trick you into her hands by such a -meeting?" Robur flushed a trifle under the implied rebuke of Croft's -words.</p> - -<p>"Nay, she will fail," said Jason. "Yet think not, meaning to seize -me if so it falls out according to her wishes, she will come to that -place so poorly guarded that an attempt to make her captive would -result in aught save a clash of arms. Wherefore let her fail of her -aim and return to Berla the next time with empty hands. How stands -Zollaria then, save to deal direct with Zitra, which shall quibble with -her—neither accepting nor refusing, appointing a place perhaps for -a more representative meeting, while you and I, Rob, labor over our -designs?"</p> - -<p>"I have talked with Zitra by means of the message tower you have placed -in Himyra and upon Zitra's walls," Robur replied. "Jadgor, my father, -stands ready to aid you in whatsoever way he can, and the spirit of -Lakkon writhes with thoughts of his daughter. May I say to them those -things with which you have made me acquainted?"</p> - -<p>"Aye," Croft assented. "Say also that Naia sends a greeting to her -father, and that at present she lies safe from harm. Come, let us -return to the palace since things are now arranged."</p> - -<p>Robur nodded. They entered his motur and drove back toward the red -court, and the residential wing of the Aphurian government buildings, -side by side, as they had on many another occasion when they labored -together in Himyra's shops.</p> - -<p>And that night it was Croft made his promised visit to me to discover -what I had learned concerning the thing on which more than anything -else Naia's rescue appeared to depend.</p> - -<p>I was ready for him. I had not delayed in instituting my efforts at -gaining the knowledge the use of which I had suggested, and I had been -fortunate indeed. I had found the man I wanted almost at once—one who -had served his country well in the chemical arm of the service, and -was therefore qualified to give me the information of which I stood -in need. My greatest difficulty had been in convincing him that I -desired the knowledge for no improper use, but in the end I surmounted -the task. And that night after Jason had roused me to his presence I -recited the formula to him, and he cried out:</p> - -<p>"Zitu! Murray, the thing can be accomplished! Palos holds all that will -be required."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Considering the stage of life on the other planet, that was a -self-evident fact, but I knew he meant more than that. Before the -Mazzerian war he had established a laboratory at Himyra in which he and -Naia had gone more or less fully into chemical matters, and I felt he -was fully assured concerning the things of which he spoke.</p> - -<p>"Good," I said, "then you can make it?"</p> - -<p>His thought waves beat back at me in a very passion of conviction. -"Yes, and we'll carry it to them in something like your earth-born -blimps—isn't that what you told me you called them when I was here in -your institution as a patient?"</p> - -<p>"Blimps—dirigibles, you mean?" I questioned.</p> - -<p>"Yes," he said. "That's what I've been considering making, though I -haven't told Rob about it yet. They'll be far more stable for the -purpose than planes."</p> - -<p>"Why, yes," I agreed. "Croft, it's a rather peculiar thing, but before -the armistice was signed in Europe each side was planning to blot out -the major cities of the opposing nations beneath a fiery rain."</p> - -<p>For that was the thing I had proposed to Jason, and the secret for -the production of the unquenchable liquid fire which could be stored -and carried, and sprayed in a rain of death upon those against whom -it was used, was the thing I had gained from Captain Gaylor, formerly -connected with the department of gas and flame.</p> - -<p>Horrible—well, yes, but surely subtly suited to Croft's needs for use -against the nation which, enraged by the defeat of its former plans -for aggrandizement at the expense of the country he served, had struck -against the most sacred, the highest and holiest interests of his -life—seeking in such fashion, rather than by any legitimate method, -to finally effect their aims—a nation, a representative of which I -myself had heard in the spirit at least vow that, unless those aims -were thereby accomplished, an innocent child should be sacrificed to a -savage deity by fire.</p> - -<p>Yet because of Kalamita's oath and Helmor's agreement, a move to -exercise force in her rescue would be equally fatal, unless—well, -unless it was a force that could strike silently and swiftly—a -force in the nature of a total and terrifying surprise. And surely -the blimps—the dirigible balloons Croft suggested, equipped with -a flame-spraying device and plenty of liquid fire, might well -prove a terrifying, a paralyzing spectacle to even Helmor's and -Kalamita's eyes. Paralyzing not only to the body, but to the brain -itself—warranted to make simple any bargain which would preserve -themselves and Berla from a blazing rain of death.</p> - -<p>His whole astral presence glowed with the intensity of his emotions, -the deadly determination by which he was stirred. For the first time -I realized fully how he had won Naia against all opposition, and had -carried all before him in Palos after he gained existence on the planet -in the flesh. No ordinary mind could stand against such concentrated -mental force.</p> - -<p>"By Zitu," I cried, "I believe you!" I felt a quiver shake me. It was -as though already the doom of Helmor's plans and Kalamita's vengeance -was sealed. "Croft," I questioned, "you know the general nature of -these blimps?"</p> - -<p>"Aye," he nodded. "But if you have any suggestions, Murray—"</p> - -<p>"Well," I said, "Captain Gaylor gave me the general plan in describing -how the stuff you're going to demonstrate to Helmor was to be -carried—as well as a description of the fire bombs they meant to carry -aboard their planes. You know just before the armistice, Jason, there -was talk of a new deadlier gas. In reality it wasn't gas at all, but -this stuff of which I've told you. The gas talk was just a mask."</p> - -<p>"Go on—tell me, Murray," he prompted tensely. "Give me all you can to -begin with, though if I get stuck I'll be back again, of course."</p> - -<p>"Of course," I said, and told him all I knew myself, while he drank -in my descriptions, storing them in his mind for future use, his -expression firing now and then as he pictured the creation of the -monster envelopes, the suspended cars, the motive power by which they -should be flown across the Central Sea and Mazhur, to hang a sudden -embodiment of Tamarizia's answer, above Berla, freighted with their -deadly stores.</p> - -<p>"Murray," he exclaimed when I had finished, "Naia of Aphur, and Jason, -Son of Jason, will owe you their salvation."</p> - -<p>I couldn't answer, and I didn't try. I said instead, "The thing seems -plausible to me, Croft."</p> - -<p>"Plausible," he repeated. "It shall be accomplished. Now, Koryphu may -start upon his mission, while every shop and forge in Himyra roars."</p> - -<p>I asked a question. "By the way, how does the populace cotton to this -fresh Zollarian move?"</p> - -<p>"They don't know it yet, old fellow." He gave me a glance. "You know, -Murray, Tamarizia, even yet, isn't earth. There's only the wireless -between Himyra and Zitra, and a telegraph across the Gateway to Scira -in Cathur—but in view of what's going to happen in Himyra almost at -once—the preparations, I mean—I think I'll tell them, and suggest -that in Zitra the masses be informed by Zud—that Zollaria has struck -at the Mouthpiece of Zitu in order to coerce the nation. It won't do -any harm to have the sympathy of the populace behind us in this."</p> - -<p>"Nor in Scira," I said. "Cathur hasn't forgotten how nearly she was -enslaved, I imagine—or that her fate would have been the same as -Mazhur's for fifty years, if it had not been for the Mouthpiece of -Zitu's intervention in hers and Tamarizia's behalf. And see here, -Croft—if you've a telegraph up there, why don't you send Koryphu a -message instead of going after him yourself? You've enough to tend to -in the matter of the blimps without trapesing about."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He smiled for the first time. "It might do here, but not on Palos, -Murray. They're great for delegations, personal representation—the old -ways. You can't change them all at once. But—it won't do any harm to -announce my coming or its reason, or that the Mouthpiece of Zitu comes -in person to the house of Koryphu. That in itself might even serve -in preparing the mind of Cathur's prince for the proposition I shall -make him once I arrive. According to Palosian standards, Murray, even -though it sounds bald for me to say so, such an occasion should be an -important event in Koryphu's life."</p> - -<p>"Yes," I agree and nodded. More and more it impressed me that Croft's -mind was working again in its normal fashion, now he had actually -decided on a definite course. "Being honored by a visit from the -Mouthpiece of Zitu, publicly announced in connection with Zollaria's -action, ought to impress him favorably, I guess. His fellow citizens -can scarcely fail to draw the connection, and besides it will give him -a chance to put a spoke in Kalamita's wheel, perhaps—at least to meet -the woman who brought disgrace and death upon his brother face to face. -If he's human, Jason, he'll accept."</p> - -<p>"He's human enough," said Croft. "Murray, I actually feel as though I -were facing some positive action at last. It's a relief. Ever since -this thing happened I've been in an even worse state than I was after -I'd seen Naia first—and before I'd managed to acquire a physical -life on Palos. There was a barrier between us then that seemed -insurmountable, as you know, and yet I knew her, the one woman, in -all the teeming multitudes of feminine spirits I had ever longed to -know. I—I knew her—mine. And now there's another barrier between us, -scarcely less fatal, though of a different kind."</p> - -<p>"But—you overcame the first, and—"</p> - -<p>"I'll overcome the second," he interrupted in a flash. "I get your -meaning, and I'll do it. Zitu, what did I not overcome to reach her in -the first place! But I reached her, and I'll reach her again."</p> - -<p>I didn't doubt it. Again I felt to its full the driving power in -the will of Jason Croft. And at last the man was aroused—at last -he had become less man, torn and harried by the loss of his dearest -possessions, than an intelligent fighting force. Or so he impressed -me as he sat there in the astral body, while his physical form lay -billions of miles beyond us both, in Himyra, at Robur's house.</p> - -<p>"Aye, you'll reach her," I said, and looked him in the eyes. "You'll -reach her, Croft, and Naia and Jason, Son of Jason, will come back to -Aphur and to Jason's house."</p> - -<p>"Aye, by Zitu! Murray, your words fire me. I go to make them true, and -Zitu guard you!"</p> - -<p>He vanished, leaving me to open my bodily eyes.</p> - -<p>Darkness met them. There was naught but the night in the room. Yet I -had seen Jason's figure plainly while we conversed, and I did not doubt -he had been able to equally perceive mine. What, then, was the answer? -Was there no darkness to the spirit, even as between Palos and earth -outside of the atmospheric envelope there was no time? Was the riddle -held in that? Was there no such thing as darkness, concealment to the -understanding mind?</p> - -<p>Was it only the objective eye for which light was a necessity toward -making the truths of creation plain? Was it only the physical ear that -required the vibration of sound? Were time, light, sound, touch, but -material things? Was rhythm the basic principle of soul existence as -expressed in mind? Certainly Croft and I conversed as easily by thought -transference, a variant of astral vibration, as in the body we would -have used spoken words. What, then? Were life, consciousness, rhythm, -all, but expressions of a universal force—existing already bridgelike -between God's far-flung worlds?</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> - -<h3>PREPARING THE PEOPLE</h3> - - -<p>Croft went not to Himyra, however, as I fancied, but to Zitra, after he -left me, and the sleeping apartment of Zud, taking his stand close to -where the high priest lay wrapped in slumber on a copper couch.</p> - -<p>"Zud! Zud! Man of Zitu!" he let the call of his spirit steal forth. -Once in a past time he had taught the high priest something of the -astral body, finding it necessary to his purpose then to convince him -of the truth. And he had told him that when he should call him in the -future he would answer.</p> - -<p>"My lord," he muttered. "Aye—my lord."</p> - -<p>"Spirit of Zud—come forth!"</p> - -<p>Zud of Zitra's body relaxed. His spirit obeyed. Mistlike it hovered -above his physical form.</p> - -<p>"My lord," it faltered again.</p> - -<p>"Peace," said Croft. "Ye have answered me, Zud, in such wise. Give -ear and obey me in the flesh, when dawn comes again to the world. I, -Mouthpiece, say unto thee this:</p> - -<p>"Word of the abduction of Naia, wife of Jason, and of Jason, Son of -Jason, shall be noised abroad. Be it said that Zollaria, envious of -Tamarizia's progress, has seized them and borne them into her country, -holding them ransom to her demands against this nation, under penalty -of death to Jason's son.</p> - -<p>"Let it be understood. Let Zud himself sponsor the announcement, -first going to Jadgor's palace and saying to Jadgor that Jason, the -Mouthpiece of Zitu, gives the word.</p> - -<p>"Say also to Jadgor that Jason requires him to send, from the tower on -Zitra's walls, word to Mutlos, Governor of Cathur, requesting him to -see that word is spread in Scira—also that Jason himself shall not -come to Scira to hold speech with Koryphu on the matter—and that he -notify Scythys' younger son. Let this be done by command of Jadgor. The -message being received from him in Himyra will be forwarded to Scira at -once."</p> - -<p>"Aye, Mouthpiece of Zitu," Zud made answer. "Once ere this have ye -appeared in such guise before me, and I obeyed thee. Even so shall I -obey you now. These things shall be done."</p> - -<p>"Yet counsel the people to remain calm in the announcement," Jason -said. "Zitu's Mouthpiece desires no more than their sympathy in this."</p> - -<p>"But the woman—my lord has word of her and the infant?" the high -priest questioned.</p> - -<p>"Aye," Croft told him. "As Zud knows, I may meet with her in the spirit -even as with Zud himself."</p> - -<p>"Aye"—Zud inclined his astral head—"that Zud no longer doubts, since -within his knowledge it is proved."</p> - -<p>"Say also to Jadgor that Jason goes to Himyra to labor in the flesh -with Robur, son of Jadgor," Croft continued. "Now return to thy body -and finish thy slumbers, man of Zitu. Yet, waking, see that in all -things my counsel is obeyed."</p> - -<p>"Aye, Zud obeys on waking," the high priest promised.</p> - -<p>"In Zitu's name," said Croft, and with that he left.</p> - -<p>Dawn was breaking over Zitra as he emerged from the pyramid and made -his way swiftly north.</p> - -<p>Dawn was breaking over Berla when he reached it. It struck him through -a tiny orifice for ventilation high in the wall, and fell in a golden -shaft of light across the dungeon in which Naia of Aphur prayed to Ga, -Mother of Life Eternal, for aid.</p> - -<p>Then as she moved and rose from her knees, he called her, as always:</p> - -<p>"Beloved."</p> - -<p>Naia of Aphur heard, and smiled. Seating herself beside the child, she -let the soul of her womanhood steal forth.</p> - -<p>"Jason, Jason," she cried, the flame of life within her swiftly glowing -with the meaning of his presence, "you come to me with the dawn, from -whence, my dear one?"</p> - -<p>And Jason Croft answered her simply, "From earth."</p> - -<p>"And?" She stood before him—searching his soul for some hint of those -things he had brought within it. "Jason—"</p> - -<p>Croft replied to that appeal in almost cryptic fashion, yet knowing she -would understand. "True, woman who prays to Ga for courage, it is a new -dawn for us indeed."</p> - -<p>"Praise Zitu." She wavered toward him. For a moment it was as though -their two beings blended, lost each itself in the other, became one. -And then Naia lifted a face exalted by a new hope. "Yet not so much -for myself do I praise him, beloved, as for the little one. Knowledge -waited you then when you arrived?"</p> - -<p>"Knowledge," said Croft, still holding her to him. "Aye, knowledge -enough to make Zollaria a waste of scorching bones, a burned-out world, -if so by I may hold not only thy spirit but thy body again in my arms."</p> - -<p>Naia's astral being quivered; she lifted her eyes to the fading spot of -sunlight. "Then," said she in a whisper of understanding, "this dawn on -which I lifted my woman's cry to Ga is a new dawn for us indeed—and -once more courage fills my being. Go, beloved—hasten that other day -which shall bring me again to thee. The past sun Kalamita departed for, -as she hopes, a meeting with you. She and the giant who attends her, -Gor by name, came, ere she left, to this chamber, asking what message I -would send to the Mouthpiece of Zitu."</p> - -<p>"And Naia of Aphur told her what?" Croft questioned, looking into the -eyes beneath his.</p> - -<p>"To tell you when she met you that Naia loved both Tamarizia and thee."</p> - -<p>"And what said Zollaria's magnet to such a message?" Jason asked.</p> - -<p>Naia of Aphur smiled as she answered. "Nay—she seemed not overly well -pleased with it. She bade Gor strip my signet ring from my finger. Be -warned against any message wherein it may be used as a seeming proof of -word from me."</p> - -<p>"Aye," said Jason, scowling at this fresh proof of duplicity in -Zollaria's dealing; "such trickery shall gain them nothing."</p> - -<p>Naia nodded. "Yet I think I puzzled her somewhat, since I myself took -the ring from my hand ere Gor could touch me, and gave it to him, -knowing full well I could explain when next we spoke together, and -liking not the thought of his hands upon me—or the touch of any man -save only Lakkon and thee."</p> - -<p>Croft bent his lips to those below them, thinking even in that instant -that Kalamita had gained small satisfaction thus far in her meetings -with Naia of Aphur, and asking himself what use the Zollarian siren -might mean to make of the ring—a bit of purple stone into which was -cut the ideographic symbol of Naia's name.</p> - -<p>"Kalamita plays an impossible game," he said, "since, thanks to our -ability thus to speak together, her moves and even her intent is known. -Be of good courage, therefore, beloved. I go now to Himyra to prepare -against the day when in truth you shall feel <i>my</i> touch again."</p> - -<p>The waters of the Central Sea were a golden ripple in the early -sunshine, as he sped back then to Himyra and opened the eyes of his -body to Robur's wing of the palace and sat up on his couch.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Throughout the next day Jason and Robur passed from one place to -another, calling the captains, whom Croft himself had trained, before -them, explaining, issuing their orders, bidding them put night shifts -to work upon the task—giving here the commands for the forging of -copper beams and trusses—there the design for huge tanks in which the -death-dealing liquid fire would be stored.</p> - -<p>Late in the afternoon, bulletins struck off Jason's presses appeared -posted on the corners—flaunting the news of Zollaria's latest move -before the people's eyes. Those who could read gathered about them and -translated the message of ink and paper to their less erudite fellows. -Inside an hour Himyra was howling with anger and amaze.</p> - -<p>Leaving the metal foundry, where they had been giving orders for the -making of the fire-containing tanks, Croft and Robur found their motur -all but mobbed by a wildly inflamed crowd. The caution for a quiet -acceptance included in the bulletins was temporarily ignored. Naia -of Aphur, the beauty of the state, was captive. The Mouthpiece of -Zitu—the strong man who had twice brought the northern nation's plans -to disaster—was robbed of wife and child.</p> - -<p>"To Zollaria! To Berla! Seize and punish! Death to the spawn of -Zitemku—the torturers of women and children!" the populace howled.</p> - -<p>Corner orators appeared and harangued their fellows, giving way as -Robur's car approached with the sun flag of Aphur flapping above it, to -point toward Jason, and shriek that here was the Mouthpiece himself.</p> - -<p>Time after time Croft was forced to rise and address the seething -press of men and women that blocked the thoroughfare, begging them to -give him passage on an errand connected with the safety of Naia and -Jason—counseling a quiet demeanor—asking the sympathy and support of -the men of Aphur in his endeavors to meet the situation—suggesting -that any move of a violent nature would hinder rather than help him -in the present instance—promising action—declaring that in order to -keep spies from Himyra all vessels mounting the Na would be searched by -Aphurian guardsmen, and that all strangers would be stopped at Himyra's -walls.</p> - -<p>Time and again Robur rose to stand beside him in the motur. "Zitu's -Mouthpiece has spoken. Aphur hears and obeys. Give way. The Mouthpiece -goes to Scira to organize a mission!" he roared.</p> - -<p>"To what end?" a strong voice questioned on one such occasion. Despite -their royal caste, the Tamarizians were a democratic nation.</p> - -<p>"To meet an emissary of the northern nation," Robur replied.</p> - -<p>"Then let the mission be one of the sword."</p> - -<p>"Nay. Not so says the Mouthpiece of Zitu, who plans already a different -measure," Aphur's governor answered.</p> - -<p>"Silence. Give ear to the Mouthpiece of Zitu!" yelled the crowd. "Make -way—he desires a passage! Make way! He goes to Scira."</p> - -<p>The press opened, making a free way. The motur moved forward. "They -are with you," said Robur, speeding the car toward the gates of Himyra -according to their plans to visit the airplane hangars beyond the walls.</p> - -<p>"Aye." Croft nodded. That quickly up-flaring spontaneous anger and rage -of Himyra's population acted as a subtle tonic to his spirit, set his -heart to beating faster, woke a strange fire of unfaltering purpose in -his eyes.</p> - -<p>At the hangars he explained the situation and called for volunteers -from among the fliers to cross the Gateway and land of Scira, later -taking up the deceptive patrol above the mountains north of the -Cathurian border he had already planned.</p> - -<p>They heard him and stepped forward in a body. Not one man held back. -They pressed close before him with eager faces. Again his heart was -warmed. He had organized their force. By himself and Naia most of them -had been trained. Nominally at least he was their commander-in-chief. -They were the pick of Tamarizian manhood—as eager to dare the venture -as restrained hounds on a leash.</p> - -<p>He selected a half dozen quickly, telling them they must destroy both -moturs and planes if disaster overtook them and forced a landing on -Zollarian terrain, explaining that Robur would see them equipped with -small grenades by which the moturs could be blown to atoms.</p> - -<p>Their faces stiffened a trifle, but they did not falter.</p> - -<p>"Aye—they shall not have them," they made answer.</p> - -<p>"By Zitu," Jason prompted.</p> - -<p>"By Zitu," they returned.</p> - -<p>Croft saluted them flat-handed. "It is an oath," he said. "To break it -were treason to the nation. In four days you will descend at Scira. -Look to your machines."</p> - -<p>Back in the motur he found his pulses leaping to the spur of action -and the <i>ésprit du corps</i> among the fliers he had seen. They were men, -men—their number would furnish him others—to man the blimps and urge -them over Berla—if need be, to blot out the Zollarian city beneath a -fiery rain.</p> - -<p>"Tonight, Rob, I give you many plans and dimensions," he told Robur, -breaking the silence of his introspection. "That done, I board Jadgor's -galley for Scira. Till I return, the work lies in your hands."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>All Scira was <i>en fête</i>, or seemed so, though there was a strange -sullenness about her crowds, despite the flags, the banners that decked -the houses and lined the streets, and flew above her blue walls.</p> - -<p>The Mouthpiece of Zitu was coming from Aphur on a mission, and the city -was adorned to greet him by the orders of Mutlos, Governor of Cathur -himself. The throngs which waited his coming, to welcome him, and -escort him to the house of Koryphu, where the sun-rayed banner of Aphur -hung beside that of Cathur in the almost breathless air, wore their -brightest garments. But his mission forbade holiday spirits in the -minds of the crowd.</p> - -<p>True, vendors of sweetmeats and light wines in tabur hide sacks slung -on sinewy, naked shoulders, passed among them, jugglers and acrobats -performed their tricks and feats of strength on mats spread on the -pavement. But that was merely the seeking of profit on the part of -those who plied their various trades. It had naught to do with the -kidnapping of Naia, wife of the Mouthpiece, her carrying into the -neighboring nation which had twice endeavored to capture the northern -pillar of the Gateway—once over fifty years before, and again at a -more recent date.</p> - -<p>"Wherefore, Koryphu, the man with whom the Mouthpiece would lie as -guest in Scira, was no longer of unimportance in Cathur. Why Koryphu -in this hour?" the people asked. And possibly Koryphu asked himself as -he prepared to welcome his guests, "Why the honor of the Mouthpiece of -Zitu's presence in this time of his bereavement?" When a messenger from -Mutlos had come and told him of it, he had gasped.</p> - -<p>What was the purpose of the man to whom all Tamarizia looked as little -less than a demigod in his knowledge, in visiting Koryphu, who had -pored over tablets and scrolls in a semiseclusion ever since the -disgrace Kyphallos, son of Scythys, now happily dead, had brought upon -Cathur's royal house?</p> - -<p>Be that as it may, he prepared his residence for the occasion and on -the day of the expected arrival of Jason Croft donned his bravest -apparel and waited to welcome his guest.</p> - -<p>Yet it was mid-afternoon before Jadgor's galley, bearing the standard -of Zitra—the circle and cross—appeared and bore down on Scira's walls.</p> - -<p>The giant sea-doors swung open, admitting her to the harbor, and closed -again when she had passed. Breaking forth Cathur's flag, she advanced -across the inner harbor and swung to a mooring. A band of trumpeters -ruffled forth from the quay, where Mutlos waited. The gangway was -thrust forth, and the Mouthpiece of Zitu, walking alone and unattended, -appeared.</p> - -<p>"Hail, Mouthpiece of Zitu!" the assembled populace roared.</p> - -<p>Mutlos advanced. The two men struck hands on shoulders, and joined -their palms in a moment's clasp. Side by side they entered Mutlos's -motur. The trumpeters fell in before them, breaking a pathway through -the crowds.</p> - -<p>So came Jason to Scira once more, somber of mien, yet steady-eyed.</p> - -<p>"My sympathy as a man I give thee, Advisor of Tamarizia," Mutlos said -as the car began to move. "My assistance and that of Cathur I pledge -you an' it be needed. This thing passes all endurance. Say but the word -and Cathur will gather her swords."</p> - -<p>"Nay," Jason replied slowly. "Thy sympathy, Cathur, warms the heart of -the man. But the time of rescue has not arrived. Armed interference at -present were ill-advised, since Zollaria fears it, and should it be -attempted, thinks to offer my son to Bel a sacrifice."</p> - -<p>"Zitu!" Mutlos gasped. "What then, O Mouthpiece? Where lies a chance of -rescue? Zollaria makes demands of ransom?"</p> - -<p>"Aye—or will. Even now one approaches a rendezvous in the mountains -north of Cathur to meet with an agent of ours. It is because of that I -am here."</p> - -<p>"To arrange a mission to this meeting?" Mutlos said with ready -understanding.</p> - -<p>"Aye. Zollaria sends Kalamita of ill-fame to Cathur as her agent. -Tamarizia, with the knowledge of Cathur and his own consent if it is -forthcoming, sends Scythys' son."</p> - -<p>"Now, by Zitu!" Admiration waked in Mutlos's eyes. "'Tis well thought -of—to face that tawny enchantress, this creature of Adita, by one in -whose heart must burn hot hate against her. Guardsmen I place at your -disposal and his. My palace lies open to you, and you will honor it with -your presence—or plan you to lodge in Koryphu's house?"</p> - -<p>"With Koryphu this night at least," said Jason. "Yet with Mutlos things -must be discussed ere the mission fares forth. Hence at the palace -on the night succeeding the sun after this. I accept the offer of -guardsmen gladly. A score will be enough."</p> - -<p>"They will be forthcoming," Mutlos promised, and spoke to his driver. -"To Koryphu's house."</p> - -<p>Up to the door of the lesser palace stalked Jason alone, once he had -descended from the motur.</p> - -<p>But Koryphu had marked his coming, and the door slid open before him.</p> - -<p>"Hail to thee, Tamarizia, in the person of Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu," -Koryphu exclaimed and drew back a pace before him, that he might enter -under the eyes of the watching crowd.</p> - -<p>His eyes were a trifle bright with excitement, his features a bit -flushed with unwonted color at this sudden prominence thrust upon -him—wherein the governor's car, with the governor in it, set down so -distinguished a guest at his doors.</p> - -<p>"My lord," he said once the portal was closed, shutting them in -together after Mutlos had risen in his motur and bowed and he had -returned the salutation. "My lord!"</p> - -<p>"Greetings to you, Koryphu, son of Scythys," Croft responded. "Behold -in me not so much anything as a man bereft and sorely troubled by his -loss—one who comes to you thus in a time of trouble to ask you to lend -him aid."</p> - -<p>Koryphu's eyes widened swiftly. "But, by Zitu—in what can one of -fallen fortunes aid you, Mouthpiece of Zitu?" he questioned in -uncertain fashion.</p> - -<p>"It is of that we must speak together, Prince of Cathur," Croft replied.</p> - -<p>"Come then." Koryphu turned and led the way across a court done in blue -and crystal, surrounded by a balcony of blue and white to a room at the -farther end—the same room in which Jason at the time of his astral -visit to him had seen him bending over his tablets and scrolls—his -study—the room in which more than any other Koryphu spent his life.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Be seated, lord," he invited, indicating a redwood chair and taking -his place in another drawn close to a table of copper, littered with -numerous scrolls. "Loss is not unknown to Scythys' son, nor the feeling -of it. Yet never, praise be to Zitu and Azil, has he lost either wife -or child. Wherefore, only in the mind may he conceive faintly of thy -sense of loss, and therein share thy grief with thee. Speak—Koryphu -lends his ear to thy voice."</p> - -<p>Jason explained—going at some length into past events—advising the -Cathurian of the meeting to be held in the mountains, declaring it of -vital importance to establish negotiations with Zollaria as quickly -and protract them in indefinite fashion, in his estimation, proffering -Koryphu the leadership of the first embassy at last.</p> - -<p>"I—Koryphu!" The Cathurian noble stammered, his breathing a trifle -quickened, his nostrils a trifle tightened. "Zitu's Mouthpiece chooses -me for such an errand as this?"</p> - -<p>"Aye." Croft inclined his head, watching the man before him. "Koryphu -the Tamarizian."</p> - -<p>"Tamarizian!" Koryphu repeated and paused and went on again in a -somewhat bitter fashion. "But why Koryphu—why the son of a discredited -house? Why not another, whose loyalty none could question?"</p> - -<p>His eyes narrowed slightly and he clenched a hand.</p> - -<p>Croft looked him full in the face. In it he saw how deeply his -brother's action had affected this man—how the loss of confidence, the -lack of support by the people of Cathur, as shown by his overwhelming -defeat in the last elections, had rankled without expression in his -mind. The thing looked back at him a smoldering fire from between -Koryphu's lids. It had quivered in his voice.</p> - -<p>"Because," said he, "who heads this mission, will meet Kalamita of -Zollaria in the north."</p> - -<p>"Kalamita!" Koryphu stiffened. Suddenly his body stirred, he half rose -in his chair and sank back, well-nigh gasping. "That—foul sepulchre -of dead loves and unholy emotions—that stench in the nostrils of true -men, and blot on the name of women. Say you she comes herself to this -meeting?"</p> - -<p>"Aye," said Jason Croft. "Wherefore, there appears no better agent in -all Tamarizia to meet her when she comes to trap me also as she hopes, -seeing she had bidden me to this conference in person, than one who -loves her not nor is apt to fall captive to her shameless graces—than -Koryphu Tamarizian first, and son of Cathur, and loyal in his heart to -both, as I believe."</p> - -<p>"Thou believest?" Koryphu questioned with an eagerness almost pathetic.</p> - -<p>"Aye. Else were I not sitting in his house."</p> - -<p>For a moment silence came down, save for Koryphu's audible breathing. -For a moment his eyes flamed with a sudden light, and then he turned -them away since, in the code of Tamarizian manhood, there was little -room for tears. Then he rose.</p> - -<p>"Zitu!" he broke forth hoarsely and lifted his arms. "Father of -life—hast then given ear in such fashion to my prayers? Is the time of -penance ended? Am I again to step forth proudly among men as among my -peers? Is it so your Mouthpiece brings this labor to me—placing upon -my shoulders a task that through it I may prove my love of nation, tear -to ribbons the garment of sorrow in which I have been clothed? If so, -I thank thee, Zitu."</p> - -<p>He sank down again, dropping his head upon his folded arms on the table.</p> - -<p>For a time Croft watched him, elation and sympathy blended in his -regard. Here was his agent ready. There was small doubt Koryphu would -accept the chance to prove he had been misjudged as blood brother to -Kyphallos. The mere thought of what the opportunity offered had left -him too deeply moved.</p> - -<p>"Nay, Koryphu," he said presently as the Cathurian kept his face hidden -while his shoulders heaved. "None questioned thy loyalty really. Half -thy worry was of your own conceiving. Few spake illy of thee. Men -deemed rather you had taken for comfort to your tablets and scrolls. By -Jadgor and Robur of Aphur, my choice of thee is approved."</p> - -<p>"Hai! Jadgor—Robur! Say you so?" Koryphu lifted his head. "Perchance -thou art right," he went on more calmly. "Perchance I have brooded over -much. Yet comes this now as the realization of dreams born in nights of -brooding, hopes formed in sorrow, and well-nigh dead."</p> - -<p>"You accept, then?" Croft questioned.</p> - -<p>"Accept. Aye, by Zitu—and I shall serve you loyally. Speak what you -wish, Mouthpiece of Zitu. What do I when I face this beauteous slayer -of men's souls—shall I slay her for you, watch for opportunity and -strike her dead? If so the life of Koryphu were a small price—"</p> - -<p>"<i>Hilka!</i>" Croft interrupted the man's hysterical outburst. "Hold now, -Koryphu of Cathur—Koryphu does naught save listen to her words. Think -you the death of their agent would help us—or render my dear ones -more safe—or that the dead body of Koryphu would bring to Tamarizia -more swiftly the demands Zollaria will make through her toward those -negotiations that shall follow? Nay, small danger lies in this mission -so that rather than inflamed with rage when he stands before her, -Koryphu appears but one come to return with her words."</p> - -<p>"Aye." Koryphu caught his breath quickly. "Yet owe her I a debt of -overlong standing."</p> - -<p>Croft nodded. "I deny it not. Let Koryphu's vengeance begin when she -sees me not of Tamarizia's party—and finds herself outplayed."</p> - -<p>"Thinks she the Mouthpiece of Zitu a fool to walk into her trap?" -Koryphu questioned.</p> - -<p>"She thinks me a husband and father, less well informed of her true -purpose than perchance I am," Croft replied. "It were well she be not -undeceived. Wherefore I send airplanes north before you—to fly above -the mountains as though seeking a place of concealment, that she may -not know I am aware Naia of Aphur lies in Berla, and fancy I think her -hidden in the mountains as in her message to me she said."</p> - -<p>Koryphu narrowed his eyes in appreciation of what was intended. "The -thought were well conceived. I do naught then save meet this Zollarian -and give ear to her terms of ransom?"</p> - -<p>"Naught else, save say that those terms will be brought to my ears and -the ears of the nation."</p> - -<p>"'Tis well," the Cathurian now accepted. "That shall I do, and naught -to endanger the success of the undertaking, because of my personal -affairs. When do I depart upon my mission?"</p> - -<p>"Presently," Jason told him. "Mutlos will furnish you a score of -guardsmen. You will go north after the airplanes have arrived."</p> - -<p>"Two alighted before Mutlos's palace this morning," Koryphu announced. -"They declared to the crowds they came by your orders, yet said nothing -further. Are there others?"</p> - -<p>"Six in all," said Jason, smiling, well pleased that his fliers had -lost no time. "Doubtless the others will arrive."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dusk had fallen as they talked. A Mazzerian major domo with lighted -lamps appeared and set them in the metal sconces on the walls. Koryphu -rose.</p> - -<p>"A momentous day in the life of Koryphu," said he, "is drawing to a -close. Zitu's Mouthpiece will pardon, if he withdraws to the presence -of his wife to acquaint her with his decision and the changed fortune -of his house."</p> - -<p>"Aye," Jason assented, well enough pleased to let the man carry his -news to the ears of his family, and remain with his own thoughts for -the time. "Carry my greetings to her and say I wait her pleasure of a -meeting."</p> - -<p>Koryphu appeared slightly embarrassed. "We have lived much alone of -late, Hupor. You will dine with us or shall I have food sent to you?"</p> - -<p>"With you if it suits your convenience," Croft replied, forming a vivid -picture of the seclusion that held this house once second in the state -only to that of the king.</p> - -<p>Later he met Pala, a not uncomely woman, though showing the effects -of that self-same seclusion in face and manner, and her two children, -a daughter and a son, and reclined with them at their common -table—speaking of general topics with the two elders until the meal -was done. Once more back in Koryphu's study he went into the details -of the mission with him, finally arranging to go before Mutlos the -succeeding afternoon. Long before the oil-lamps had burned low in their -sconces the thing was done, and his conversation with Koryphu had -convinced him that in Naia's suggestion of the former prince, the right -man had been found.</p> - -<p>Passing from the study to the apartment set aside for his slumbers, the -two men intercepted Pala, speeding a parting guest, and she spoke to -her husband.</p> - -<p>"Laira, wife of Gazar—Koryphu. Thou hast not forgotten."</p> - -<p>"Nay." Koryphu bent before the matron in greeting. "Yet it is long -since I have given her salutation."</p> - -<p>For a moment the face of the caller regarded him almost blankly and -then she smiled. "Ah, but—old friends should not be forgotten." She -glanced at Jason.</p> - -<p>Koryphu made the introduction, and she sank to a knee before Zitu's -Mouthpiece.</p> - -<p>"Hupor, my obedience to thee. It came to my ear you were present in -Scira, and somewhat of the reason. Zitu uphold you in a troubled hour."</p> - -<p>"And spare them to you," said Jason, bowing.</p> - -<p>And yet when he stretched out on his couch and drew its silken -coverings about him, the thought came again as it had come while he -watched Laira rise, that life on Palos or earth was very much the same -thing, and those with friends were, after all, those on whom those in -power smiled.</p> - -<p>The next day he spent with Mutlos, arranging for Koryphu's departure -and explaining his purpose in the airplanes, the last of which arrived. -The evening passed in meeting many of the Cathurian officials, bidden -by Mutlos to the occasion and a feast at which Koryphu and Pala were -among the more prominent guests. No secret had been made of his -mission. In fact, word of it had been given out.</p> - -<p>For the time being Koryphu found himself again a person of -importance—one in whom Tamarizia herself had given evidence of faith. -Watching him under circumstances more or less trying to a man of -inferior metal, Croft found himself pleased by his demeanor—satisfied -that he would see the meeting with Kalamita carried off with what it -held of success.</p> - -<p>Well pleased then, he gave orders that the planes depart in the -morning, and that later Koryphu and his escort should leave for the -north. Taking tablets, he wrote rapidly a message to Kalamita, setting -forth the fact that the bearer was his representative in person, and -gave it to Koryphu after pressing his signet into the waxen surface -with instructions to place it in her hands.</p> - -<p>It was the last move. In so far as it could serve the meeting on which -Kalamita counted for far more than it was fated to bring her was -arranged.</p> - -<p>Stretching himself on the couch in the sumptuous chamber in Mutlos's -palace, to which he had been led, he freed his consciousness from -his body and went in search of the woman herself, to find her in the -midst of a wayside camp of Zollarian soldiery, asleep on the pads of -her gnuppa-drawn conveyance, beside which the giant Gor of the galley -mounted watch.</p> - -<p>Koryphu went north with the dawn, and Kalamita was hastening to meet -him. Satisfied, he left her in slumbrous ignorance of his presence and -visited Naia, telling her of the progress he was making, and how Robur -was stoking the furnaces of Himyra toward the creation of yet another -marvel, in the eyes of the population, until they flared red above the -red walls of the city in the night.</p> - -<p>In the morning he sent Robur a message announcing his departure, said -farewell to Mutlos and was driven to the quays and Jadgor's galley. -Going aboard he gave the order for sailing. The sea-doors were opened. -He passed through them, and turned the prow of the craft at his -disposal swiftly into the south.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> - -<h3>PTAR, PRIEST OF BEL</h3> - - -<p>Koryphu of Cathur, under the banner of Tamarizia—with seven red and -white stripes and a blue field with seven stars—a thing designed by -Croft himself after the republic was established, fared north in a -gnuppa drawn conveyance with his escort of Cathurian guards.</p> - -<p>Kalamita and Zollaria came down from the north in a similar fashion, -but with a vastly heavier escort—strong enough as Croft had suggested -to Robur to avoid any chance of surprise. Croft sailed south, but -watched their progress each night, when he let his consciousness steal -forth. The airplanes sailed north and found themselves a landing place -as best they might, to which, after each day spent above the mountains -north of Cathur's border, they returned.</p> - -<p>Three days brought Jason to Himyra. Jadgor's galley was swift, indeed. -Each day he spent in the shops sometimes with Robur, sometimes without -him, when matters of state interfered, drafting designs with ruler -and calipers and stylus, supervising the makings of patterns, holding -consultations with his captains over the production of each part he -desired, calling for speed and more speed.</p> - -<p>It was the thing that obsessed him now that Koryphu was going north and -Kalamita was coming south—speed in the production of the only thing -that seemed to his straining mind fitted to meet his desperate need. -And a part of each night he spent in the laboratory he had fitted up -in Robur's own part of the palace, experimenting in the blending of -reagents, the making of the liquid fire.</p> - -<p>In Zitra, in Cathur and in Aphur, Tamarizia roared, and by degrees the -other states of the nation had the word of the last Zollarian outrage -and added their voices to the chorus of resentment and demand for some -retaliatory move. Croft had their sympathy and support in his plans of -rescue, unequivocally expressed.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Robur took what steps he advised to safeguard the secret -of how that rescue was to be made. Guardsmen established a patrol on -the banks of the Na, with a port of search at its mouth, where all -ascending vessels were compelled to stop by watchful motur craft. Other -guards once more went aboard each ship at Himyra's gates, both north -and south. For the time being the red city came to be an armed camp, as -closely guarded from entry by unvouched for outsiders, as though in a -state of siege.</p> - -<p>And his labors ended, each night Croft stretched himself out on his -couch and closed his physical eyes and maintained weird observation of -events taking place in the north.</p> - -<p>Three days after his return to Himyra, Kalamita arrived at her hunting -lodge. Rather the thing was a small palace, built of native stone from -the mountains and massive beams of wood—its central court fur-lined, -its walls and floors covered with trophies of the chase—skins of the -woolly tabur, which ran wild as well as in domesticated herds. There -were skins of the ferocious tigerlike beast, such at the sculptured -group in Jason's mountain home portrayed as attacking the man who -sought to keep its ravening jaws from the body of a kneeling woman.</p> - -<p>And there the Zollarian magnet set herself down with her escort camped -about her to await the coming of the man she hoped would be drawn to -her out of the south.</p> - -<p>She sent her guards farther in that direction to meet and escort him. -Koryphu at the time was still distant some half-day's journey, and -Jason was assured it would be noon of the next day before the Cathurian -appeared.</p> - -<p>Wherefore he spent the succeeding morning in the shops and returned at -midday to the palace, retiring to his rooms after explaining to Robur -that he intended being present in the spirit at the meeting between -Kalamita and the Tamarizian agent, even if not in the flesh as the -woman desired.</p> - -<p>Robur nodded. "Zitu—that such things can be. Not that I doubt you, -Jason, but the matter never ceases to excite my wonder. Yet shall I -wait with impatience word of what occurs when she beholds Koryphu, -brother of Kyphallos, in your place."</p> - -<p>"She is apt to show displeasure," Jason told him, and he was thinking -as much—that the beautiful Zollarian was very apt to show marked -displeasure, covered perhaps as best it might be by a haughty -bearing—as he stretched himself out and closed his eyes.</p> - -<p>To the mountains north of Cathur. The Central Sea a-sparkle in the -sunlight fled away beneath him. Scira was passed and the many weary -stretches of winding road over which Koryphu had passed until he -found him, advancing with the Cathurian footmen ringed about him, the -Tamarizian flag a glorious standard above him, led by the Zollarian -guards.</p> - -<p>Swiftly then Jason willed himself into the hunting lodge where sat -Kalamita, dressed or undressed as one might prefer to express it, for -the occasion, in a huge chair draped with the black and tanhide of -some savage creature; Gor, her giant attendant by her side.</p> - -<p>Fire—the fire of delayed purpose burned in her tawny eyes—there was -the suppressed litheness of the predatory creature already scenting the -kill in her every movement, the tremor of suppressed emotion in her -words.</p> - -<p>"Thou understandest, Gor, that when this one comes before me, I shall -demand that we speak together alone. And I have given word to the -guardsmen that his men shall be surrounded and at a word from me, after -my purpose is accomplished, all save one be put to the sword. After a -time as we speak together I shall simulate anger at some word of his, -to the speaking of which I shall lead him by taunting speech, and then -fling thyself upon him and bind him. This is clear?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, mistress, Gor hears and obeys," said Gor, curling back his heavy -lips.</p> - -<p>Kalamita's breast rose and fell in a deep-caught breath. "See to it, -then. Let there be no mistake."</p> - -<p>"Nay, mistress—when has Gor failed thee—or to do thy bidding?"</p> - -<p>"None fail me save once," said Kalamita. "Enough."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Outside, a trumpet blew a ruffling blast. There followed a pause, and -then Cathur tricked out in his bravest armor, with the twin mountain -peaks of Cathur on it done in blue stones, appeared in the doorway of -the lodge between two Zollarian captains, and paused.</p> - -<p>"Cathur for Tamarizia seeks audience with Kalamita," the senior captain -announced.</p> - -<p>For a moment the face of the woman twitched with some sudden emotion -and then she replied, gripping the arm of her chair till her knuckles -whitened. "Let Cathur approach."</p> - -<p>The captains fell back and disappeared. Koryphu advanced. A single pace -before her he halted.</p> - -<p>"These tablets bring I from Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu to Tamarizia, to -Kalamita," he said, and placed Croft's message in her hand.</p> - -<p>She held them for a single instant, ere she hurled them to the floor. -Her lips twitched, hardened, her tawny eyes glared.</p> - -<p>Once more, as in Berla, she was faced by an unexpected element in her -plans. The thing on which she had counted to win her country's ends -at least—to glut her own thirst for revenge in a measure, was here in -the person of the man before her, withheld from her outstretched hand. -Inwardly she raged as any vengeful person may rage when the object of -their hatred escapes their vengeance—and doubly because, despite her -assurance, Helmor had foretold some such ending to the meeting she had -planned.</p> - -<p>But outwardly she strove for calm. "How are you called, man of Cathur, -who come to listen to my demands and carry them to this strong man, who -exerts not himself to come before me?"</p> - -<p>"Koryphu, brother of Kyphallos, woman of Zollaria," Koryphu replied in -a somewhat husky voice.</p> - -<p>Kalamita recoiled. Her body shrank back as from a blow, and then she -stiffened.</p> - -<p>"Koryphu!" she repeated, staring at him out of widened lids. "Now, in -Bel's name, what trickery is this that sends before me the weakling -student brother, at whom Kyphallos laughed?"</p> - -<p>"No trickery, Zollaria, lies in it, but rather purpose," Koryphu -returned, still more thickly, "in that Jason chose for his messenger -one who had sufficient knowledge of thee to assure his remaining -unmoved by your charms, no matter how shamelessly employed—one who -would hearken to your demands as regarding Naia of Aphur and Jason, Son -of Jason, yet give no ear to other words."</p> - -<p>Mentally Croft applauded even while physically Kalamita, the magnet, -gasped.</p> - -<p>"The Mouthpiece were a shrewd man," she said after a moment, "yet -might he have felt doubly assured in thy choice, had he considered thy -presence. Kalamita wastes not her wiles on aught less than a man. Did -he send also to guard thee, the things that fly over the mountains the -past two days?"</p> - -<p>"Nay," said Koryphu as one who considered his answer. "They but seek a -place of hiding, since Kalamita said her whose terms of ransom I come -to bear to him, would lie hidden in the mountains until such terms were -arranged."</p> - -<p>Kalamita smiled in crafty fashion, with a vulpine widening of the -crimson slit of her mouth. One would have said she was pleased by this -information.</p> - -<p>"As he wills," she said more lightly. "I might forbid it, but it -disturbs me not. He will not find the place, and endangers the terms -himself, since a part of my demands were gained already if one of his -devices falls. Even now my guardsmen lie in wait for such a happening -in the hills, since I had conceived his purpose, and foreseen wherein -it might be turned to my advantage."</p> - -<p>"Nay." Koryphu appeared unmoved by the information. "Let your guards -beware, since if one of them falls it will be destroyed. Does Kalamita -desire the secret of them for Zollaria or herself?"</p> - -<p>His lips relaxed slightly in an almost taunting fashion as he regarded -the woman before him out of steady, unwavering eyes.</p> - -<p>And again Croft applauded his choice of the man who was unveiling the -true state of affairs behind the present meeting, and yet leaving -Zollaria's agent at least in part deceived. For his words appeared to -flick her and she answered quickly:</p> - -<p>"Were it not the same, Kalamita being Zollarian, man of Cathur?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, perhaps," Koryphu assented. "If perchance the interests be the -same. It would seem then that as well as Kalamita's price to Jason, I -return to Tamarizia with Zollaria's demands."</p> - -<p>"And thy shoulders can support so vast a burden, Cathur—these terms I -warn you are not light."</p> - -<p>"I await them," Koryphu replied.</p> - -<p>"Then hear Kalamita's price for the pale-faced one and her suckling." -The woman leaned a trifle forward as she named them. "Mazhur must be -returned—the Gateway must be opened without let or hindrance. There -must be no tax exacted over Zollarian traffic on the Central Sea. There -must be surrendered with men to explain them the secrets of your moturs -and your air machines, and of all other devices born of the Mouthpiece -of Zitu's brain—the fire weapons, the balls that burst when thrown -amidst an enemy's forces. Name these things as the price of ransom to -your Mouthpiece when you return."</p> - -<p>"These seem heavy terms, indeed." Koryphu threw out his hands in -a helpless gesture. His face was pale, even though Croft in their -conversations had foreshadowed some such thing. "Were it not wiser -for Zollaria to ask less with a chance of obtaining somewhat than to -overshoot the mark by asking everything?"</p> - -<p>"Nay." Kalamita leaned back well pleased as it seemed by the man's -quite natural confusion on being given a message that spelled little -less than his country's ruin.</p> - -<p>"Nay, by Bel, Cathur—once there was a time when thy brother's plans -and mine went down in confusion when Tamarizia demanded and Zollaria -yielded. Now Zollaria speaks, and should Tamarizia not accept, or make -any move to resist her demands by force of arms, Naia of Aphur goes to -the mines with the blue men who labor in them and her puny offspring -into Bel's mighty arms a paltry sacrifice. So much herself the woman -understands—wherefore she sends this ring to Jason to plead as her own -voice that he hearken to Kalamita's words."</p> - -<p>Stripping a signet from her finger, she extended it upon her palm.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Koryphu's features were strained as he took the ring. "These things I -shall carry to Jason's ears. Does Kalamita await his answer?"</p> - -<p>"Nay—let Jason arrange the next meeting," said Kalamita. "I go to a -place he knows not of, despite his man-made birds and their spying. -Yet will a messenger on the highway north from Mazhur be met, and his -message accepted. So I shall arrange. Perhaps if he feel need, he may -employ one of these self-same flying devices."</p> - -<p>She broke off sharply as a commotion arose outside the lodge, then -turned to Gor.</p> - -<p>"Go learn the cause of this disturbance—"</p> - -<p>Gor stalked to the door, and paused.</p> - -<p>"Mistress, they come," he declared, and drew back as a group of -Zollarian guardsmen in charge of a captain entered, a man in leathern -jacket and helmet held captive in their midst.</p> - -<p>With a start Croft recognized one of his own fliers. Disaster—already -one of the planes had fallen, he thought, and heard the captain confirm -his fears.</p> - -<p>The man saluted with upflung arm. "Behold, princess, one whom we bring -before you—a Tamarizian dog—who fell with the device he rode like an -arrow-pierced bird from the skies."</p> - -<p>Kalamita's smile was coldly gloating as she regarded the captive, -young, slender, grimed by the smirching of his fall and the struggle -attending his capture, his leathern flying-suit torn, and gashed where -some Zollarian, overardent, had slit it with a spearhead. For a moment -she turned her regard on Koryphu as if to say here was her prediction -already verified, and back again to the man.</p> - -<p>"Well, Tamarizian, found you the hiding place you flew in search of?" -she sneered.</p> - -<p>"Nay." The youth stiffened. "'Tis not always easy, Zollarian, to -discover the hiding places of Zitemku's agents. Nor have we searched -over long."</p> - -<p>Kalamita's features hardened. She gave her attention to the captain. -"What of the machine?"</p> - -<p>"The machine, princess, was by this one destroyed ere we could prevent -it. It lies burst and ruined by flames."</p> - -<p>"So?" Rage lighted the woman's tawny eyes—once more she was baffled in -a purpose. "For that he dies."</p> - -<p>Under his grime and sweat, inside the circle of his helmet, the -aviator's face went pale, but he maintained his poise of body even as -Koryphu spoke quickly—"Princess of Zollaria, unsay those words."</p> - -<p>"Peace, brother of Kyphallos." Kalamita turned like a tigress on him. -"Who are you to interfere? Stand back and watch how Zollaria deals with -Tamarizian spies. Gor, take thy spear."</p> - -<p>Gor's lips curled back as he advanced slightly, lifted his heavy weapon -and poised it.</p> - -<p>Impotently Croft's spirit writhed as he gazed upon the scene—on -Kalamita, leaning forward in all her savage beauty, her sinuous body -panting, her nostrils flared, once more gripping the arms of her -chair with tightened fingers—at Koryphu, deadly pale because of the -contemplated outrage, at the figure of Gor, wonderful in its sheer -brute strength and proportion, set for the thrust on the word of -command, at the guardsmen, the captain, the figure of his flier, drawn -up now to its fullest stature, proudly erect in the face of death, and -knew himself powerless to intervene.</p> - -<p>And suddenly the aviator threw up his hand toward the other man of his -nation. "Hail, Cathur, Aphur salutes thee," his voice came strongly. -"Long life to Tamarizia. Say to Zitu's Mouthpiece that Robur—"</p> - -<p>"Slay!" Kalamita screamed.</p> - -<p>Gor's spear plunged home.</p> - -<p>"Carry off that carrion." The woman's arm rose, pointing at the body.</p> - -<p>The captain growled an order. The guardsmen lifted the limp form in its -suit of leather and bore it out on their spears.</p> - -<p>Kalamita swung her whole form lithely about to where Koryphu was -standing. "Say to Zitu's Mouthpiece that so we treat his spies."</p> - -<p>"Aye," he made answer gruffly. "Small doubt but I shall narrate to -Zitu's Mouthpiece many things."</p> - -<p>For a moment the eyes of man and woman met and plunged glances -lance-like one into the other, ere there rose again an outward -commotion, a burst of thunderous sound, which gave way in an instant to -groans and cries.</p> - -<p>Koryphu stiffened. Kalamita started to her feet, as the outcry -continued. Some of the flush of anger faded from her features, and then -Koryphu, turning, ran across the floor toward the doorway and outside -it.</p> - -<p>"The standard—the standard of Tamarizia, let it be unfurled," he -roared.</p> - -<p>Out of the sky came down a drumming from where an airplane sailed. -On the ground lay some half dozen Zollarian guards—the same who had -carried out the aviator's body—some of them without motion, some -of them that groaned and moved. The vengeance of the flier's fellow -had been swift and deadly. But the flag of Tamarizia broke out over -Koryphu's party, the Tamarizian in the plane circling to drop another -grenade, altered his course, zoomed up above the nearest ridge of hills -and disappeared.</p> - -<p>Croft quivered in spirit as he watched him. He could scarcely censor -his hot-headed action in dropping the bomb on the murderers of his -comrades and yet now—blood had been shed on both sides, and Gor was -approaching Koryphu where he stood.</p> - -<p>"Go!" he commanded with a gesture of dismissal. "My mistress grants you -safety since you are of no value save as you carry her message. Take -thy men and get thee on thy mission."</p> - -<p>"Aye—be you my messenger to carry her my parting greeting," Koryphu -returned, and stalked to his carriage, about which, under the banner of -Tamarizia, his Cathurians had already formed.</p> - -<p>Entering it he gave the word for marching. Followed by the black -looks of the Zollarian soldiery he and his party moved off toward the -southbound road.</p> - -<p>Bloodshed—bloodshed on both sides. Croft opened the eyes of his -physical body in Robur's palace and lay staring into the night. -Kalamita had slain one of his fliers. The man's death thrilled him as -he recalled it, even while it filled him with sorrow. He had died as -a patriot, a man loyal to his nation, his last word a wish expressed -for that nation's long life. And his fellow had retaliated swiftly, -dropping a bomb from the skies. And now Kalamita was returning, no -doubt—returning raging to Berla, cheated of the major object of her -journey south. And a representative of her nation would wait word on -the road that ran north from Mazhur's borders. He lay pondering the -matter until dawn, and then rose. He sought Robur and told him of all -he had seen.</p> - -<p>"Send a message into Cathur, Rob, recalling the airplanes," he -directed. "Zitu forbid that I waste further the lives of such men. They -have served their purpose in a measure. Bid them return."</p> - -<p>"And what of the further course of the matter?" Robur inquired.</p> - -<p>"Kalamita returns to Berla, in my estimation," said Croft. "She must -make report. Yet thus far have we dealt with Kalamita only. Thus far -the matter has lain between herself and me alone. It was to me Bathos -was sent with his message. Wherefore, so quickly as Koryphu returns, we -shall ask Zitra to send one through Mazhur, calling upon Zollaria to -confirm or deny Kalamita's acts in a representative parley."</p> - -<p>Robur nodded. "By Zitu, I sense your intention. In such a way you -safeguard our cousin and gain time for our own endeavors."</p> - -<p>"Aye," said Jason, "time in which our work must be pressed with speed."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>By day the forges of Himyra roared, and at night they blazed. Men -toiled and sweated. Croft planned, designed, and urged for haste, -instructing, advising, passing upon each part of the engines of swift -deliverance he had ordered made by day, by night watching in his own -peculiar fashion the progress of Koryphu back to Cathur, and that of -Kalamita north.</p> - -<p>Two days after the meeting in the mountains he sent Jadgor's galley -to Scira, to await Koryphu's coming and returning to Himyra with the -Cathurian aboard, deeming it best to take the man with him to Zitra -to appear before Jadgor in person, that his own statements might be -confirmed by Koryphu's words. Himself he determined to be present -astrally in Berla, when Kalamita appeared before Helmor to make her -report. It occurred to him that at such a time something of importance -might transpire, and he wished to see how the Zollarian magnet would -seek to cover her defeat.</p> - -<p>That her return empty handed was a bitter thing in her heart he was -well aware, since his nightly visits to her wayside camps showed her -cloudy eyed, haughtily exacting, acrid tongued to all, even her giant -bodyguard. Gnawed by her disappointment, she made her way toward Berla -in something like a baffled rage, reached it and drove straight to her -own and Bandhor's palace, refreshed herself from her journey and loaded -herself with jewels, as though thereby seeking by outward show to -mitigate the manner of her return in Helmor's eyes.</p> - -<p>Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu, and Bandhor watched, the former unseen yet -seeing, his body stretched seemingly lifeless in Himyra, his astral -presence alert to her every move and action, Bandhor sprawled scowling -on a copper and silver couch.</p> - -<p>"Helmor was right. This Mouthpiece was too shrewd for you, my sister," -he sneered.</p> - -<p>"Or else lacking in the courage to meet me," Kalamita rejoined, -fastening the clasp of an armlet.</p> - -<p>"Nay," Bandhor declared, with the respect of the soldier for one of his -own profession who had beaten him twice. "He lacks not courage, by Bel, -or the ability to look even on thy beauty unmoved, as you should be -aware."</p> - -<p>"Say you so?" Kalamita whirled, stung by his reference to Croft's -refusal of her favor on a past occasion, and brought her hand into -stinging contact with his ear.</p> - -<p>Bandhor sprang up, wagging his head, to tower above her.</p> - -<p>"You devil—you yellow-eyed devil!" he roared with guttural laughter. -"No doubt you are angered, and with justice. To have sent Koryphu—the -brother of one who fell on his sword for love of thee—his messenger to -you. That were a master move."</p> - -<p>Kalamita regarded his amusement out of narrowed amber eyes.</p> - -<p>"Laugh, fool, an' it pleases you," she said at last, coldly. "A master -move indeed What lies behind it?"</p> - -<p>Bandhor frowned. His attention seemed arrested by the question.</p> - -<p>"By Bel I know not," he stammered. "Save to learn your price of ransom -without walking into the trap you laid, and thereafter to lay a counter -proposal before you."</p> - -<p>"Counter proposal?" And now Kalamita sneered. "Such things require -time, Bandhor. This one seems in small haste to regain a wife and -child."</p> - -<p>"Or become prisoner to Kalamita," Bandhor suggested.</p> - -<p>Kalamita eyed him. Her own expression was brooding.</p> - -<p>"Enough," she said. "Your mind reaches not beyond the sweep of your -sword. Go—say to Helmor I appear before him, and—say no more, save -that I will make all things plain when I arrive."</p> - -<p>Bandhor nodded.</p> - -<p>"Nay, and thou canst, thou canst do more than Bandhor," he declared, -once more frowning, and stalked hugely from the room.</p> - -<p>Kalamita remained seated for some time after his departure, her -features cast into lines of consideration, tight lipped, a trifle drawn.</p> - -<p>"Now Bel aid me!" she cried, at last rising and lifting her -jewel-circled arms in a body-stretching gesture, turned and went -swiftly down to where Gor waited with her carriage, and its prancing -green-plumed gnuppas. Entering the conveyance, she drew the curtains, -and reclined on the padded cushions, her tawny head supported on an arm.</p> - -<p>Watching her, Croft sensed that once more her wicked brain was busy -with its schemes.</p> - -<p>Bandhor met her at the palace and escorted her into a small and -sumptuously furnished room. Helmor of Zollaria sat there, his face -contorted into an expression of displeasure. As Bandhor and his sister -entered, he half rose, and Kalamita sank swiftly to her knees.</p> - -<p>"Hail Helmor, emperor and lord," she faltered.</p> - -<p>"Rise," said the Zollarian monarch. "Thy coming was expected. Bandhor -informed me as you bade him, yet seemed unminded to further use his -tongue. So, then, you appear before me alone?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, Helmor." Kalamita lifted herself on shapely limbs and stood -with downcast eyes. Suddenly she had adopted a meekness wholly out of -keeping with her usual demeanor. "Helmor foresaw the outcome of my -effort in his wisdom. All things fell out as he advised."</p> - -<p>"The Mouthpiece came not to the meeting?"</p> - -<p>"Nay. Perchance he lacked the courage on which I counted." Kalamita -threw up her head. Her tawny eyes flashed for a single instant.</p> - -<p>Helmor resumed his seat. His brows knit in a frown.</p> - -<p>"I await thy story, sister of Bandhor," he said after a time.</p> - -<p>Kalamita explained. Helmor's frown deepened as she proceeded with her -story. Once and once only his expression denoted satisfaction, and that -when the woman spoke of the airplanes flying above the mountains.</p> - -<p>"It would seem then that he knows not the woman lies in Berla," he -said, nodding. "It was so I planned. In so much is he deceived. Go -on—finish the story."</p> - -<p>"Nay," Kalamita resumed. "There is no more save that I stated the -requirements of her ransom as it was agreed upon between us, and gave -Koryphu her signet which I had taken from her finger, bidding him say -to the Mouthpiece that she bade him yield, and that one of the flying -devices falling, and the Tamarizian within it, being captured, though -not before he had destroyed it, was slain by my orders before Koryphu's -eyes."</p> - -<p>"Slain?" repeated Helmor sharply. "Now, by Bel, were it wise to slay -him, or didst let thy judgment be consumed by rage?"</p> - -<p>"Perchance," Kalamita admitted, still adhering to her rôle of meekness. -"Yet if so, the act was avenged and quickly, in that one of his fellows -flew above my lodge and dropped a fire-ball, which, bursting, slew two -in the number of my guard—and would have repeated the attack upon us, -save that Koryphu himself bade the flag of Tamarizia unfurled above his -party, whereat the flier altered his course and disappeared.</p> - -<p>"Helmor of Zollaria—blood has been shed by Tamarizia in this matter. -Did not Helmor vow that such an act by the southern nation should give -Bel the child of the Mouthpiece, a living sacrifice?" And now as she -broke off she looked full into Helmor's widening eyes.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Croft's listening spirit quivered, sensing the dark turn in the woman's -mind, the deadly purpose of her plans. Tensely he waited while man and -woman confronted one another, his soul torn with the strain of the -delay that preceded Helmor's words.</p> - -<p>And then the Zollarian monarch gathered himself together, controlling -what had plainly been no less that a swift shock of surprise. "Aye, so -Helmor promised," he returned slowly. "Yet meant he not the act of a -man enraged by the death of his fellow—a minor instance—a matter of -no consequence along the border. Sister of Bandhor, you appear over -quick to destroy what were a safeguard as well as a price of advantage -in Helmor's eyes."</p> - -<p>Once more Kalamita lowered her face.</p> - -<p>"There were no advantage to Helmor or the nation," she said slowly, -"save by favor of the gods. If Kalamita err, be it upon her own head, -yet thus far the matter had not gone overly to our liking—and were -Bel's favor purchased—"</p> - -<p>"Enough!" All at once Helmor roared. "Question not Bel's favor. Has -he not placed these two wholly in our power? Is the way not paved for -parley and negotiation? Think you the man who waits on the road out of -Mazhur will fail to receive an answer to our demands?"</p> - -<p>"Nay," said Kalamita, "there will be an answer. Yet now is it in my -heart to warn Helmor against permitting that these parleys—these -discussions of our demands—be entered into over long."</p> - -<p>"What mean you?" Helmor's demeanor was uneasy. "Were time not needful -when a matter of so great importance is to be arranged?"</p> - -<p>"Aye—none may deny it." Kalamita granted the point without hesitation. -"And I know not wherein lies the peril save that these be a crafty -people, depending more upon their wits than on their strength, and that -this Aphurian woman boasted to me aboard my galley that the one who -devised these things, the secret of which we are demanding, might well -devise a greater. Wherefore let Helmor be warned against protracting -his parlay to great length."</p> - -<p>And now once more Croft's spirit quivered. Let Zollaria depend on the -power of might as much as she pleased, this tawny woman, standing -before Zollaria's ruler with hypocritically downcast eyes, was -possessed of craft at least. Again he waited while Helmor weighed her -words, until with surprise and a vast relief he beheld the emperor's -expression alter, grow from one of startled speculation to a thing -amused.</p> - -<p>"A greater device?" he questioned. "Now, by Bel, what were it? Has he -not brought his fire weapons, his fire chariots across the earth, his -fire ships to swarm upon the water, his flying devices into the skies? -Where else shall he turn for a new field to conquer? Earth, water, -air—their mastery is his—and will remain his only unless Zollaria -wrests it from him.</p> - -<p>"These airplanes, as he calls them, are our greatest menace—and now -they fly above the mountains, seeking her who lies safe inside Berla's -walls. Nay, sister of Bandhor, thy work is finished—leave what remains -to be accomplished in Helmor's hands, nor heed the words of a woman. -Perchance she meant to raise up a fear thought to affright thee."</p> - -<p>Kalamita stiffened.</p> - -<p>"Kalamita is not easily affrighted," she made answer. "And being woman, -may sense the meaning of a woman's words. Yet has Helmor spoken. May -Kalamita retire now that her mission is ended, less happily than she -wished, yet ended none the less?"</p> - -<p>"Aye." Helmor inclined his head. "Ere the sun sinks I shall send to -your palace a chariot filled with silver. Bandhor remain. I would speak -with you briefly."</p> - -<p>"Bel strengthen Helmor's mind." To Croft it seemed almost as though a -hidden meaning lurked in the woman's words as she sank again to her -knees, rose and passed from the room.</p> - -<p>He followed. Let Bandhor and Helmor talk, plan, plot, devise. There -lurked not the danger he feared, but rather in the brain of the woman -now making her way toward the carriage across the palace court. -Seemingly she had taken her dismissal, had yielded to Helmor's -decision. Meekness had characterized her most surprisingly throughout -the major part of the conversation. Yet Croft did not believe she had -given over her more personal designs.</p> - -<p>Little by little he was coming more and more to understand the woman, -and to realize that in all her sordid standard of existence there -lurked one sincere if superstitious strain. She believed in the power -of her gods. She had been thwarted in her purpose to honor the greatest -of them, by Helmor's resolve to hold Naia and Jason in safety, but with -the quick perception of the spirit, Croft felt assured she would try -again.</p> - -<p>Hence it was with no surprise as she entered her carriage that he heard -her direct Gor to the Temple of Bel, before she reclined upon the -cushions and drew a gasping breath.</p> - -<p>And he followed close behind her as she reclined upon the cushions and -drew to the pyramidal temple itself.</p> - -<p>It was built of some dark-hued stone, in color nearly black, set down -in the exact center of a mighty open space. Pillared it was on four -sides, about a mighty central court, like a great rectangular funnel, -the sides of which were corrugated with steps, leading down once more -to the outer level of the mighty base. These steps could furnish a -multitude with seats, as he saw at a glance. And in the center of the -remaining level—huge—massive—smoke and fire darkened—horrible in -its grinning visage, its pot-bellied furnace back of extended arms, the -idol of Bel found place.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>At the head of the inner steps on the side from which she had entered, -Kalamita paused. So vast was the structure that standing so alone -in her supple beauty, her figure became a pigmy thing, was suddenly -dwarfed. Her arms rose above her head. She bent, once, twice, thrice -from the hips in salutation to the monstrous thing before her, its -every detail thrown into revolting relief by the light of the open -sides above its uncovered court, turned and made her way among the -pillars of the surrounding colonnade toward the end opposite that the -idol faced.</p> - -<p>It was built in, unlike the other three sides, and here Jason fancied -as he followed, would be the quarters of the temple attendants and the -priests.</p> - -<p>Upon a door of silver, set in the ebon surface of the wall, Kalamita -hammered with peremptory fist, and waited, until the portal was swung -ajar by a heavy-muscled individual clad in no more than a leathern -apron tied about his waist.</p> - -<p>"Go," she directed, stepping past him. "Say to Ptah that the Princess -of Adita desires speech with him at once."</p> - -<p>"Aye, beautiful one."</p> - -<p>The man saluted and hastened off along a passage, to return and beckon -her after him mutely until he paused before a second silver door.</p> - -<p>He struck upon it. A voice rumbled from beyond it. The man set it open -and Kalamita passed it into the presence of Bel's priest.</p> - -<p>Huge he was, powerful, heavy muscled, thick of neck and nose and lip, -with a knotted, shaven poll, gross, in seeming an unwieldly human -beast, as dissimilar to the lithe beauty as day to night. Yet she -spread her rosy, gem-banded arms and sank down with lowered eyes.</p> - -<p>"Hail to Ptah, priest of the Mighty One," she spoke in salutation.</p> - -<p>"Rise, Priestess of Adita," said Ptah, his small eyes nearly lost -behind the heavy lids lighting at sight of her kneeling figure. "What -seeks the Lamp of Pleasure in the house of Ptah?"</p> - -<p>"Counsel, O Wise One," Kalamita answered, rising, and went swiftly on -to explain concerning her vow to Bel in regard to Naia of Aphur's child.</p> - -<p>"So?" Ptah pursed his heavy lips at the end. "Helmor is headstrong nor -listens as closely as his fathers to the voices of the gods. In this -case hardly could even I defy him, Priestess of Joy."</p> - -<p>"Not Bel's priest?" his caller questioned in a tone of unbelief, and -broke off sharply and went on again quickly. "Am I in this then to -stand forsworn? And think you what may depend upon it. Does Bel take a -promise lightly—and were his favor purchased—" Once more she paused.</p> - -<p>Ptah frowned.</p> - -<p>"True," he said at last. "Few are brought to the temple, since there -are fewer wars—and those in the greater part are children of slaves. -It may be—woman of Adita—"</p> - -<p>"An augury—an augury, Ptah." Kalamita leaned a trifle toward him. "An -augury to foretell how this matter tends. I dare thee to put it to the -test—to gaze on the living expression of Bel's pleasure—to harken to -the Strong One's choice."</p> - -<p>"Hah!" Ptah stiffened. Once more he pursed his lips, and then rising, -he took up a metal hammer and struck with it upon a gong which Croft -now perceived to be let into the substance of the door.</p> - -<p>Casting the hammer aside he waited until the man with the leathern -apron appeared.</p> - -<p>"Go," he commanded then; "fetch me a suckling tabur and the knife of -augury from the hall of sacrifice where it is stored."</p> - -<p>Returning to his seat he waited, his eyes never shifting from the shape -of the woman before him until the man reappeared bearing the little -creature he had named, and a massive knife of copper with a weighted -blade.</p> - -<p>Rising, he received both and held them until the attendant had -disappeared.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Bel—thou Strong One—show us thy pleasure in the matter before -the nation and in the case of Naia of Aphur's suckling. Speak to us -through the life of this creature I, Ptah, am about to sacrifice to -thee," his heavy voice rumbled.</p> - -<p>Seizing the tabur by the hind legs, he poised the copper blade, and -with one muscular sweep of his mighty arm, struck off his head, and -laid the carcass down.</p> - -<p>"Let me, O Ptah!" cried Kalamita, seizing the reeking knife from the -hands of the priest and kneeling to slit open the quivering belly of -the tabur, so that the entrails were exposed. Plunging her pink-nailed -hands into the quivering mass, she wrenched them forth and spread them -writhing on the blood-stained floor.</p> - -<p>Ptah bent above them, marking the fall of them closely. The woman -still knelt before him, watching his every change of expression out -of questioning eyes, holding forth toward him, palm upward, her -crimson-dripping hands.</p> - -<p>For a time while Croft sickened both at the sight of the uncouth male -and the physically lovely woman—the spectacle of beauty and the beast -sunk in the unclean orgy of a filthy rite, and at the decision resting -upon it. Ptah said nothing, and after a time he straightened and lifted -his hands toward the ceiling. "Bel, I, Ptah, thy servant, hear thee," -he intoned hoarsely.</p> - -<p>"An augury—an augury!" Kalamita panted. "What says the Strong One? -Speak, Ptah, that I as well may know his pleasure."</p> - -<p>Ptah lowered his back-tilted head. "Naught but the child may prevail to -save Zollaria in this matter," he made somewhat cryptic answer after -the manner of his calling.</p> - -<p>But Kalamita sprang up, her red lips parted, her nostrils flaring—a -light of unholy satisfaction in her eyes. "Then," she began, her tone -tensely vibrant—</p> - -<p>"Nay." Ptah raised a hand. "It lies with Helmor. Him must you persuade -to give ear to Bel's decision."</p> - -<p>"Or"—she bent toward him, laying her blood-dabbled hands against his -mighty torso—"were the child brought into the temple—"</p> - -<p>"Hah!" Ptah's eyes fired. "Bel himself has spoken to thee also, -Priestess of Adita. Were the child within this temple none, not even -Helmor, would have the power to regain him, and were Helmor to know a -third defeat, one more bidable to the gods might mount the throne."</p> - -<p>For a moment there was silence, and then Kalamita said slowly, "An' he -listens not to Bel's message, perchance the Strong One will show me a -way to gain our ends."</p> - -<p>Ptah nodded. "Perchance, Priestess."</p> - -<p>A glance of understanding passed between them, and Kalamita moved -toward the door.</p> - -<p>"Be prepared to act quickly should such time arrive," she prompted, and -was gone.</p> - -<p>False—utterly false—to her womanhood, to her nation, Zollaria's -magnet would plot even treason if thereby she fancied she could serve -her ends. The realization burst on Croft with a force little short of -appalling. Filled with an intolerable sense of loathing, he followed -her back to Bandhor's palace, and then returned to Himyra, he opened -the eyes of his physical form, and groaned. Sunlight fell into his -chamber.</p> - -<p>A semi-tropic warmth was all about him, and yet, all at once he -shivered as with cold.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> - -<h3>THE DREAM OF HELMOR</h3> - - -<p>Kalamita and Ptah. He knew not wholly what they plotted, what plans -might lie in their brains. Yet whatever they might intend certain it -was that the death of Jason, son of Jason, was included in the plan. -And whatever that plan might be, Croft was assured that the priest had -taken time to weigh many matters while he bent above the entrails of -the tabur suckling, before he had given voice to his none too explicit -interpretation of their meaning.</p> - -<p>Kalamita—beautiful toy of the Zollarian court, and Ptah, priest of the -nation's god. And when had there been a time or age wherein the lure of -woman, the craft of priest, had failed to largely determine the setting -of the stage, when both had not been involved in plot and counterplot? -He shivered again and sprang up.</p> - -<p>Helmor alone, it would seem, stood now between Jason and destruction. -And in that stand Helmor must be encouraged. He must be doubly warned -that harm to the child meant nothing less than destruction to himself, -the overthrow of his house. Such word might be sent him by the -messenger who would carry an answer north to the borders of Mazhur. Yet -before he could be sent some time must needs transpire, and, in the -meantime, suddenly a thought seemed given birth in full form in Jason -Croft's brain.</p> - -<p>Like another experienced long before when as a spirit he battled to -find a way to reach a physical union with Naia the one woman for whom -his spirit hungered, it fired him with its potent meaning, set a -light of deep-formed purpose in his eyes. Helmor of Zollaria could -be warned—and warned in such fashion that one of his nature could -scarcely fail to give heed—or so Croft believed. Meanwhile his own -work waited, work which in view of his latest knowledge more than ever -demanded speed.</p> - -<p>He left the palace, entered his motur, parked now always in the red -court in readiness for his demands, and drove swiftly to the shops, -attended to such matters as demanded his immediate attention, and went -on to the place where, when once the blimps were ready the hydrogen to -inflate them would be formed.</p> - -<p>From there he passed swiftly to a monster warehouse, formerly filled -with the merchandise of many galleys dragged up by harnessed canors -from the quays along the yellow Na through tunnels, but now converted -to his purpose—a hive of industry where dozens of men and maidens were -busily engaged in varnishing a most amazing extent of cloth.</p> - -<p>And that night as he labored in the laboratory he called Robur and Gaya -to him and explained to their ready ears those things he had heard and -seen.</p> - -<p>At the end Gaya's soft eyes were wide with sympathetic sorrow, and -Robur's square lower jaw was clamped hard. As Croft paused he broke -into exclamation:</p> - -<p>"Now, by Zitu, Ptah was right. Naught but the child of Jason can save -his unclean nation indeed—and should harm come on him Zitemku will -have a foul pit full of Zollarian souls."</p> - -<p>Croft eyed him, his heart warmed by Robur's ever ready up-flaring of -spirit. But in the end he shook his head. "Aye, if he be harmed. But -it were an empty revenge after all, my friend, and one which might not -bring him again to my house."</p> - -<p>Robur nodded. "What then does Jason propose? Many suns must pass ere we -are ready to attempt the rescue, and meanwhile Kalamita plans."</p> - -<p>"To warn Helmor of her planning," Croft told him and watched him widen -his eyes.</p> - -<p>"Warn him? In what fashion may Helmor be warned in time—even were he -minded to give ear to any word out of Tamarizia? Jason, you speak in -riddles."</p> - -<p>Croft nodded. "Nay—Helmor would pay little heed to Tamarizian words, -but were he to dream—"</p> - -<p>"Dream—" All at once Gaya caught her breath. Her glance met Croft's -in a subtle understanding. "Jason, thou meanest—thou canst induce a -dream in his brain?"</p> - -<p>"Aye." For the second time Croft nodded, well pleased at her intuitive -understanding. "Why not? Gaya knows how in the spirit I called Naia -of Aphur's spirit to me, before our marriage, and that nightly now we -speak so together concerning our love and this present thing; also that -I speak so to Zud of Zitra when the need arises, having taught him to -answer the call of my spirit. Wherefore, may I not visit Helmor in the -spiritual presence and by the same force inspire a vision of his and -Zollaria's danger in his mind?"</p> - -<p>For that was the thought that had come to him on waking after his -return from Berla—the conception of the manner in which Helmor might -be warned and fresh caution inspired in his guarding of Naia of Aphur -and Jason, son of Jason, and even Helmor's self against the perils -involved in Kalamita's schemes.</p> - -<p>"By Zitu!" Robur mumbled again.</p> - -<p>But Gaya sat brooding the thought for a moment longer, presently -lifting her head to murmur, "Three times. Let the dream be repeated -once and yet again, Jason, until it takes possession of him wholly, nor -is absent from his thoughts at any time."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Croft started slightly. He had only considered the one inspired dream -of warning, but now, he realized swiftly the value of Gaya's words—the -weight attached to the repetition of a dream. Her suggestion demanded -acceptance. "Aye, Gaya," he assented. "Ga speaks through you to the -benefit of child and mother. The dream shall be repeated three times, -on as many nights—until Helmor is convinced of an agency behind it, -even though the nature of that agency he fails to suspect."</p> - -<p>Robur rose. His manner was restless. Suddenly he whirled around.</p> - -<p>"You can do this thing?" he questioned. "Is naught forbidden to you, my -friend? You can enter the mind of another and order the shape of the -pictures in his brain?"</p> - -<p>Jason eyed him for a moment before he answered. "Naught is forbidden -to the seeker after knowledge, Rob, so he see not from evil purpose or -for merely selfish gain. All life is a rhythm—even as the sound of the -harp given off from a vibrating string. And if I alter the rhythm of -Helmor's mind to the preserving of the life of my child, the honor of -his mother, the estate of himself, and the lives of his people, were -the action vain?"</p> - -<p>"Nay, it were a work of justice and mercy," exclaimed Gaya before Robur -found words in which to respond.</p> - -<p>Croft lifted a tiny vial and held it toward both man and woman. -"Behold!" he cried sharply. "Fix your eyes upon it."</p> - -<p>Arrested by his sudden words and manner, they complied, and in an -instant for them the room faded, gave place to another scene. A straw -covered dungeon appeared—a dungeon with every detail of which Croft -was familiar in his spirit—a woman, a blue girl of Mazzer—a child. -Briefly Robur of Aphur and Gaya his wife beheld that picture and knew -it for the room beneath Helmor's palace—and then the whole thing faded -and once more they were gazing at a tiny vial in the Mouthpiece of -Zitu's hands.</p> - -<p>It was no more than an example of mass hypnotism as practised for ages -by the Hindu fakers, a trick learned by Croft while still as a man of -earth he had lived and studied in India for several years, but to the -two Tamarizians it was altogether strange.</p> - -<p>"Zitu! Zitu!" Robur gasped, while his wife sat staring no longer at the -vial but into Jason's eyes.</p> - -<p>"Think you that you have been to Berla?" he questioned, smiling -slightly. "Nay, my good friends, the thing was but a changing of the -rhythm of your minds into sympathy with mine; but a picture never -absent from my thought, which I excited in your brains. Think you now -that I may make Helmor behold a vision?"</p> - -<p>"Aye." Robur's tone was thick. "Aye, Jason, thou man unlike any other."</p> - -<p>"Aye, Helmor shall dream," Gaya echoed his assurance. She smiled, and -her smile was strange.</p> - -<p>Yet no more strange than the hour passed by Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu, -before he stretched his body on its couch of copper, in the formulation -of a dream—the careful marshaling of the various thought forms he -meant of deliberate purpose to instil into Helmor's brain.</p> - -<p>Only when their sequence was wholly to his satisfaction did he relax -his body, his physical mind, will his astral form swiftly to Helmor's -palace and into Helmor's room.</p> - -<p>A vast apartment it was, draped in saffron hangings, lighted by small -lamps to a dusky twilight, in which blue maids, slaves of the palace -kept up a ceaseless waving of noiseless fans above the silver couch on -which the emperor slept.</p> - -<p>Unseen, unnoted any more than the trailing smoke of one of the -low-burning lamps he drifted to Helmor's luxurious bed and began -hurling his thought force upon him, seeking thereby to awaken a -sympathetic vibration inside his heavy head.</p> - -<p>Over and over he drew the mental pictures he had formed, concentrating -all his power on them—Helmor defeated in every purpose—Kalamita -and Ptah as co-plotters—Helmor about to be dethroned—the child -sacrificed to Bel—and Tamarizia resorting for vengeance to the -sword—the Zollarian armies once more beaten into a bleeding -rabble—fleeing—leaving their own defenseless monarch to face the -future alone—Kalamita haughty and sneering—her mask of meekness cast -aside—showing at last as the one by whom these things had been brought -to pass.</p> - -<p>And suddenly the lips of Zollaria's monarch moved. He muttered in his -slumber, "Lost—all is lost—defeat—dishonor." For a moment while the -slave girls eyed one another without stilling the sweep of their fans -there was silence, and then Helmor groaned.</p> - -<p>He stirred, he knotted the fingers of a heavy hand. "Thou—thou -treacherous one," he muttered. "Through thee Helmor stands undone."</p> - -<p>Croft thrilled. The thing was succeeding. In his mind Kalamita -answered. "Aye, Helmor, through me, these things have transpired to my -ends. Defeat have I brought upon you. Tamarizia would have held back -the sword, had you possessed the child to place safely in her hands."</p> - -<p>And then suddenly, as though to point the moral, appeared Naia, -clasping the form of the infant the tawny siren had announced as slain, -lifting it toward Helmor in suppliant fashion, even as in the flesh she -had held it to him once. And she spoke sinking upon her knees. "Take -him and give him back to his father, O Helmor, and all will be well -with thee again." And Helmor, seizing the infant, lifted it toward the -skies and—Kalamita screamed, covering her face, and turned to stagger -out of his presence, while a multitude of voices sounded, crying; "Hail -to Helmor, saviour of his nation! Hail to Helmor the Wise!"</p> - -<p>Whereat Helmor surged suddenly up in his bed, and sat blinking in the -half dusk of his chamber, from one to another of his attendant slaves.</p> - -<p>So for a moment he sat, and then, throwing off his coverings, he rose.</p> - -<p>"Go," he directed in a voice that quivered with the emotion of his -vision. "Rouse Gazar and say to him that I have dreamed, and require -his presence."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>And on the instant one of the slave-girls dropped her fans and ran -lithely from the room, leaving Helmor to sink back to a sitting posture -on the couch, his heavy hands clasping his naked knees, his expression -a thing of brooding, introspection, excited by his dream.</p> - -<p>So he remained until a man entered the apartment and advanced toward -him shuffling across the rug-littered tiles of the floor.</p> - -<p>Old he was, bent, with no more than a fringe of ragged silver about an -otherwise bald poll. Reaching the emperor's couch, he paused and bowed -before him, in little more than an accentuation of his already stooping -posture.</p> - -<p>"Helmor of Zollaria calls," he quavered, "and Gazar, servant of Helmor, -appears. Speak to me the things thou hast seen in a vision, O Helmor, -that I may make plain their meaning to your ears."</p> - -<p>Helmor dismissed the remaining slave-girls and complied. Oddly enough -Croft had an opportunity to test the success of his endeavor at first -hand, as Helmor recited each detail of his dream, and Gazar listened, -nodding his head less in silent accentuation of the several points than -because of some form of palsy that continually shook him; watching his -patron with dark and observant eyes.</p> - -<p>He spoke only when Helmor had paused. "Thou didst lift the infant in -thy arms, and Kalamita fled from before thee, shrieking?"</p> - -<p>"Aye." Helmor inclined his head.</p> - -<p>"In which is the meaning plain," said Gazar. "Let Helmor watch closely -this woman, sister to him who captains all Zollaria's army—and let him -guard closely the child of the Tamarizian Mouthpiece lest harm come -upon it through her, who hating the father because of a personal slight -put upon her in the past, thirsts now for an act of revenge."</p> - -<p>Helmor nodded. "Gazar's words seem words of wisdom," he rejoined, -narrowing his eyes, and recalling, as Croft fancied, Kalamita's -scarcely veiled displeasure at his placing Naia and Jason under guard -in the palace, her more recent suggestion concerning the sacrifice of -the child. "How says he? Were this dream a vision?"</p> - -<p>"Perchance," replied Gazar slowly. "It beareth the seeming of it. Were -it to be repeated, Helmor should deem it such beyond all doubt."</p> - -<p>"Aye and will," said the Zollarian monarch. "If it comes again, I shall -safeguard the child, placing a double watch upon it, and also upon this -woman, whose beauty is too great to fail to sway men's minds."</p> - -<p>Gazar appeared to consider.</p> - -<p>"'Twere well to do so," he agreed at length. "The past sun it came to -my ears that since her return she has visited the house of Ptah."</p> - -<p>"Ptah?" Helmor stiffened. "Now, by Bel himself, he appeared in my -dream—those together."</p> - -<p>"Aye," the soothsayer made answer. Gazar did not miss the point. It was -as but the naming of something already known.</p> - -<p>As in his sleep Helmor contracted the fingers of a hand. His lips set. -His expression became one of determination.</p> - -<p>"Now, by Bel," he declared, "shall I indeed have this insolent beauty -watched. May Adita withdraw her favor from her for first having induced -me to harken to her plans. Gazar, I am half-minded that he himself has -shown me his pleasure, since, even though I myself have vowed him the -child did Tamarizia refuse our demands or seek to win him from us, yet -should she attack with her present weapons, not even Bel might save our -armies from them, had we not the infant itself to place in her hands. -Go. I shall ponder these things deeply. More lies within this vision -than the fancies of a sleep-dulled brain."</p> - -<p>Croft quitted the chamber as Gazar turned to leave it. He was wholly -satisfied with his success and through it that Helmor, though -superstitious, held, even as Ptah had declared on the day before, none -too great a respect for his gods. Wherefore, he was determined that -the succeeding night would see the dream repeated with far less effort -since now the pictures of its sequence were printed on the surfaces -of Helmor's mind, and the man would go to his couch, considering the -likelihood of his dreaming again.</p> - -<p>And being repeated, Helmor would take those precautions to safeguard -the price of his own and his nation's safety. This would leave Croft -himself free to continue his work on the means by which the eventual -rescue of his loved ones was to be brought about. A vast elation, -a reborn confidence thrilled him as he sought another room in the -palace—no sumptuous apartment this time where sleepless attendants -watched above a master's slumbers, but a deep-set room, soured by the -lack of sunlight, where Naia of Aphur lay on the soiled padding of a -battered couch, cradling Jason, Son of Jason, in her arms.</p> - -<p>He told her of his progress, now he should take Koryphu to Zitra, how -there he should let him tell his story before Jadgor, how a message -would be sent north through Mazhur, bearing Tamarizia's demands for a -meeting between representatives of both nations, whereat Zollaria's -demands and Tamarizia's attitude toward them might be discussed.</p> - -<p>And then he left her and fled swiftly back to Himyra and the form on -the copper couch.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Three days after Helmor of Zollaria dreamed of the loss of a throne, -and his ultimate salvation through the safety of a child, Jadgor's -galley arrived at Himyra with Koryphu of Cathur aboard. During the -interval Helmor dreamed again twice.</p> - -<p>Koryphu's coming announced in advance from Scira was a somewhat stately -affair, but seemingly failed to give the one-time prince much pleasure. -His mien was solemn as he left the galley and met Robur and Jason on -the quays before an observant crowd assembled for the occasion. His -face was set into lines of somber consideration and there was a somber -light in his eyes. One would have said that Koryphu of Cathur held -himself as a bearer of bad news.</p> - -<p>Bowing perforce to the welcoming people of Himyra, he took his seat -in Robur's motur and maintained the poise of a noble until the palace -was reached and he and his two companions were closeted alone. Then he -let his feelings loose in a flood of resentful speech, describing all -that had transpired at his meeting with Kalamita, and at the end of his -narration laying in Jason's palm the purple signet ring.</p> - -<p>"Whether this comes from Naia of Aphur of her own choice, or was -forcibly taken from her I know not, O Mouthpiece of Zitu, but since -it was given to me with the command to say she sent it to you with -her plea for an early acceptance of the terms of ransom, I fulfill my -mission and place it in your hands."</p> - -<p>Croft turned the trinket gently. It affected him strangely—and he had -little doubt of the thoughts unexpressed in Koryphu's mind. The ring -spoke to him with almost suffocating force of the slender hand whereon -it had been worn, of Naia of Aphur, and all she stood for to him. And -he sensed that for the Cathurian the sight of the purple gem had been a -most unpleasant surprise—a hint that a woman of Tamarizia had faltered -in her Spartan duty to her nation—had sent it to her husband to speak -to him as ever now it was doing of herself. Suddenly he whirled on -Koryphu with a question:</p> - -<p>"Think you, man of Cathur, that Naia, daughter of Jadgor's sister, -cousin to Robur of Aphur, wife of Jason, sent this to him by the hand -of Kalamita, through any choice save force? In Zitu's name, let me have -your answer and promptly—son of Scythys's house."</p> - -<p>Koryphu's face grew pale and he licked his lips, ere his pallor -vanished and gave place to a mounting flush.</p> - -<p>"Nay," he stammered. "Nay, Jason—I meant nought save to make plain the -thought that Kalamita had added this to her efforts to persuade you. -May Zilla strike me if I sought to question her who is Jason's wife."</p> - -<p>Croft nodded. "Then let the matter remain between ourselves. Koryphu of -Cathur, so soon as you are refreshed, we go to Zitra, to hold speech -with Jadgor in person concerning these things."</p> - -<p>"Let not Koryphu delay you," Koryphu said quickly. "Refreshment were -not needful in a pressing matter or one involving the safety of Jason's -wife and son."</p> - -<p>His response gave Croft satisfaction, and he took him at his word.</p> - -<p>"Accept Jason's gratitude then instead," he made answer. "So quickly as -the galley shall fill her tanks with fuel for the motur, we shall go -aboard."</p> - -<p>Already he had arranged with Robur to urge the work in Himyra during -his absence, taking up all foreseen details with him and assuring him -that he could answer questions by the wireless almost as quickly as -though present in the flesh, and even before her arrival he had seen to -it that the captain of the quays had orders to see the galley refueled.</p> - -<p>Consequently, Koryphu having waived all formality in the matter, -afternoon found them dropping down the Na, and evening brought the -mouth of the mighty river, where its yellow waters tinted the clearer -flood of the Central Seas for miles. The galley pointed her trim prow -into the north and east at her maximum of speed.</p> - -<p>Haste, haste, haste. The thing gnawed now at Jason Croft's heart. It -urged him, spurred him, fired his every thought and action. And as he -stretched himself on his couch that night with the signet of Naia of -Aphur a purple talisman on a silver chain about his neck, it was with -the determination to complete his task quickly in Zitra, and return in -haste to Himyra, there to once more speed his work.</p> - -<p>Zitra rose white before them the morning of the fourth day, ringed -by its shimmering walls, fairylike as a mirage on first appearance. -Tamarizia's flag was broken out above the galley and it darted into the -inner harbor through the massive silver-faced sea-doors.</p> - -<p>Jadgor and Zitra waited. Days before, Robur had warned his father -of Croft's coming, by wireless, and the word had gone out that the -Mouthpiece of Zitu was returning briefly to the city for the first time -since the loss of his wife and child.</p> - -<p>Now as he stood on the after-deck, brave in his metal harness, with the -wings of Azil—the Cross Ansata blazing blue upon it—the azure plumes -nodding above his helmet, Koryphu beside him, and the galley swung -toward her mooring, a wonderful picture was spread before his eyes.</p> - -<p>The quays were banked with life. Jadgor, Lakkon, and members of the -national assembly showed in metal harness or gem-incrusted garments; -Zud, the high priest, stood beside them, backed by a group of harpists, -a band of the Gayana, the vestals of the pyramid, mark of Croft's -semi-religious position in the nation.</p> - -<p>White-clad they were, their hair loosened save for a binding silver -fillet, their lower limbs cased in white leather nearly to their rosy -knees. And back of them was the crowd, close pressed, necks craning, -restrained by members of the Zitran guard, who were patrolling the -quays or massed about the moturs, the carriages of the assemblymen, the -officials of state, in a glittering phalanx at the end of the street of -approach.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Croft saw it all with a swelling heart as the galley touched the quay -and a gangplank was run out. The trumpets of the guardsmen blared and -the harpists lifted their instruments into position, their voices -mounted in a chant of welcome and blended with the clamor of the crowd.</p> - -<p>At the foot of the gangplank, Jadgor and Zud and Lakkon waited. Jadgor -and he struck palms.</p> - -<p>"Hail, Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu," said Naia's uncle, and turned to -Croft's companion. "And to Koryphu of Cathur greeting. It has come to -my ear that Scythys's son has served right loyally Zitu's Mouthpiece -and in him all the people of Tamarizia as well. Wherefore is he welcome -to Zitra and Jadgor's palace as an honored guest."</p> - -<p>The face of the Cathurian twitched. As at the time Croft had approached -him, he seemed deeply moved by the mark of favor from the president of -his nation. "Now, by Zitu, O Jadgor," he replied in a tone of quick -emotion, "your words make the heart of Koryphu beat once more as the -heart of a man."</p> - -<p>Zud spoke to Jason. "Thou must speak to them, lord." His glance turned -to the close-packed throng of faces. "For many days their thoughts have -been upon you. They await the Mouthpiece of Zitu's words at this time."</p> - -<p>"Aye." Croft nodded. The thing was inevitable. He must speak—explain -his mission to the people, give them some definite understanding of the -situation and his motives. No matter how much he might begrudge the -time involved in even so short a delay, the thing must be done.</p> - -<p>"Here?" he questioned.</p> - -<p>"Nay," said Zud, "the matter is arranged."</p> - -<p>Again Croft inclined his head and turned to lay his hand on Lakkon's -shoulder much as he had done the morning Jason, Son of Jason was born. -It was the first time the two men had met since the night he had sworn -to carry the present matter through to the bitter end, and he sensed a -mutual yearning question in the aged noble's eyes.</p> - -<p>"Father of Naia," he said, "this coming marks a step toward the goal to -which both thee and Jason turn their hearts. Yet this sun shall make -all plain."</p> - -<p>Then turning again to Zud, he followed toward the high priest's car, in -which the prelate indicated that he was to ride.</p> - -<p>Jadgor and Lakkon entered their motur. The phalanx of guardsmen swung -about. The trumpeters took the van. The harpists fell in before Zud and -Jason. The Gayana—their arms filled with brilliant flowers—ranged -themselves on either side, and lifted their voices in song. The -procession moved off along the level floor of Zitra's pavements, -through the welcoming throng, to pause after a time in the midst of a -broad, open space.</p> - -<p>Croft recognized it with leaping pulses as the square in which he had -been proclaimed as Zitu's Mouthpiece—saw that once more it held an -elevated stage.</p> - -<p>Upon it he mounted with Zud and Jadgor and Lakkon, the men of the -assembly—the harpists—the Gayana—over a carpet of the flowers they -cast before his feet. His eyes swept over the faces of the concourse. -His heart swelled oddly at the sight. This was Tamarizia—her people. -This was Zitra—her citizens. These were the men and women of the -nation he had taken a hand in saving from the nation to the north, -in saving and making strong, and leading toward a greater progress, -a wider knowledge—a broader individuality than they had ever known. -These were the people of Naia's race. Of a sudden he stood before -them—the picture of a strong man in his gorgeous harness.</p> - -<p>He lifted his hand. The throbbing of the harps—the liquid voices of -the Gayana died. Croft spoke. To those lifted faces he told the story -of all that had happened, the reason for his coming again to Zitra. To -them he gave the substance of Zollaria's demands. A sound ran through -them—deep, low-pitched—and unmistakable thing of amazement and -resentment. It was as if the multitude groaned.</p> - -<p>He waited until it was past and gave them his word—the word of the -Mouthpiece of Zitu, that Tamarizia would never yield an acceptance. -He bade them to be of good courage, waiting until the steps he was -intent on taking could produce results—and then—should his plans -fail—should harm befall Naia of Aphur or Jason, Son of Jason—he -promised them to call on them to follow him into action—to lead them -once more against Zollaria with the sword.</p> - -<p>And now the people cheered. "Harken to the Mouthpiece of Zitu. Give -heed to his words," a strong voice roared.</p> - -<p>Other voices took up the words—they became lost to all articulate -seeming, blended into an acclaiming wave of sound, ran together into a -composite thunder in a thousand throats that spoke of acceptance, in -words no longer, but in unmistakable tones.</p> - -<p>Croft lifted his arms, high-flung before them.</p> - -<p>"My people," he cried, his face exalted by that mighty response, that -rising ululation of lifted voices. "Zollaria shall receive Tamarizia's -answer ere long."</p> - -<p>Again the roar of voices beat back like the pulse of a human surf upon -his ears.</p> - -<p>He dropped his arms and turned.</p> - -<p>"Come," he said to Jadgor. Together they left the platform and entered -the president's car, with Koryphu and Lakkon. They made their way -through the swarming multitude, preceded by the trumpeters and guards.</p> - -<p>"This night the assembly meets to hear Jason's pleasure," Jadgor said -as he took his place at Croft's side. "Robur bade me smooth the path -of your mission in a message. Wherefore I have summoned their number -to a special session, since he said also that I best could aid you by -arranging for your return to Himyra with speed."</p> - -<p>"Aye," Croft replied, his heart warming toward Robur. "Speed in all -things, O Jadgor. So shall we solve this riddle. Speed in our work of -preparation—in the execution of our plans—speed so great that we -shall strike in terror upon the sight of Helmor and all Berla, and ere -they expect our coming, wake to the threat of our presence over Berla's -walls."</p> - -<p>"Hai!" Jadgor's eyes flashed at the answer. Old war-horse that he was, -the picture fired his imagination, smacking as it did of the methods of -the sword. "Robur said naught save that once more the forges of Himyra -roar to the making of yet another marvel."</p> - -<p>Croft nodded. "Which presently I shall make plain."</p> - -<p>And he kept the promise, once the four men were closeted in a small -room of the palace, its sliding door covered by a scarlet curtain, its -windows partly veiled by crimson tissues, its floors half concealed by -gorgeous rugs.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>First he called on Koryphu for his story of the meeting with Kalamita, -and after the Cathurian had spoken, he explained all he intended doing -and all that thus far he had done.</p> - -<p>At the end Koryphu was standing rigid, wide of eye and flared of -nostril, with back-thrown head, Lakkon was watching, leaning against -the end of a table, and Jadgor had thrown a hand across his body and -was gripping the hilt of his heavy-bladed sword.</p> - -<p>"Now, by Zitu," he exclaimed, his tone a trifle hoarsened, "to fly -above them, to rain death upon them—to bring them crawling for mercy -where they had thought to tie our hands and despoil us at their -pleasure! Mouthpiece of Zitu, O Jason, art thou rightly called. These -things fail of mortal comprehension, save they be by Zitu himself -inspired. Would Jadgor might go with thee on this avenging journey. -Fire? Hah! Let them call on Bel if they still desire it. Tamarizia -shall bring them fire from the skies themselves—clean fire—unlike -that their filthy priesthood builds in their stinking god."</p> - -<p>"Aye," said Croft, well pleased by Jadgor's outburst of approval. "The -fire of Zitu's justice, O Jadgor—that shall destroy the guilty wholly -should the innocent come to harm."</p> - -<p>Jadgor opened his lips, paused and relaxed the tightened muscles of his -throat by a swallowing movement. "By Zitu—this mission you shall ask -tonight is therefore no more than a blind, a means of gaining time?"</p> - -<p>"Aye." Once more Croft assented. "Zollaria expects it. Let it be sent -to occupy her mind."</p> - -<p>The lips of the Tamarizian president twitched. "Oh, aye—it departs for -Mazhur beyond any doubting. We shall demand the naming of an embassy to -confer with men of our choosing."</p> - -<p>Abruptly Lakkon asked a tense-voiced question—"Thou art assured she -lies even now within Berla's walls?"</p> - -<p>"Aye," Croft told him, looking him steadily in the eyes. "And the -father of Naia of Aphur knows well how Jason knows."</p> - -<p>Jadgor nodded, quickly sensing his meaning, and that he cared not to -discuss the matter of his astral powers before Cathur's prince.</p> - -<p>"Enough," he said, rising, "we have gained an ample understanding and -Cathur has been overlong aboard the galley. It were fitting now that he -refresh himself."</p> - -<p>Summoning an attendant he gave orders that Koryphu be conducted to a -room.</p> - -<p>Lakkon rose also, remaining until the Cathurian had quitted the -apartment, then turned to Croft.</p> - -<p>"Thou hast seen her, Jason, my son?" he faltered—"thou hast seen her -and the child—hast spoken with her in the spirit?"</p> - -<p>Croft smiled as he made answer—"Aye, since last I saw thee, Lakkon, -many times."</p> - -<p>"She lies in Berla, indeed?"</p> - -<p>"Aye—beneath Helmor's palace."</p> - -<p>"How fares she?" Emotion thickened Lakkon's utterance. "Sent she no -message by thee?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, the love and respect of a daughter." Croft explained the -situation from first to last, even describing the manner in which -Helmor had been warned.</p> - -<p>When next he paused Jadgor's eyes were narrowed to rigid slits, and -Lakkon's features were pale and drawn.</p> - -<p>"Zitu," he said in husky fashion, "I doubt not thy power, my son. Naia, -my own child, has named it to me and Zud himself confirms it a thing -accorded to thee from Zitu's hands—yet to safeguard your child and -hers, by causing Helmor to dream. This thing seems passing strange. -Think you the man will give heed to such a warning sufficiently long?"</p> - -<p>"Aye—Tamarizia's messenger reaches him with a demand for parley," -Croft declared from the depths of his inmost feeling. "Think you I had -taken time to journey thus to Zitra, save that to my mind the step were -one wholly needful to the full success of my plans?"</p> - -<p>Jadgor spoke. "Nay, Jason is right. This step is that of a statesman. -Let Zollaria lie unsuspecting, while his devices are in the making. -Tonight the matter of the messenger and his message will be arranged."</p> - -<p>Lakkon sighed deeply. His face was still pallid, but he seemed in a -measure reassured.</p> - -<p>"Now, Zitu be praised," he said, once more addressing Croft, "since in -very truth he appears to guide and strengthen your mind."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> - -<h3>THE DEATH PLOT</h3> - - -<p>Jadgor's faith in the action of the assembly proved justified, in fact. -Croft went before the representatives of the Tamarizian states that -very same night.</p> - -<p>With Koryphu to precede him, telling of the meeting in the mountains -north of Cathur, the slaying of the flier by Kalamita's orders—the -swift retaliation of his fellow in simple fashion, he waited until the -Cathurian had lashed the minds of the men who heard him to a pitch of -sullen fury, then rose slowly to his feet.</p> - -<p>"These demands bid for no consideration," he began and paused, laying -his hand on the hilt of his sword.</p> - -<p>An outburst of swift acclaim greeted the words and was followed by -silence as he explained the object of his presence in Zitra—emphasized -the need of a messenger being sent north, and asked for their -sanctioning word.</p> - -<p>Now and then he was interrupted by a question, but for the most part -he spoke without interruption. And at the end he cried very much as he -had cried in the public square to the citizens of Zitra:</p> - -<p>"Grant me this, O representatives of Tamarizia—give me time to prepare -Tamarizia's answer to this coward's threat of a treacherous nation, -which, daring not again the shock of arms, seeks yet to win back her -lost prestige behind the tender bodies of a woman and her child. Grant -me the power to meet craft with craft, nor think that the signet given -to Koryphu was stripped from the hand of Naia of Aphur save by force, -in the treacherous hope that it might seem to support a spurious plea -from her that Tamarizia yield."</p> - -<p>For a moment no one spoke after he had finished and stood waiting for -their answer, and then the man from Bithur rose.</p> - -<p>"Nay," he cried, "not that Naia, daughter of Jadgor's sister, daughter -of Lakkon—not that Naia, who was wed to Zitu's Mouthpiece within Atla -of Bithur when the blue hordes of Mazzer captained by the brother -of this same Kalamita, and other men of his nation, lapped like the -waves of an unclean sea against Atla's walls. Not of such metal is her -spirit. Tamarizians, send this messenger north from Mazhur; let him -demand that Zollaria support or deny her woman agent's words."</p> - -<p>"Aye—aye," came other voices.</p> - -<p>Jadgor rose, his silver cuirass blazing. "Add to the message answer to -Kalamita's foul threat, that if aught befalls Jason, Son of Jason—aye, -or Naia, mother of Jason—ere parley is held on the matter, Tamarizia -waits but the knowledge to unsheathe the sword."</p> - -<p>"Aye—aye," again a storm of voices answered his suggestion.</p> - -<p>"A vote—a vote!" someone began shouting.</p> - -<p>"Let Tamarizia's message be strong."</p> - -<p>In the end, once the turmoil excited by the Bithurian and Jadgor had -in a measure subsided, a formal vote was taken, and Croft himself -was empowered to draft the message entrusting it to one of the -regular government couriers—men so employed for years and of trained -endurance. Well satisfied, he went back to the palace, worked half the -night in formulating it to his liking, interviewed the man who was to -bear it, and watched his galley sail out of Zitra and turn north at -dawn.</p> - -<p>And now Himyra and his work behind its red walls called him. He lost -small time in answering its call. Once more his galley slipped forth -from the massive sea-doors. Zitra sank into the Central Sea—or seemed -to, slipping little by little beneath the sparkling waters with its -shimmering milk white walls.</p> - -<p>Speed. He had used the word to Jadgor. And now he called upon the -captain of the galley for it—speed to Himyra. And he promised himself -speed on the task before him once he reached Aphur's ruddy city—such -speed as never before, not even in the heat of his preparation against -the Zollarian war, had he employed.</p> - -<p>For three days he chafed against the surge and plunge of the galley, -the slither of each passing wave, until after dawn on the morn of the -fourth, the mouth of the Na was reached. Eight days had been consumed -on the journey—eight days wherein Naia of Aphur had lain in the room -under Helmor's palace—their light, save for a few brief moments with -each dawning, shut away from her purple eyes—growing ever darker and -larger in the white mask of her face.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Eight days. The thought stabbed Croft almost as keenly as a -dagger-thrust might have hurt. Eight days—and how much longer until -he finished his work. There were times when his course—the time of -her durance, seemed an infinity of days no less to him than to Naia -of Aphur herself—times when, save for his unshakable resolution, he -would have been tempted to wring his hands, to mouth at the trick fate -had played upon him, to curse—perhaps to shriek his protest at the -seemingly countless delays by which even in his labors he was faced.</p> - -<p>And Naia of Aphur had not even labor to break the ordeal of her -waiting. On the morning of that eighth day Jason Croft, Mouthpiece of -Zitu, stood looking down to the swirl of the Na's yellow flood past the -hull of the galley with a somber face.</p> - -<p>Presently he raised it. Before night he would be in Himyra, and he had -come back to the same conclusion he always reached. He squared his -shoulders and set his lips back into lines of determination. He turned -his face up the yellow river as though even then to catch the first -glimpse of its mighty walls. In Himyra he would work.</p> - -<p>Work! It was the panacea for waiting—it was the answer to the riddle -that obsessed him as he himself had said more than once in considering -the matter—the means to Naia of Aphur's and Jason, the Son of Jason's, -release. He had forbidden word of his coming preceding him to Robur's -city. He wanted no trumpery of public welcomes, no ceremonials, however -slight, to delay his purpose now. Almost before the galley had tied -fast to the quays he left it, and threw himself into his task.</p> - -<p>He gave himself wholly to it. He appeared unexpectedly that afternoon -in the shops, the forges, learning that Robur had not been idle, with a -mounting satisfaction, finally meeting Aphur's governor face to face on -one of his stops.</p> - -<p>"Zitu!" cried Robur. "I knew not of your returning. Is it your spirit -come to mark my progress, Jason, my friend, or do I behold you in the -flesh?"</p> - -<p>"Both," Croft answered. "Spirit and flesh united on the work before us, -Rob, at last."</p> - -<p>"All is arranged?" Robur's eyes flashed with anticipation of Croft's -answer.</p> - -<p>"Aye." Jason inclined his head. "There should be naught to distract -from our labors from now until the end."</p> - -<p>"The end—<i>hai</i>—the end," said Robur. "Together we shall bring it -quickly, my friend."</p> - -<p>Little by little each day the work advanced. The liquid fire was an -accomplished fact. Trusted men—the best educated in their line in -Himyra were engaged now upon its production, its preparation for the -final venture, as they filled it into the containing flasks.</p> - -<p>The shapes of six blimps were slowly forming—huge, unwieldly seeming -bags constructed out of Croft's varnished cloth. Little by little the -means of putting the plan of rescue into execution was taking concrete -form at last.</p> - -<p>Miles of rope and cordage were flowing out of the shops—were being -woven into the harness by which the cars should be swung beneath the -gigantic envelopes. Vast quantities of chemicals were being collected -toward the production of unlimited cubic feet of hydrogen gas.</p> - -<p>Through all the seeming chaos Jason moved, ordering, directing, with a -fresh certainty of precision now, as something like a definite result -to all the days and nights of labor showed.</p> - -<p>With him went Robur, aiding and abetting in all ways toward the -successful issue of the task. Gaya listened each night to a report of -the progress made.</p> - -<p>During the war with Mazzer, Croft had perfected a dry-cell battery to -solve the ignition troubles of the armored moturs. Now with the liquid -fire in the process of manufacture, he turned himself to the problem -of constructing an electric flashlight, by which signals between the -blimps could be exchanged.</p> - -<p>Days passed. A Zitran had elapsed since his return from Zitra. -At its end word came by wireless that Zollaria's answer had been -received—that Helmor consented to the naming of a Zollarian delegation -to discuss the terms of ransom—that a Tamarizian party would be -formed and sent north to meet them, with instructions to protract the -negotiations, turn the parleys between the Zollarians and themselves -into a useless war of words.</p> - -<p>Croft read the message and wirelessed back his ratification of it. He -was very well pleased indeed. Let the matter be delayed yet another -Zitran as it might without exciting undue suspicion, since it would -take well-nigh half that time for the two delegations to be arranged -and get together, and he felt he would be practically prepared.</p> - -<p>Even now six monster bags were nearing completion in the huge sheds -built by swarming workmen for their housing. The cars were ready for -attaching, the moturs to be installed. That ceaseless driving of a -double shift had crowded the work of two Zitrans into one so far as -results were concerned. Satisfied with the word from Zitra, Croft flung -himself into the last stages of his task with redoubled vigor. The -envelopes were inflated and floated clear of the ground.</p> - -<p>Workmen swarmed about them on spidery trestles and stages, harnessing -each monster inside its network of securely knotted cordage, binding -fast with each intricate twist and turning as it seemed to the man who -ceaselessly watched them, some part of his desperate hope.</p> - -<p>Motur-trucks brought from the shops of their fabrication the cages to -be hung beneath each tensely floating shape. Men sweating at their -labor, made them fast. The new moturs Croft had designed at first were -assembled, delivered and mounted. Propellers were set in place. Day by -day the first dirigibles of Palos grew nearer to completion.</p> - -<p>Robur was inseparable during those days from Croft. He viewed the -monster devices with unbounded enthusiasm and amaze, vowing them the -marvel of their age, repeating over and over again his own conception -of the consternation they must cause in Zollarian minds when, without -warning, they appeared and hung above Berla's walls. Gaya drove down at -his solicitation on one occasion and gazed at the hugely bulking shapes -out of widening brown eyes.</p> - -<p>Word came again from Zitra that the Tamarizian delegation had gone -north.</p> - -<p>"Let them go," Croft cried to Robur. "Ere long shall Jason follow."</p> - -<p>"Aye, by Zitu," the Aphurian replied, casting his eyes toward the -glistening gas-bags, beneath which the swarming workmen toiled.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Came a day when the last rivet was driven home, the last nut screwed -into place, when Croft distributed largess to the workmen and a vast -roar of human voices filled all the places where his latest creation -had been given birth. Croft stood with Robur and viewed them—the -mighty engines for the deliverance of his hostages to fate. His heart -leaped.</p> - -<p>"With the sun," he said, turning to his companion, "let Himyra see -them. We make a test."</p> - -<p>"I and thou," Robur returned, flashing his even teeth. "Dost remember -the dawn you mounted the skies in the first airplane, Jason—and, -returning, found Naia waiting to dare the venture with you? Now, by -Zitu, Robur goes to try these blimps himself."</p> - -<p>Croft nodded. His hand crept out and closed on the other man's. Well he -remembered the day his words recalled. His return from the trial flight -in the plane to find Naia waiting beside the hangar in her russet -leather dress, and how as they rose between the Sirian sun and Himyra, -she had lifted her voice and sung in a pure abandonment of emotion. -Deep in his heart he vowed that these monsters of his construction -should bring her back to Himyra—give her the opportunity to sing again.</p> - -<p>Yet, all he said to Robur was, "Aye, Rob, if you wish."</p> - -<p>Robur's muscles gripped down upon his fingers. "And not only to the -testing, friend of Aphur, but even to Berla itself."</p> - -<p>"Berla." Croft loosened his hand to lay it on Robur's shoulder, look -into the son of Jadgor's eager face. "It is not in my heart, Rob, to -refuse you anything in this."</p> - -<p>Dawn came and Himyra gasped—gasped and stood with heads back-tilted, -staring upward at a mighty oblong bag that swung in majestic fashion -high above the walls. It hung there like a monstrous bubble, glinting -as the rays of Sirius struck upon it—drifting slowly as it seemed -before the winds of morning. And yet—even as they watched it, turning -and moving against the wind in steady fashion—silently—without -seeming reason, too high above the red, red city of Aphur, for the ears -of her people to sense how its moturs roared.</p> - -<p>An hour before—under direction of Croft and Robur—it had been dragged -slowly forth from its concealing shed. With filled tanks its engines -waited the awakening touch of the engineers—men selected for this -first attempt at dirigible navigation from the aviation personnel by -Croft himself. A huge flash of the liquid fire, equipped with its -spraying device, was attached to the carrier designed to hold it. When -this was done Croft and Robur stepped aboard.</p> - -<p>A hundred workmen—men who had labored to construct it—held the ropes -that still controlled it, ready to release it at a word.</p> - -<p>"Let go!" That word came in the Mouthpiece of Zitu's voice.</p> - -<p>Two hundred hands relaxed their hold upon the ropes. The blimp soared -toward the skies.</p> - -<p>Himyra fell away beneath it, became a red gem on the yellow sand of -the desert, the breast of Aphur, pierced by the thread of the Na like -a sparkling, supporting chain. To the north and east the waters of the -Central Sea showed as bright as burnished silver under the first rays -of the sun.</p> - -<p>Robur made no comment, said no word. He stood tight-lipped, gripping -the rail of the platform on which they rode with tensely muscled hands. -Croft ordered the engines started—and even so there was no feeling -that the mighty fabric moved. Rather it seemed stationary, the only -solid thing in all existence, while Palos and all it held dropped away -from beneath it, until Himyra's palaces and shops and houses became -things no larger than the toys of children, her people, pigmies moving -antlike on her streets.</p> - -<p>Croft pointed beyond the walls.</p> - -<p>"The desert," he said and watched while the blimp answered to the -manipulation of her engines—her rudder and vanes.</p> - -<p>Then and then only he spoke to Robur for the first time. "The desert. -Recall you, Rob, the morn of the first motur in Himyra, when we drove -into it from Himyra's walls, and Lakkon's gnuppas bolted, and I -touched the hand of Naia of Aphur first?"</p> - -<p>"Aye." Robur turned. Himyra was receding as the blimp followed her new -course. "By—Zitu—we are aiming for it again."</p> - -<p>Croft nodded. "It is in my mind to try first the liquid fire upon its -scanty vegetation, where it can do small harm."</p> - -<p>And after that he waited until they flew above a comparatively level -tract of country, covered by a low-growing shrub, that throve on scanty -moisture, before he stationed himself at the spraying device and opened -the valve of the flask.</p> - -<p>Far below, the scrub blossomed suddenly into tiny points of color like -swiftly opening flowers—that grew, expanded, ran together in patches -and lines of quivering light, until the whole mass of vegetation -vanished, blotted out beneath a leaping sea of flame. A moment before -it had lain there unchanged, as it and the desert had lain practically -unchanged for years, and now it was a seething, smoking, blazing thing, -sinking down in a red destruction unloosed upon it from the skies.</p> - -<p>Croft closed the tank. "Back to Himyra," he cried and turned a set -face to Robur, to find his features pale and rigid, his eyes narrowed -as though the vegetation beneath him, writhing in a swift dissolution, -were to his imagination the bodies of men and women caught beneath a -rain of death inside a city's walls.</p> - -<p>"It is finished, Rob," he said, speaking in a voice that quivered -tensely. "As soon as the fliers are trained we go north."</p> - -<p>Croft nodded. The strange intoxication of success was upon him.</p> - -<p>"Ere night," he said, "we test the others." And then sinking his voice -for no ears save Robur's. "And tonight I shall look into Naia of -Aphur's eyes and tell her we are well-nigh prepared."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>That day he entered his motur once the blimp had landed, drove to the -airplane hangars, and called for volunteers to man the other five ships.</p> - -<p>Returning with the men selected he personally tested each blimp, -rising, maneuvering and returning before a constantly growing crowd, -which in the end required the use of a detachment of the Himyra guard -for its restraining.</p> - -<p>Himyra was seething with an excitement augmented with the ascent -of each mighty glistening bag. A jostling throng pressed like an -impenetrable wall about the sheds, as each new monster was towed out by -its straining attendants, was manned by its waiting crew, and rose. -They watched and pointed, gesticulated, and cheered.</p> - -<p>"Hail to the Mouthpiece of Zitu!" they roared whenever Croft appeared.</p> - -<p>That night, eagerness possessed him when he sought his chamber and laid -himself down—an eagerness that had possessed him through the length -of the day—an eagerness to visit Naia and tell her that the thing was -done.</p> - -<p>He closed his eyes and released the bonds of his spirit. North and -north he fled across the Central Sea where the giant shapes he had -designed and built would make their way ere long. North and north over -Mazhur, where the Tamarizian delegation had gone to meet that of the -northern nation. North and north to Berla, and to Helmor's palace and -the fetid room beneath it—to stand gazing with eager eyes on Naia of -Aphur's form.</p> - -<p>Pale as death she sat there, waiting, waiting, as she had waited so -long, and she was speaking. "Jason—Jason," over and over she was -repeating the word to his son.</p> - -<p>"Ja-son—" the baby lips repeated with a scanning effort. And Naia of -Aphur smiled and gathered him into her arms.</p> - -<p>Jason—with a full heart Croft understood that she was teaching the -child the name of his father—that this word was one of the first his -tongue had known.</p> - -<p>"Beloved—O my beloved!" he sent their meeting call to her.</p> - -<p>She stiffened, threw up her head, and turned to Maia.</p> - -<p>"Come, take the child, thou faithful one," she directed—waited until -the blue girl had complied and stretched her form on the couch, ere she -answered his summons, releasing her astral body to steal into Croft's -waiting arms.</p> - -<p>For a moment he simply held her, and then he told her. "Beloved—the -time approaches. The thing is done."</p> - -<p>"Done?" she faltered.</p> - -<p>"Aye, finished wholly," Jason said, and felt her quiver—sensed the -fires of her astral being quicken—found the form he held suddenly -glowing.</p> - -<p>"Now Zitu be praised." In all her slender length she pressed suddenly -closer to him. "Draws then so near the day?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, by Zitu," he declared.</p> - -<p>"I know not the meaning of it," Naia said, "but Maia lies daily on the -straw within the door of our chamber—and she had heard mutterings now -and then among the guard. Thy mention of Bandhor recalls it. Kalamita's -brother has come among them within the last few suns, if one may credit -their speech among themselves."</p> - -<p>"Bandhor? To what purpose?" Croft questioned quickly, vaguely disturbed -that the Zollarian generalissimo should have held speech in person with -members of the palace guard.</p> - -<p>"Nay, I know not. Maia but heard mention of his presence—some word -concerning Helmor's signet."</p> - -<p>"His signet? Hai!" Croft found himself suddenly shaken. "Now may -Zitemku seize that woman, and Adita turn her favor from her!"</p> - -<p>"Thou meanest—Kalamita?" And now Naia clung against him, not in -womanly yearning, but with the quick fear of a mother. "Jason—"</p> - -<p>"Aye," he said tensely, "have you forgotten how she forced thy own ring -from thee—or the foul thing she planned, save Helmor had overruled -her? Now Zitu be thanked you have spoken of this in time since, in my -own way, those things she plans may be learned, and Helmor warned."</p> - -<p>For now it seemed to him, that lost in the press of work in Himyra, -supported by the sense of security derived from the dreams he had -inspired in the brain of Zollaria's monarch he had indeed been blind, -and that while he had labored without ceasing, the woman who hated him -as only a woman of her type could hate, and Ptah, priest of Bel, and -possibly Bandhor also, had been busy with their schemes. Wherefore, it -was best that he learn quickly what those schemes embraced, what new -danger to Naia and Jason, Son of Jason, might be involved.</p> - -<p>"Fear not, beloved. Zitu means not these spawn of Zitemku to prevail -against us—wherefore we are warned. Ga, thou art, priestess of the -Eternal Fire, to me—messenger of Azil have I been to thee, and shall -be again—but messenger of Zilla will I be to these plotters—making -all their plotting vain. Farewell, thou mate of Jason. He goes to learn -what they plan."</p> - -<p>In a final caress, he sunk his mouth again to hers, seeming as always -when he kissed her in such fashion to draw the very essence of her -being to him. And then he left her, making his way swiftly out of the -palace and pausing where the fire urns flared before it, across a -mighty space.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Once more, then, it behooved him to bring himself into contact with -the woman Kalamita. He willed himself toward her, passed swiftly to -Bandhor's palace and failed to find any sign; paused, baffled for a -time before he recalled the scene he had witnessed between her and -Ptah, Bel's priest, in the latter's quarters in the temple. Then, where -better if she were plotting against Helmor, he asked himself, than in -that ebon-walled room.</p> - -<p>Swiftly he sought it, and there he found her—and not only her, but -Bandhor, Ptah, and another, a heretofore unknown man.</p> - -<p>The four were seated around Ptah's table, where flaring oil-lamps -partly dispelled the gloom, pricking out the intent masks of the -several faces, causing iridescent flashes of light from the jeweled -bands that circled Kalamita's arms, and broidered her garment's hem. -In a way that half light struck Croft as wholly fitting to the scene -wherein these four sat together and plotted against Helmor's reign.</p> - -<p>For that they were plotting, the woman's first words made plain.</p> - -<p>"It is to thee, Panthor," she declared, eyeing the third masculine -member of the party. "It is for thee to say whether thy cousin shall -hold Zollaria's throne. Twice have his plans to humble Tamarizia -failed, his efforts proved vain. Think not but the people say Helmor -has no more Bel's favor—wherefore Zollaria is no longer strong. So -then—a quick stroke and the thing is done."</p> - -<p>"Aye—a quick stroke." Panthor nodded. He was heavy-set, not unlike -Helmor, his cousin, in a way, with full lips of a sensual turn and -closely cut hair, the stubble of which was blond. "But—regarding -this child. I question not the sincerity of Kalamita, yet were it -slain—even to gain Bel's favor, which none more than I admit is -needful, would not Tamarizia, according to her own words, descend upon -us with superior weapons and bring defeat to our armies again?"</p> - -<p>"By Bel, has then Panthor so little faith in his favor?" Ptah exclaimed.</p> - -<p>"Peace." Kalamita's red lips curled. "Your question is a man's -question, Panthor, and the question not of a man's heart, but his -brain. Think you Tamarizia means all she says—or speaks to gain her -ends. This Mouthpiece is a man—and Naia of Aphur is a woman—and -though a child be slain, still is she a woman and the mate of Jason, -and he has twice defeated Helmor's plans to gain. Think you the -child's death would change the heart of Tamarizia's strong man, or -that he would carry his threat far—were she kept safe from harm to be -surrendered once more to his arms?"</p> - -<p>"Nay, by Bel!" roared Bandhor, striking the table. "My sister has -struck the mark in her words—with Bel's favor purchased—her oath -redeemed and the woman still in our possession, Tamarizia may well balk -a resort to arms. It remains then to get the child in our hands."</p> - -<p>"My hands," said Ptah with an evil grin.</p> - -<p>Bandhor nodded. "Aye, into thy hands, Priest of the Strong One—and -there is a way in which it may be done. Let Helmor's signet be -presented to the captain of the guard now placed upon him, and our ends -are gained."</p> - -<p>Kalamita leaned half across the table toward Panthor.</p> - -<p>"Thou knowest the device on Helmor's ring?"</p> - -<p>"Aye," said Panthor slowly.</p> - -<p>"And thou knowest some worker of stones?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, Priestess of Adita." A tremor of understanding crept into -Panthor's tones.</p> - -<p>Kalamita drew back and regarded him out of narrowed lids. "Were it not -possible to have him make what we need?"</p> - -<p>"By Bel—" Panthor began, and stiffened under her glance. "Aye—so it -could be done. Yet time would be required."</p> - -<p>"Time?" The woman shrugged. "Is Panthor so anxious then, to mount -the throne? Helmor plays into our hands in this in entering into -parley with the southern nation. Once we have the child he will seek -to regain him—to take from Bel what has been declared his own. -Then—Bandhor—is not brother of Kalamita, and captain of Zollaria's -men for nothing—Bel's own priest shall declare Panthor emperor in -Helmor's place and Bandhor shall support him. How say you—is it not -well planned?"</p> - -<p>"Aye," said Panthor thickly. "Aye, Priestess of Adita."</p> - -<p>"Then let Panthor see Helmor's sign cut on a stone." Kalamita rose. -"And let him place it in Bandhor's hand when it is done. Ptah, build -you the fires—let them be ready for the torch at the appointed time. -Kalamita's oath to the Strong One shall be redeemed. How long, Panthor, -before thy part shall be done?"</p> - -<p>"Ten suns, perchance twelve," said Panthor, he and Bandhor also rising.</p> - -<p>"See to it." Kalamita turned to leave the room. Ptah moved his heavy -body to set the door open before her, and Bandhor joined her. They -passed out and were gone.</p> - -<p>Ptah turned back. "Hail emperor, favorite of Bel," he said, bending his -heavy neck to incline his head to Panthor.</p> - -<p>Panthor's expression changed. He drew himself up to his fullest height. -Already he seemed to sense the weight of authority upon him as he -answered. "By Bel—O Ptah—thou and I together once Helmor sits no more -upon the throne."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> - -<h3>THE ATTACK</h3> - - -<p>Ten days, at most twelve, before Helmor's spurious sign should -be cut on a lying stone. And then one would bear it down to that -dungeon where Naia waited a promised rescue, and with it as authority -demand the child. And after that? Croft sickened as he left Ptah's -chamber—sickened at the thought of what might have happened save for -Maia's listening ear as she lay on the straw inside the door of the -dungeon—Naia's mention of the words the blue girl had overheard to him.</p> - -<p>But—suddenly he stiffened. In ten days a great deal might be done. -Helmor might be warned as he had said to Naia—or—the rescue might -actually be performed.</p> - -<p>Helmor might be warned as before in a dream—yet to make plain to the -Zollarian monarch all by which he was threatened, it would need to -be an elaborate dream indeed. And to speed the blimps to Berla would -necessitate a start with crews but illy trained.</p> - -<p>And even were Helmor warned, how much would it avail, when his mind was -matched against that of Kalamita, unless he might be induced to act -directly against her, unless she and Bandhor and Panthor were arrested -and confined? And could such a warning as Croft was able to give -inspire the man on Zollaria's throne to such a move—or if it did so, -would it not precipitate internal troubles in Berla, perhaps as fatal -to Croft's own purpose as Kalamita's schemes? Torn on the horns of such -a dilemma, his spirit writhed.</p> - -<p>In the end he made his way back to the palace and into Helmor's -chamber. The man would be asleep, he fancied, but once he had gained -his apartments he met with a surprise. Far from sleep, Zollaria's -emperor sat in consultation with Gazar, the soothsayer he had summoned -to him the night of his first dream of danger, and a man Croft had once -defeated on a bloody field, and learned later to know by sight at the -end of the first Zollarian war as Helmon, Helmor's son.</p> - -<p>Helmor's face was dark with ill suppressed rage.</p> - -<p>"Thou sayest that Panthor, my cousin, entered the house of Bel, upon -their heels. What makest thou of it, Gazar? Speak thou who for years -have been to me eyes and ears."</p> - -<p>So that was it. Soothsayer Gazar might be, but he evidently combined -the work of espionage with his other vocation, as it now appeared.</p> - -<p>Croft gave him full attention as he began speaking slowly.</p> - -<p>"Helmor knows the claim his cousin makes for his house in Zollarian -affairs. Were Bandhor to support him it were ill indeed. And Bandhor is -the brother of Kalamita—whose power would appear to have made drunk -her spirit as her beauty had made drunk the hearts of men. Also there -is the matter of the Tamarizian's child."</p> - -<p>"Bandhor, Kalamita, Panthor—'tis a pretty trio, my father," Helmor -said. "The woman grants her favor lightly where her interest is -involved—and Panthor is a man and ambitious—even as Ptah is a man, -though a priest. Also has she a debt of hate to be repaid against this -Mouthpiece of Zitu—whom I love not myself. Lies anything definite -against them, O Gazar?"</p> - -<p>"Nay"—the old man shook his head—"naught as yet save what one may -suspect—"</p> - -<p>"Then"—Helmor leaned toward him to speak in lowered tones—"what would -Gazar advise?"</p> - -<p>"Look to the woman and the child. To me it is known that Bandhor has -been among his guard. Let it be changed from sun to sun, O Helmor, -neither captained by or including the same men twice. So it appears to -me he shall be safe for the present, unless some unforseen happening -transpire. Let Panthor be watched closely by trusted men—watch for a -meeting between any two or all of the four we have mentioned tonight, -again."</p> - -<p>"It is well." Helmor leaned back in his seat. "See to it, Helmon, -that the guard be changed. Distribute also a largess to the palace -guard—announce additional pay to the soldiery in Berla of twenty mina, -for the Zitran, and afterward as much. Gazar—have me these others -watched. By Bel, our cousin may find it requires more to cast Helmor -from his throne than the schemes of a woman and a priest."</p> - -<p>"Zitu." Croft breathed the word in his spirit. Helmor of Zollaria was -far from asleep, indeed. More than that, now that he was awake he was -well served. Panthor would seek an engraver of stones inside the next -day or two, at latest, and Panthor would be watched. Helmor had more -than one pair of eyes.</p> - -<p>Croft's confidence returned. After all, Kalamita and Ptah were not -the only ones in Berla who played the game of statecraft, it would -seem—and each day Naia and Jason would be watched by a fresh guard. -More than that, additional pay would in a measure see the morale of -the city's garrison restored. Once more as at the noon hour on the -day before, Croft found himself swiftly uplifted as on invisible -wings, his spirit filled with thankfulness to Zitu—the Father of all -Life—with a voiceless paean of praise, for his everlasting justice, -the inscrutability of his ways.</p> - -<p>In such a mood he returned again to Naia, and told her what had -occurred—watched her astral fires pale and quicken, as side by side -they bent above the child.</p> - -<p>"By Ga and Azil," he swore, "we shall not lose him. I go now to return -in the flesh to Berla, by Zitu's aid inside Panthor's limit of days."</p> - -<p>"Zitu go with you and return again with you, Beloved," said Naia of -Aphur, with the fire of her womanhood, her motherhood, in her purple -eyes.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Back, back to Himyra, sped the spirit of Jason Croft. It crept into the -form on the couch of molded copper and opened its eyes. It urged it up -atingle with the knowledge it brought and all it involved. It sent it -seeking an attendant, to bid the guardsman find the apartment of Robur -and rouse him from his slumbers and summon him to the Mouthpiece of -Zitu's chamber at once.</p> - -<p>And when Aphur's governor appeared with sleep driven swiftly from him, -Croft told him all he had seen and heard.</p> - -<p>"Wherefore," he made an ending, "we go north from Himyra in three suns."</p> - -<p>"Three?" Robur stared. "But, by Zitu, Jason, think you their crews may -learn so quickly to control them?"</p> - -<p>Croft nodded. "They are eager. In the morn I explain to them that there -comes a need of haste. On the fourth day we go north with such as are -able to follow. The rest may remain. Also, we take six of the airplanes -with us."</p> - -<p>"Aye," Robur said—"yet can they fly not to such a distance. Short of -Berla must they descend for fuel."</p> - -<p>"At Scira, at Niera," Croft told him, giving the routing of the planes -as well as an answer. "Send in my name a message to Scira—that with -morn a swift galley depart for Niera, bidding Mazhur send a quantity -of the fuel north along the highway to within a day's march of the -northern border of the state. In these things, Rob, lies my reason for -calling you to me. Much must be arranged ere we start." Long before -this night he had planned each step of the journey in his mind, and he -was ready now that the time for the actual work approached.</p> - -<p>"Aye." A look of steely purpose crept into Robur's eyes. "As ever, -Jason, my friend, you are ready. The message shall be sent without -delay." He rose.</p> - -<p>"We will take with us the man who sends it, also," said Croft. "Let it -be understood. Once we are over Berla it will be needful that there be -one who shall understand the signals of the flash-lights I have made, -since according to my plans I shall land a plane in the square before -Helmor's palace."</p> - -<p>Robur's eyes widened swiftly. "<i>Thou</i> wilt land a plane before his -palace!" he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>"Aye," Croft answered, smiling slightly. "Who else? Think you I shall -trust the final mission to another? Wherefore I shall require a man on -one of the blimps, to read any such message as I may give."</p> - -<p>The glances of the two men continued to hold for a breathless moment, -and then Robur said with feeling, "By Zitu—thou art a brave man, -Jason, yet I sense not your plan in this. They will but fall upon -thee—"</p> - -<p>"Nay." Croft shook his head. "Nay, Rob—and you think so, you sense -not my plan indeed. Ere I make a landing before the palace of Helmor, -a part—a small part of Berla—but one adjoining the space about the -palace, shall be ablaze. In the light of that conflagration shall Jason -of Tamarizia descend—and call upon Helmor for the surrender of the -ones he holds to ransom, under penalty of seeing the remainder of Berla -destroyed. Think you he will long falter, or seek to injure my person? -Nay, he will make the better choice."</p> - -<p>For it was so he had planned it in the instant he gazed on the vast -expanse of pavement fronting the palace, this same night when he had -hung above it in spirit only. Then he had pictured it back by a roaring -wall of unquenchable fire, in the leaping radiance of which the flare -of the fire urns faded, by the light of which Helmor of Zollaria might -cast his eyes up and behold the menace floating above him and all -Berla, against the sky.</p> - -<p>And so he told himself now once more as well as Robur, the thing would -be accomplished. In the light of that ruddy illumination he would -descend to demand a parley with Helmor in person. It was so he would -regain his wife and son—that Naia of Aphur—and Jason, Son of Jason, -would be rewon. The fire of his determination, of his completed plan, -blazed back at Robur with the light of a mighty purpose—a thing -conceived in weary weeks of ceaseless thought and labor—a thing not to -be any longer changed or swerved from its course.</p> - -<p>Before that light Aphur's governor paled slightly and set his lips.</p> - -<p>"Aye," he said a trifle gruffly because of his blended emotions, "now -I understand thee, Jason. But it would take Zitu's Mouthpiece to -undertake it in such fashion. And what does Robur of Aphur to aid the -success of the venture?"</p> - -<p>Once more Croft smiled. He laid a hand on his companion's shoulder. "He -watches from the sky for any message I shall flash with the signal-lamp -I shall carry—which, being interpreted to him by the man of the -message tower, he shall see translated instantly into deeds. So shall -he safeguard Jason's life—perhaps."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps, aye," said Robur. "So be it. I shall send the message as -Zitu's Mouthpiece directs. As for the rest, I like it not."</p> - -<p>Turning, he stalked from the room with a gloomy face.</p> - -<p>To himself, Croft admitted perforce that his plan was in the nature -of a somewhat desperate chance. Yet he believed that he had read the -Zollarian spirit aright—felt assured that he was predicting Helmor's -actions correctly, when the final issue should be his to face, that he -had erected his counter move on a firm foundation of human nature—was -counting not overmuch on the mental attitude to be induced by the -menace of a fiery dissolution rained down upon defenseless heads out of -space.</p> - -<p>Returning with the assurance that he had despatched a messenger with -his orders, Robur found him no whit less firm in his resolution, and -they discussed all details attendant on the departure of the blimps -through the further course of the night.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Morning ushered in three days of well-nigh ceaseless toil, of practise -with the giant aircraft by day—of an overhauling of them, a correcting -of minor faults by night, of consultations with the fliers in which -every step of the expedition was explained to them by Croft—of a -grooming and testing of the six planes that were to accompany the -monster dirigibles north.</p> - -<p>Mutlos of Cathur sent back word the first day that the galley for Niera -had put forth. That same night Croft and Robur visited the wireless -tower, and Croft demonstrated his signaling-flash.</p> - -<p>The man, trained to receiving and sending, read the code with little -trouble, transcribing more than one message correctly and then flashing -them back to Croft. Then, seating himself again at his key, he sent -word to Zitra that the expedition was about to set forth.</p> - -<p>There followed two more straining days wherein Croft gave it out that -only four blimps would be taken, and those manned by the crews that -showed the greatest aptitude in their work. Four, he had decided, would -be enough for the venture, and at dawn on the morning of the fourth day -they rose like monstrous glistening bubbles above Himyra's walls, and -pointed their blunt noses north.</p> - -<p>Three days to Niera, to reach which the swiftest galley took five. So -he had planned it. And at Niera he would descend. Long before he had -taken the necessary steps for that—sending what apparatus he would -require to the capital of Mazhur—that it might be ready for any need.</p> - -<p>The night before had seen the airplanes depart for Scira on the first -leg of their flight. From there they would go to Niera, and there the -entire expedition would once more meet.</p> - -<p>Three days, he thought, as he watched Himyra drop away beneath him -with the gaping, cheering crowds that had gathered to see the blimps -depart. Three days and four were seven. A day at Niera, to overhaul any -weakness that might have developed in the flight across the Central -Sea, a half day to the northern borders of Mazhur, the last jump, -before the final hop off for the planes. And from there to Berla—four -hundred miles or a trifle over. He allowed eight hours for that.</p> - -<p>Higher and higher soared the blimps. A strong wind raged about them, -bucking the roaring kick of the propellers. Higher yet, he gave -command. Higher and still higher, seeking a favorable current, higher -and higher, until it was found—then north—north—where once more -as always the lodestone of Naia of Aphur's being drew him—north and -north. He was going north at last!</p> - -<p>The thought fired him. There was no sense of motion. Even as in the -astral body, it was as though he himself stood silent and all beneath -him moved. Overhead the monster gas-bag glinted like a thing of silver -under the Sirian ray. Below him lay the no longer yellow ribbon of the -Na, framed in the green band of the irrigated lands.</p> - -<p>To the north the Central Sea showed sparkling in the morning sunshine. -And beyond the Central Sea was Mazhur—and beyond Mazhur—Naia—Naia -and Jason, Son of Jason—captive in a hostile land. And Naia's hair -was golden—as golden as the sunshine that glinted now on his flashing -armor—and her eyes were as blue as the blue stones upon his breast, -marking out in flawless outline the Cross of Life Eternal—the Cross -Ansata—and Azil's wide-stretched wings.</p> - -<p>A wonderful, a mighty, a vast exaltation of the spirit seized him. -He was going to her, borne swiftly out across the Central Sea on a -favoring wind, as though Zitu himself had filled the lungs of his -Omnipotent purpose, and were wafting him on his mission of salvation -with a strong, beneficent blast.</p> - -<p>Purposely he had placed the wireless operator aboard the blimp under -command of Rob. That night they exchanged signals—flashing message and -answer between them, as the tireless engines roared. The moons of Palos -rose and turned the Central Sea to indigo and silver—glinted on the -monster racing-bags. Far down, their shadows raced across the tossing -waves beneath them, like the shadows of weird clouds.</p> - -<p>Far off—a blot on the glinting waters—a galley showed. Croft -found himself wondering just what emotions the sight of the four -huge aircraft might cause aboard. At least he was sure the moons of -Palos—those moons by whose light he had first held Naia of Aphur in -his arms and kissed her—had never before beheld a similar sight. For -a long time after he had ceased signaling to Robur's blimp he sat -brooding, staring off across the moon-burnished surface of the waters -which showed on every side.</p> - -<p>And then, wrapping himself in a robe, since the night was chill at that -elevation, he laid himself down and after a time, to all appearances, -he slept.</p> - -<p>In reality, he came to earth as he had come the night on which he had -decided on the step upon which he had now set forth. He came and roused -me and told me all that had occurred on Palos during the intervening -months since we had spoken together last.</p> - -<p>And the thing fired me, woke in me an intense desire, so that as he -paused I cried, "Croft, let me be present—let me see the end of the -thing, at least."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He smiled. "Man," he said, "I knew you'd say that, and the thing will -be at night, three, four, five—six nights after this. Listen for my -call then, Murray, and after that—you'll have to shift for yourself."</p> - -<p>I nodded. "Just the same, I'll stick pretty close to you," I declared.</p> - -<p>"You can do it in the shape you'll be in," he retorted, smiling. "On -the last hop off from just south of Helmor's country, I'll be aboard a -plane. Rob knows his work, and he'll captain the blimps. They'll slip -over Berla after dark and light up the buildings fronting the palace -square. There is a bit of country outside the city that I'll make just -about dusk, and land. From there when I see the light of the fire, I'll -simply zoom up over the walls and alight in front of Helmor's doors—or -that's the way I've got it planned. So you see it's lucky you're going -to be capable of speedy motion, Murray, if you expect to go along."</p> - -<p>"But see here," I objected, "won't it be pretty risky coming down -outside the city, like that?"</p> - -<p>He shook his head. "You haven't quite learned Palos yet, Murray. I'll -hit a tract of uninhabited country, of course. If I were a Zollarian, I -could pull the same stunt in the desert outside Himyra's walls. Now, do -you understand?"</p> - -<p>I said I did, and he left me. And that is the way in which I came to -witness the ending of the duel between Zollaria and Tamarizia, but more -particularly between Kalamita and Jason, the Mouthpiece of Zitu, I -shall endeavor to describe.</p> - -<p>Of what intervened during the next five days I know of course only -by hearsay. Briefly, Croft made Niera on time, and came down. The -airplanes—five of them, that is—arrived. The other had come to grief -and been compelled to remain behind. He did not wait for it, but -pressed on. The final stopping-place was reached.</p> - -<p>Croft, to Robur's horror, made use of a parachute with which he had -equipped each ship, and dropped safely to the ground. Robur sailed -into the north, and Croft, waiting until the planes had filled their -fuel-tanks for the final stage of the journey, rose to follow just -after the noontide hour of prayer.</p> - -<p>Afterward he told me that the thing held a strange significance for him -at the time. There was a prayer in his heart as the plane soared up -swiftly—a prayer for success and the safety of those he loved—and he -knew that, back in Himyra, Gaya was praying in a similar fashion for -Robur, for Naia and Jason, and himself. And he knew that, even if in -less definite fashion, the same prayer was in the heart of the nation -whose manhood drove the blimps before him—one of whose daring sons -controlled the rising plane on which he rode.</p> - -<p>The hour of prayer. Eight hours he had allowed himself to cover the -last four hundred miles. If nothing went wrong he would come in sight -of Berla about dusk—and he would keep the blimps in sight, of course. -One hour, two, three passed with the steady drone of the motur in his -ears—four, five, six. Another, and the blimps paused and began a -majestic circling.</p> - -<p>Berla was in sight from their greater elevation, and twilight was -falling. Across it he winked his signal—and was answered by a -responsive flash. The plane fled on, swerving to one side to find the -spot where it should lie waiting. Like a great bat swooping, it sank -and went skimming across the darkening landscape, seeking a place to -alight. In the end it grounded far out beyond the now shadowy outlines -of Berla's walls.</p> - -<p>Croft leaned back in his seat. Briefly he spoke to his pilot and seemed -to rest, sagging inside his supporting straps. But, as aboard the -blimp that first night, his spirit sought the chamber beneath Helmor's -palace—found Naia and Jason on the couch together watching the blue -girl of Mazzeria, who was busy weaving patterns out of straws. Naia of -Aphur—and Jason, Son of Jason—on this night of all nights—safe!</p> - -<p>Croft opened his eyes and lifted his body more stiffly in its seat. -"Zitu—I thank thee," he whispered, raising his face to the now -night-darkened heavens, and then—he sent the call for which I was -listening on earth.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Berla of Zollaria. It lay there, huge, dark, slumbrous, safe; secure as -the night pall wrapped it in all, seeming, undisturbed by any alarm of -danger—unapproached by any force of foes. For what could harm Helmor's -city, behind its darkly outlined walls? Four hundred miles of mountain, -plain, and desert lay between it and the Tamarizian border—and as -yet, save for the sending of a delegation to parley, Tamarizia had not -moved. Dark, silent, it lay, save for where on either side of one of -its many gates, the fire urns flared.</p> - -<p>And yet on the darkened terrain beyond them crouched the squat, -wide-winged shape of the Tamarizian plane, with its two men, watching, -watching. And somewhere—high above it rode the blimps, of which -there was no sign. Yet they were there, and the plane was squatted, -watching—and they were things that, swifter than any method known to -Zollaria's craft—swifter than the swiftest racing gnuppas—could cross -mountain and desert and plain.</p> - -<p>Then suddenly—without sound, so high they rode—from out of the -blue-black void of the heavens—there showed a winking light. Ruddy it -was as a falling star—as it glowed briefly and vanished like a fading -spark. And yet, seeing it, one knew that under cover of the darkness, -before the moons of Palos wheeling up like racers of the night revealed -them, the blimps were stealing in.</p> - -<p>Once more the ruddy pin-point winked, twice, thrice, and vanished, and -as it faded for the last time it was answered by Croft himself from the -plane. Briefly his torch glowed and was extinguished and the spot in -the heavens did not appear again. Only Jason spoke to the flier. "Be -ready, Avron."</p> - -<p>And the man replied, "Aye, lord," climbed into the pit of the fuselage, -and began strapping himself in place.</p> - -<p>Croft followed suit. The two men sat staring out towards the walls of -Berla, where the fire urns still made flickering flares against the -gates.</p> - -<p>And that was all. Save for their breathing, the whisper of the night -wind round them, there was no sound. Silent as death itself was the -blimps' approach, and as unsuspected, until presently an arc of silver -appeared above the eastern horizon, and up shot the first of the twin -Palosian moons.</p> - -<p>Its upflung rays fell on a wondrous sight. They struck against -the giant dirigibles, turning them into slowly drifting things of -silver—huge, unbelievable, weird as the moonlight struck upon them, -like monstrous dream shapes—unthinkable bubbles wafted forward on some -unsensed breeze. So they must have burst upon the startled sight of -Berla's people, first, soaring high above the city, circling as though -in search of some definite spot, before they paused, appeared to hover -for an instant, and began settling down.</p> - -<p>"Zitu!" Avron whispered tensely under his breath.</p> - -<p>"Aye," said Zitu's Mouthpiece as though in answer. "Watch ye now, -Avron—watch."</p> - -<p>Down, down sank those mighty glistening shapes from the Palosian -skies—down, down until at length without seeming cause they checked -their descent, and hung gently swaying, until a strange red brilliance -leaped up high over Berla's walls.</p> - -<p>"Go now—in Zitu's name," Croft spoke to his pilot.</p> - -<p>The motur roared—the huge plane quivered, seemed to shake off the -lethargy of its waiting, trundled forward, gained headway, tilted, and -rose.</p> - -<p>Up, up in a reaching slant, Avron drove it toward the growing radiance -before it. And then, like a kite striking home upon its prey, it -swept above Berla's ramparts and plunged down beneath the moon and -flame-illumined gas-bags, toward the leaping fires.</p> - -<p>They leaped, they blazed, those fires spreading in a ruddy band of -destruction before Helmor's palace. They smoked. The wind of night -caught that smoke and swept it off across the city in twisting, -writhing streamers and billows, like the tatters of a trailing shroud. -For an instant it half veiled the racing plane, and Avron coughed. -Then the machine burst through it and swam above the square already -beginning to fill with a running, shouting, wildly gesticulating mob, -beyond which on the steps of the palace itself showed a body of the -palace guard.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The fire struck off ruddy flashes from their massed cuirasses and -helmets, pricked out the livid color of their saffron plumes. A captain -lifted a sword and pointed toward the hovering gas-bags with a glinting -blade. The roof of a house crashed down roaring in a fiery dissolution, -casting up a myriad of sparks against the smoke pall of the major -conflagration, from which a sickly, unsteady light was filling all -the square, casting flickering shadows over the jostling mass of the -panic-stricken crowd.</p> - -<p>Above that scene the airplane swam with a chattering motur. The milling -masses heard it and lifted their faces toward it in a fresh alarm. It -turned. It circled back.</p> - -<p>"Down," Croft spoke to Avron. "Land me before the guard."</p> - -<p>Avron nodded, worked with his controls briefly. The plane tilted, -circled again at a lower level—and suddenly with deadened engine -volplaned with the steady-winged swoop of a hawk toward the wide -expanse of pavement, to trundle forward and pause.</p> - -<p>Before it the guard shifted uneasily, watched its slowing advance with -widened eyes and paling faces, a slight backward movement of their -ranks.</p> - -<p>Not so the captain, however.</p> - -<p>"By Bel—he has given one of them into our hands at least. Upon them!" -he roared, and drew his sword to lead them in an overpowering charge.</p> - -<p>"Hold!" Croft rose in his place and faced the quick, forward surge of -the guardsmen. "Naught has Bel given thee, captain. Wherefore spare thy -praises. By design are we come among thee—for speech with Helmor. Put -up thy sword."</p> - -<p>The firelight glinted on him as he left the plane and sprang lightly -to the ground. It shone on his burnished harness, it struck upon his -azure plumes. It pricked out the design of the Cross Ansata and the -widespread wings of Azil on his cuirass. And suddenly the captain -lowered the point of his weapon in a startled recognition.</p> - -<p>"Thou?" he stammered.</p> - -<p>"Aye," said Jason gruffly. "I, Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu—to -hold speech with Helmor, as thou hast already heard. I Jason of -Tamarizia—the one man who may save Berla from destruction—by whose -order what remains once that fire has burned itself to embers—may be -spared. Go say as much to Helmor, and say also that I wait a meeting -with him—here."</p> - -<p>Followed a tense moment, in which quite plainly the Zollarian debated -his course, turning his glance from Croft to the slowly swinging menace -of the moonlighted blimps above him—those glinting shapes so remote, -so detached in their cold, almost frost-rimmed seeming—and yet as the -man before him said the cause of the ravening flames in whose light -that man appeared.</p> - -<p>And as though sensing his thought, Tamarizia's Mouthpiece spoke again:</p> - -<p>"Think not that save by my order any part of Berla will be -spared—neither thou, nor Helmor, nor any of her people. That ye behold -done here may be done elsewhere, Zollarian captain."</p> - -<p>"By Bel—" The captain sheathed his sword. Seemingly the situation was -too much for him to handle unaided. "Restrain the people," he directed -a lieutenant. "Hold him securely and in safety until I have seen this -carried to Helmor's ears."</p> - -<p>The lieutenant saluted. Turning, the captain ran flashing up the -stairs. His subordinates growled a command. The guardsmen advanced, -split, moved off right and left, formed a cordon about the plane and -Jason, facing outward toward the crowds in the square with leveled -spears.</p> - -<p>Time passed. Jason of Tamarizia stood motionless with folded arms. The -people of Berla pressed up to the very spear points, shrieking and -mouthing. The conflagration roared.</p> - -<p>And then the palace doors opened. Helmor and Helmon appeared. Slowly -and without any sign of undue haste they descended the steps until -nearly at the foot they paused.</p> - -<p>The Zollarian monarch and Tamarizia's strong man stared into one -another's eyes, and Helmor caught a body-filling breath.</p> - -<p>"So," he said, "it is thou. Word I had of thy presence, yet hardly it -seemed thou hadst dared."</p> - -<p>Not a line of Jason's set expression altered as he replied, "Wherein -Helmor had right. Naught have I dared indeed. If Helmor doubts it, let -him use his eyes. Let him gaze on yonder fire, and lift his vision to -the skies. There may he behold the cause in those engines with which I -have come upon him, by which Berla shall ere morning lie in ashes, save -I and I only give the word that it be spared. Wherefore I dare naught -in standing thus before him, to offer him the safety of himself and -people. What would it profit Helmor to bid his guardsmen seize me, and -thereby lose his one remaining chance of safety? Has he any means with -which he may combat them—any cover beneath which he shall lie safe -from a rain of unquenchable fire?"</p> - -<p>Helmor hesitated in his answer—hesitated even as those who know that -they are lost. And indeed he must have known it in that instant as -he lifted his eyes to the heavens and beheld there the unbelievable -creations brought against him too remote for any resistance within his -power to reach them, yet near enough to bring swift death upon himself -and his people, as witnessed by the blazing wall of the city, at the -foot of the palace square. And in that bitter moment of realization -Helmor of Zollaria's spirit must have writhed.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Now was humiliation come upon him—upon him who had sought to bring it -upon others in his time. Staggered by the appalling swiftness of it, he -found no words with which to meet the situation. And as he lowered his -glance and forced it back to that of the man before him, Croft spoke -again.</p> - -<p>"Nor Berla alone, O Helmor. These things be not of my seeking, nor of -Tamarizia's design. Yet if I return not scatheless from this meeting, -not only Berla but all Zollaria as well shall burn. If I return not -safely that begun this night shall certainly continue, and Tamarizia -shall hurl her total strength against a treacherous nation which seeks -by unlawful methods to further her ends. And in that day Zollaria as a -nation shall go down in a red ruin, from which she shall not rise.</p> - -<p>"We sought not war, O Helmor, nor aught save only peace. Twice have -you loosed your strength against us—and twice has it proved vain. -Yet again you planned our undoing—and this third time you struck -not as a man against men, but against the innocent, the weak and -helpless—seeking through them to win what had been failed of through -force of arms. Helmor of Zollaria struck not at the heart of a man -as he hoped to Zollaria's and his own profit. But now must he face -strength again.</p> - -<p>"Yet even so we come not in war against thee or thy nation, save in so -far as it be needful to prove resistance vain. War we make not against -the defenseless, the weak, nor wish to—and we hold it a thing for -sorrow, were the helpless, the innocent, to perish for Helmor's or -another's sin. Wherefore we come before thee and offer thee peace, O -Helmor—a peace which Helmor needs but say the word to win."</p> - -<p>"Thy price? Name the ransom of Berla, Mouthpiece of Zitu." Suddenly -Helmor appeared to find his tongue. His voice rose hoarsely. "By Bel, I -would not see my people burn."</p> - -<p>"Helmor knowest," Croft said slowly, "I but require of thee my own. -Let Naia of Aphur and the blue girl, her attendant, and Jason, Son of -Jason, be brought forth and placed unharmed aboard the machine Helmor -sees before him."</p> - -<p>"And afterward?" Croft's utterly controlled demeanor, the mildness of -his demands, seemed in a way to disturb Zollaria's monarch, appeared to -excite the suspicion of some hidden trap in his mind.</p> - -<p>"Nay, nothing," the Mouthpiece of Zitu returned. "Have I not said that -I come not in vengeance upon thee? Hark ye, Helmor, I am not driven -by any such intent as that of the woman who having led thee into this -position now plans to cast thee from a throne. Yet, if ye yield not, by -Zitu, whose Mouthpiece men name me—thy throne itself and all it stands -for shall be destroyed."</p> - -<p>Helmor started. Croft's intimate knowledge of a plot against his tenure -of his power seemed to shake him well-nigh as deeply as all else. He -stood silent, once more lost to all seeming in a gloomy consideration, -into which broke the rising voices of the crowd. For they too had -heard from their places outside the ring of threatening spears in the -hands of the guardsmen, and now they cried to him, "O Helmor—yield to -him—grant him his demands nor seek to resist him, O Helmor. Let not -Berla be destroyed!"</p> - -<p>Those cries beat into his ears a very surge of plaint and entreaty. And -hearing it Helmor threw up his head and turned to Croft.</p> - -<p>"This is the sum of your requirement, Mouthpiece of Zitu, which being -granted, shall lead to nothing else?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, by Zitu, on the word of Jason," Croft assented quickly, making -the words both agreement to Helmor's query and an oath.</p> - -<p>"O Helmor—" Once more the plea of a panic-stricken people.</p> - -<p>For a moment Zollaria's ruler gazed out across their terror-whitened -faces. And then he yielded, lifting a hand and upflung arm to calm -them. "Peace. Helmor bows to thy wishes in this matter. Go, Helmon, son -of Helmor, thyself bring forth the women and the child."</p> - -<p>"O Helmor. Hail Helmor! All praise to Helmor by whom we are preserved!" -In swift transition from plaint to plaudits once more came the voice of -the crowd. "Helmor the Wise One—the guardian of his people! O Helmor! -Aye, aye, Helmor—give them to him!"</p> - -<p>They surged forward, lifting their hands in acclaiming gestures as -Helmor turned and began to mount the steps.</p> - -<p>He had won, won! For an instant as the Zollarian prince climbed upward, -Croft found himself unnerved. He had won the desperate venture. A few -moments, a few heart beatings only, and he would look into Naia of -Aphur's eyes, might rest his hand, if so he wished, upon the crown of -her golden hair, winning like even to another Jason, that golden fleece -of his desire. The thought pleased him and he smiled, and turned his -glance toward Avron, staring down unmoved, as it seemed, in all the -tumult, from his place in the fuselage.</p> - -<p>A few moments—aye, a few moments. He faced back to Helmor, standing -with gloomy visage, and let his gaze run past him and up the flight of -steps behind him. A few moments and he would lift Naia and Jason, Son -of Jason, into the pit of the plane behind Avron and rise with them -free of Berla's prisoning walls.</p> - -<p>And then he stiffened. Helmon emerged from the palace, and with him, -Naia of Aphur, and Maia walking beside her, and about them some half -dozen members of the guard.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>And now no longer was Croft the Mouthpiece of Zitu, but as he watched -the approaching party begin the descent of the stairs, noting the -slender lines of Naia's figure, the death-like pallor of her, straining -his eyes for a first glimpse of the child. A moment—a single moment -his leaping heart told him, and they would be reunited—one moment -only remained of the dreary waiting. Naia of Aphur was coming toward -him—nay, flying toward him.</p> - -<p>For, suddenly, without any warning, she was free of Maia's supporting -figure, clear of the guardsmen, past Helmor and speeding swiftly in the -firelight down the steps.</p> - -<p>Croft opened wide his arms.</p> - -<p>And then she was against him, lifting to his bended face eyes so -filled with maddening horror that they struck fresh terror to his -spirit, beating upon the cross the wings of Azil of his cuirass with -tight-clenched, desperate hands, panting rather than speaking, into his -startled ears the cry of a mother's frenzy.</p> - -<p>"Gone, Jason—gone. They have taken him from me. In the name of Zitu, -hasten to Bel's temple and save him. They have gone to sacrifice our -son!"</p> - -<p>Gone! For a heart's beat the soul of Jason Croft gave ground. Gone. -This, then, was the end of his scheming, his months of weary labor. -With success in his grasp he was beaten.</p> - -<p>"God!" he cried, not knowing in the shock of the moment that he spoke -in English, and releasing the grip of his arms about her body, he -seized her by the arms. His fingers bit into the white, white flesh -upon them. "But—he was safe with thee when darkness fell, beloved."</p> - -<p>"Aye, aye!" She nodded in desperate affirmation. "Scarce had Gor gone -when Helmon came to release us—"</p> - -<p>"Gor!" Croft bent straining eyes upon her.</p> - -<p>"Aye—Gor—creature of Kalamita. He it was who tore him from me, after -he had slain the captain of the guard—saying it was done by Helmor's -order. O Ga and Azil, canst not understand? To the Temple of Bel and -save him or else let Berla be destroyed."</p> - -<p>"Aye, if he dies, by Zitu." Croft swept her close pressed against his -side, and turned to Helmor.</p> - -<p>"Thou hearest, Zollaria, what answer have ye to words of Gor?"</p> - -<p>And in that moment when the balances trembled with the issue of life -and death for himself, his people, his nation, as well as for the other -actors in that tight-gripped scene, of every blended human emotion, -Helmor more than any time in Croft's knowledge of him proved his right -to reign. One quick pace he came toward the Mouthpiece of Zitu, and the -half fainting woman he supported, and paused with hand on sword and -flashing eyes.</p> - -<p>"Nay, by Bel," he answered strongly. "Not by word of Helmor was this -thing come to pass, but by the trickery of another, because of a plot -against me, of which it would seem from his own words, Jason knows. -Helmon, my son—" he turned briefly to the crown prince standing pallid -and shaken before this fresh turn of events—"what know you of this -foul matter?"</p> - -<p>And Helmon answered quickly, "Naia of Aphur speaks truth. Gor slew the -captain who denied him entrance to the chamber, and cowed the guardsmen -with his mighty strength—saying he took the child by thy orders, O my -father; wherein as thou knoweth he lied."</p> - -<p>"Aye." Helmor's features darkened. "Yet sought to take advantage of the -present instance to accomplish the interests of his sweetheart. By Bel, -I swear it. Let Tamarizia say if he believes."</p> - -<p>Deep in his troubled soul Croft knew that he did. The thing was well -in keeping with the methods Kalamita would almost certainly have -employed. Beaten until the moment of the city's panic in her efforts to -gain possession of the son of the man she hated, with a hatred defying -reason—it would have been like her once the aircraft hovered above -Berla to recall Helmor's words that the child should be given to Bel -in the event that Tamarizia refused the Zollarian demands or made any -hostile move.</p> - -<p>She might well have sent Gor on his mission, trusting to the excitement -to gain him access to the palace, to Helmor's former words to overcome -any refusal of his demands on the part of the guard. Such things passed -swiftly through his brain as the crowd again took up its clamor—"To -the temple, O Helmor—to the temple. Death to Gor who has undone us! -Seek and slay him!"</p> - -<p>Jason Croft inclined his azure-crested helm. "Aye, Helmor," he -accepted, "Jason believes. This were the work of Kalamita, not another. -Wherefore—"</p> - -<p>"To the temple!" Naia of Aphur screamed. "In Zitu's name, waste no -more words about it!"</p> - -<p>"To the temple—to the temple!" The words became a beating surf of -sound on the lips of the people. "To the temple quickly, O Helmor!"</p> - -<p>Helmor acted. "Ho, guardsmen, attend me! To the Temple of Bel!" he -roared.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> - -<h3>THE TEMPLE OF BEL</h3> - - -<p>To the Temple of Bel! To that ebon dark structure, where in its mighty -enclosure crouched the figure of the unclean god. It was the one -chance—the one remaining hope of a full success in his venture, and -Jason knew it.</p> - -<p>"To Avron—up and remain with him," he cried to Naia.</p> - -<p>"Nay, Jason—nay, my beloved," she denied him, gasping. "With thee. -Keep me in this at thy side."</p> - -<p>"Come, then." He tightened the arm about her yielding waist and crushed -her to him. There was scant time to argue. Already the guard were -forming—massing a wall of their bodies about them. And there was a -thing that demanded his attention. Swiftly he drew his signal-lamp and -pointed it to the skies.</p> - -<p>"To the Temple of Bel! Descend above it!" He sent a message with a hand -that, despite his stern control, was not wholly steady. "To the Temple -of Bel," he repeated, and lowered his eyes to find Helmor's eyes upon -him.</p> - -<p>"I but signed the airships to follow us to the temple," he voiced -an explanation, lest the man misunderstand him, and found himself -wondering if the huge craft would be able to identify and find -it—decided there was naught he could do to aid them, that the carrying -out of the order lay wholly in the hands of Robur.</p> - -<p>And Helmor seemed to understand, though he made no answer, speaking -instead to Helmon. "Remain and guard the machine. Let no one approach -it."</p> - -<p>"To the temple!" Once more the voice of the crowd—a seething mass now -of jostling, pressing bodies—of white faces and lifted arms in the -flickering light of the firelight.</p> - -<p>Helmor answered the rising ululation, "Aye, to the temple. Forward, -guard!"</p> - -<p>Croft lifted Naia of Aphur, holding her terror-shaken figure before -him, cradling it in his arms against his metaled breast. Side by side -he went forward with Helmor as the guard advanced across the square, -breaking a pathway through the mass of the people with their spears. -Slowly at first, and then with a quickened rhythm beat their feet. -Their moving mass gathered momentum as their captain lifted his voice -and called a rising cadence. The light of the blazing buildings shone -sharp upon the spearheads—shimmered and flashed on their glinting -harness as they charged toward the shadowy mouth of a street.</p> - -<p>To the temple—the temple! The thud and clank of their feet, striking -in a measured rhythm, seemed to beat the words into Jason's ears. To -the temple—the temple! Naia of Aphur was praying. As he raced inside -the cordon of other racing bodies, Croft caught the whisper of her pale -lips beneath his own set, straining face.</p> - -<p>"Ga—Azil—Ga, eternal mother—Azil—angel of life—have mercy—spread -thy wings in shelter above him—"</p> - -<p>They reached the street and plunged among its shadows, pounding -with a dull reverberation of many feet along it. To the temple—the -temple. The walls of its banking structures gave back the echo of that -ceaseless rhythm. He glanced at Helmor. Set of lip and narrow-eyed, his -features distorted by the rage that burned within him, the realization -of this latest menace come upon him, the haste that had made him cast -aside all dignity of station, and sent him thus on foot in a last -endeavor to offset it, the Zollarian ran with a steady, unfaltering -stride.</p> - -<p>"Zitu—father of all life—"</p> - -<p>Croft tensed his muscles, pressing the yielding form of Naia closer -to his pounding heart. Save for her whispers, the clank and thud of -the charging body of men, their heavy breathing, there was no sound in -all the night. Behind them Berla was burning, with a lessening glare. -Here only the moonlight cut in silver bands and purple shadows as they -raced. He glanced up toward the azure heavens. His sweat-misted eyes -beheld a drifting shape—huge, too regular of outline for a cloud—the -glistening, glinting envelope of a blimp.</p> - -<p>"They follow us, beloved—Robur follows." He spoke in muffled tones to -Naia—and found her purple eyes lifted darkly to his face.</p> - -<p>Out of one street and into another raced the straining Zollarian -guard, and along it, and into another, and through that into a second -monstrous square.</p> - -<p>The Temple of Bel! Croft knew it—recognized it, felt his spirit once -more falter as he sensed its dark mass lightened by some interior -radiance that shone redly between the mighty pillars, pricking out each -massive column in an inky blackness—the light of Bel's lighted fire!</p> - -<p>Croft sensed its meaning—that Ptah had done his part and ignited the -sacrificial flame in the body of the monstrous god, lifted his eyes -from the fire-etched line of the pillars and found smoke curling in -whirling streamers above the temple façade, lifted his soul in a prayer -that Robur would also see it, mark it a beacon to guide his searching, -and ran on toward the serried flight of steps before him, reached them -and began to climb.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Up, up, he made his way with Helmor and the now panting guard. Up, -up—and what sight of horror would that radiance between the ebon -pillars reveal when they reached the top?</p> - -<p>He sickened before the question, found himself straining still ever -upward, made dizzy by his anguished thought.</p> - -<p>"Ga and Azil—Zitu—father of life—have mercy—"</p> - -<p>Suddenly he lifted his arms and shifted the body of Naia, turning it -more wholly toward him, as though thereby to hide from her eyes the -light of the temple fires.</p> - -<p>Up, up—the last step at last. And there, among the pillars supporting -the mighty colonnade, Helmor's party paused. Before and below them, the -vast pit with its rows of surrounding steps, whereon a multitude might -find seats—the idol in its center showed. Men—such as Croft had seen -on the occasion of Kalamita's visit to the Priest of Bel, were working -about the god. Smoke and flame curled from its flaring nostrils as they -fed its inward fires—and its hands, extended flatly, palm up, before -its ugly belly shone redly—they glowed. Heated to a dull incandescent, -they waited the sacrifice.</p> - -<p>So much Croft saw in a single glance, and found his spirit lighten, -even as Naia struggled to her feet and gazed upon the scene before -her—cried out and covered her eyes.</p> - -<p>"Forward." He spoke to Helmor. "Bid the guard surround the idol—seize -the men who attend it and hold them, while we make search for the -child."</p> - -<p>For there was time—time yet to accomplish all his purpose. Bel's -glowing hands were waiting, but not yet had the sacrifice been placed -within them, and deadly purpose wakening swiftly once more in the mind -of Jason, drove out his former fears. Enough he knew of Bel's worship -to know that no sacrifice were acceptable to him, unless placed in the -hands of the god.</p> - -<p>And Helmor seemed to comprehend both his intent and the situation -fully. He addressed the captain of the sweating guardsmen. "Take a -portion of your men—surround the image. Let none approach it." Then as -the officer, saluting, turned to fulfill his orders, he drew back, with -face gone livid, and faltered. "Stay! Nay, now, by Bel I dare not. The -sacrifice approaches. Behold!"</p> - -<p>Lifting a shaken arm, he pointed. Croft followed the direction of his -hand and starting eyes. He turned his baffled glance to the other end -of the mighty enclosure, where at the head of the farther tier of steps -a processional appeared.</p> - -<p>Ptah! He saw him, naked in all his wonderful animal strength save for a -scarlet leathern apron about his bulging loins and a headdress of ebon -plumes, and the glint of metal sandals and casings of metal on his feet -and monstrous calves. And behind him a body of lesser priests.</p> - -<p>So much only he saw at first, and then, as Ptah and his satellites -descended the upper tier of steps, Kalamita, in the veiled beauty -of her physical form, appeared. Kalamita! Woman of flesh and fleshy -beauty—Priestess of Adita. Her perfect body shone in the light of the -sacrificial fires, an iridescent thing of tinted silk and jewels, and -behind her Bandhor and Panthor.</p> - -<p>They descended a single step—and behind them came Gor in his banded -cuirass of copper, on which the light struck dully, bearing the -sacrifice.</p> - -<p>Jason, Son of Jason—he lay upon an ebon-colored cushion, and even as -Croft's agonized eyes beheld him, he lifted little upflung hands and -arms.</p> - -<p>"Ga—and Azil," cried Naia of Aphur in an anguish of recognition.</p> - -<p>Croft whirled on Helmor. "Forward. There remains yet time to save him!" -he roared.</p> - -<p>"Nay, Mouthpiece of Zitu, I dare not." At the end, Helmor balked -the issue. Life-long superstition proved stronger than all other -considerations. "Helmor nor any man may seek to keep from Bel what is -consecrated to him."</p> - -<p>"Ga—" The prayer of a mother to the Mother Eternal.</p> - -<p>The thing was a matter of a few moments. Then Croft cast his glance -upward.</p> - -<p>A monstrous, glistening oblong hung there, slowly turning. He lowered -his gaze and swept it across the floor of the mighty pit, and from -that to Ptah and those behind them. And then his voice lashed back at -Zollaria's monarch. "Does Helmor fear then the fire of Bel—more than -Tamarizia's fires?"</p> - -<p>And Helmor answered. "Helmor, Tamarizian, performs not a sacrilege -against his god. In his hands be it."</p> - -<p>"Then let Helmor behold!" Croft took the only chance remaining. Swiftly -he darted down some half dozen tiers of steps and lifted his huge -signaling-torch to the skies.</p> - -<p>"Set fire to the pit of the temple."</p> - -<p>Once, twice, he flashed that message, even though after the first swift -sending, the blimp began sinking down. And then as it hovered lower and -lower, bulking ever more hugely, he turned and climbed back with limbs -that shook beneath him, to Naia's side.</p> - -<p>For that was the thought born of his desperate need as Helmor weakened -in his purpose—to flood the level space between Ptah and the idol with -a mass of impassable flame—to check him, hold him from the presence of -his god with fire, since he might not do it with men.</p> - -<p>Lower and lower sank the airship. Like a mighty cover settling down -above the open enclosure, it seemed. And as Croft slipped an arm about -the swaying form of Naia of Aphur, it paused.</p> - -<p>Paused, too, Ptah and his fellow priests. They had caught sight of -Croft on the steps beyond the idol—marked the upflung posture of his -arm. Their eyes had leaped above it and fallen on the glistening shape -descending as it seemed, upon their heads. Perhaps consternation seized -them—perhaps they waited merely to grasp its presence. But at all -events they paused with lifted faces.</p> - -<p>And as they stood—the floor of the pit about the idol, beyond it -farther and farther, burst into widening lines of flame. Swiftly those -lines stretched out, spreading, spreading across the sunken level, as -the monstrous shape above it poured down its fiery rain. In it the -image of Bel glowed yet more hotly, became a thing of a myriad licking, -darting, fiery tongues. The men who had stoked the fires within it -vanished, writhing, caught beyond any hope of rescue in the open.</p> - -<p>And whether consternation had first seized the minds of Ptah and his -party, it seized them now. They turned to draw back before the deadly -menace of the sea of fire before them. Too late—its ever widening -circle swung its arc against them. Ptah—Priest of Bel, shrieked once -in mortal anguish, and went down.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>On the steps of Bel's Temple—on their way to Bel's idol—he and his -fellows sank in a horrid dissolution, with a grotesquely terrible -twitching of tortured bodies, a tossing of arms and limbs. They fell -and, driven by their own contortions, dropped one by one from step to -step among the lapping flames.</p> - -<p>Above them stood Kalamita—Priestess of Adita—stood as one wholly -bereft of motion, until suddenly she shrieked in a voice that rang from -end to end of the temple, turned to flee, and shrieked again, and fell -forward, beating at her body—and Gor, casting aside the child on its -ebon cushion, leaped down and caught her writhing figure in his arms.</p> - -<p>"Enough—enough!" Croft flashed the signal upward, and started running -off between the pillars to reach the further tier of steps from whence -still rang the screams of Kalamita. And as he ran he drew his sword, -and went on clutching it in a tightly gripping hand.</p> - -<p>"After him! Seize Bandhor, Panthor, and the woman. Hold them! Preserve -the child!" Helmor roused from the fear that had held him impotent in -the presence of Zollaria's now discredited god.</p> - -<p>The guard leaped to obey the order. Croft heard the pound of their feet -behind him and ran on.</p> - -<p>A hundred feet, two, three. The fires below him having naught to feed -them, were burning themselves out. He reached the tier of steps down -which Ptah and his fellows had gone to their death. Bandhor and Panthor -stood there, and Gor—his mistress's screams now sunk to moanings—her -once lovely body marked by angry scars where the spattering liquid fire -had sprayed from the lower steps and struck her, yet held a white, -jeweled shape against his mighty breast.</p> - -<p>Toward them, still with his naked sword in his hand, he made his way. -Behind him came Helmor's guard. And yet—as he advanced, oddly enough -Croft gave little attention to them. His eyes seemed centered beyond -all other purpose, on the shape of the ebon cushion Gor had cast from -him ere he leaped to Kalamita's aid—that cushion beside which, wholly -unheeded, lay the form of Jason, Son of Jason—his child.</p> - -<p>Then as he stooped to raise him in hands that trembled, the guard flung -themselves on the two men.</p> - -<p>"Back," Bandhor suddenly thundered. "Back, men of Zollaria! It is thy -commander speaking."</p> - -<p>And Helmor, bursting through the faltering soldiery, answered, "Nay, -not so, Bandhor, thou traitor, any longer—not thou or Panthor, but -Helmor rules still in Berla. Seize him—and lead him to the palace, -there to stand trial with Panthor for his treason."</p> - -<p>Again the guard surged forward, closing about Bandhor and Helmor's -cousin, and Croft found a slender form hurled swiftly against him, -white hands clinging to him—the purple eyes of Naia of Aphur, lighted -with the wild, sweet fires of fulfilled yearning, lifted to him across -the body of the child.</p> - -<p>His heart too surcharged for words, he smiled upon her and laid Jason, -Son of Jason, in her arms.</p> - -<p>With the sound of a caught-in sob, a gesture hungry in its passion, she -gathered him to her, bent her face above him, rocking him gently with -a swaying of her slender figure as one groping baby hand crept up and -dug itself into the soft substance of her gown. Turning with him to the -girl of Mazzeria, whom Croft now sensed for the first time as having -followed from the palace—dogging faithfully her mistress's footsteps -to the last.</p> - -<p>Ga, the Mother—the Virgin—the Madonna, bending in tender brooding -above the infant—pressing it in loving rapture against the greater -bulk of the form that had given it birth.</p> - -<p>From that sight Croft turned away his misted eyes to find those of -Kalamita fixed on him in a stare of well-nigh insane hatred.</p> - -<p>She had struggled free from Gor, and, despite the pain of her burns, -which in their blindly, upflung course, had spared not even the once -beautiful mask of her face, was standing there before him. And, as -their glances met, her tightly held lips parted.</p> - -<p>"Thou—thou," she mouthed; "thou Mouthpiece of Zitu—thou man of -ice and fire—thou wrecker of the plans of Kalamita—thou man like -not to any man before thee—by all the fiends of the foul pit of -the underworld I curse thee—may they torture thy spirit—and that -of her whom I have kept for Zitrans from thee, and bring sickness -and loathsome disease on the child. May its flesh rot and its bones -grow hollow like blasted reeds—may Adita cause thy mate to shrivel -quickly—may she cease to please thee, and yet cling to thee—denying -thee the pleasure she herself no longer gives. May Bel visit his wrath -upon thee for the sacrilege thou hast shown him. I, Kalamita—"</p> - -<p>"Peace." The captain of the guard laid hold upon her. "Thy pleasure -with this woman, O Helmor?"</p> - -<p>And Helmor eyeing her, answered, "Nay—nothing. That she who has turned -the minds of men with her beauty should stand thus now before them, -were punishment indeed. Release her—let her go her ways."</p> - -<p>"Thy fault—thou Mouthpiece. The curse of Kalamita on thee!" Once more -she wheeled on Jason.</p> - -<p>"Nay—curse no more," he told her. "Once thou didst challenge Adita to -blast thy fairness and thou did not accomplish thy ends against me. -And now it is in my mind that thy fickle goddess has taken thee at thy -word."</p> - -<p>"Aye, peace!" said Helmor. "Get thee to thy palace, woman."</p> - -<p>For a moment Kalamita drew herself up before him, and then, flinging -clenched hands above her tawny head in an impotent gesture, she turned -to Gor standing stolidly waiting, and leaning her weight against him, -went with him into the night.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>And that is all, as Croft would say, I suppose—since when he described -Naia's winning to me at the time of the Mazzerian War he brought his -narrative to a close with their marriage, until I demanded that the end -of the war itself be told.</p> - -<p>So now one may fancy that to him the real ending of the matter would -have been in that moment when he stood there with Helmor, and Naia, -standing with Jason, Son of Jason, held fast against her breast, and -Maia, the girl of Mazzeria, at her side, and knew that Helmor had no -longer any thought save to see him depart with them in safety, that he -and his city might also know themselves safe.</p> - -<p>But to my mind there is more to the story—not so much of an individual -nature, as applying to the future of the Palosian life.</p> - -<p>For, to the ears of my spirit, which had witnessed all the crowded -events, came Helmor's voice addressing Jason:</p> - -<p>"How now, Mouthpiece of Zitu—what else?"</p> - -<p>And Jason answered. "Naught, O Helmor, save that we return to the -machine before the palace, and depart in peace, unless by Helmor's -wish."</p> - -<p>"What mean you by Helmor's wish?" There was no sign of understanding in -the Zollarian monarch's intonation or the now somber lines of his face, -as the last rays of the fire in the vast pit of Bel's Temple struck -upon it.</p> - -<p>Again Croft answered slowly, "Naia of Aphur, wife of Jason, and Jason, -Son of Jason, were seized for a purpose—which Helmor knows—-and the -end is—this."</p> - -<p>For a moment he paused and swept an arm about the mighty interior of -the temple—embracing all—the still-smoking figure of the idol—the -bodies of Ptah and his fellow priests, now lying charred and blackened -below him on the serried steps.</p> - -<p>And then as Helmor made no response or comment on that scene of sudden -death and desolation, he resumed. "Yet have I said that I came not in -vengeance against thee, nor in war, nor for any reason save only to -regain my own. Wherefore, I say again to Helmor, now, that the purpose -he had in mind may be served equally in a different fashion—and that -he say the word he may gain in peace what he might not obtain by either -treachery or war—and I say to him also that this night's work has -preserved not only Naia of Aphur and Jason, Son of Jason, to me, but to -Helmor also, his throne."</p> - -<p>And now Helmor spoke, nodding quickly. "Aye—Helmor does not overlook -it. Speak, Mouthpiece of Zitu—how may these things you hint at be -done?"</p> - -<p>Having fully caught his attention, Croft went on, "Let Zollaria and -Tamarizia make a pact of peace between them, pledging themselves -without reservation to sheathe the sword from this hour, nor draw it -one against the other again. Let Helmor subscribe to this, and Helmon, -Helmor's son. Let him proclaim the establishment of schools, the -education of his people. Let him seek for his nation strength through -the growth of knowledge, rather than the strength of arms—"</p> - -<p>Once more he paused, and again Helmor nodded.</p> - -<p>His face lighted swiftly as he caught Croft's meaning.</p> - -<p>"Aye, by Bel," he said. "It is thy knowledge, Mouthpiece of Zitu, that -has made Tamarizia strong."</p> - -<p>"And not Tamarizia only, but Zollaria also," said Jason, "if Helmor -sets his seal to such a bond."</p> - -<p>"By Bel," Helmor exclaimed, as all the suggestion embraced burst -suddenly upon him. "Come then to the palace. Let us speak of this more -fully. Delay thy departure as guests of Helmor and his people till -morn."</p> - -<p>"Aye." Croft assented without hesitation, his stern face strangely -exalted by the thought that out of this night of warring purpose and -emotion, peace between age-old foemen might be born.</p> - -<p>Back, then, they made their way through the streets along which they -had rushed so short a time in so vastly different a fashion to regain -the square before the palace—where only the light of the fire urns now -served to show Avron, still sitting at his station in the pit of his -machine.</p> - -<p>And there Croft, lifting his signaling-flash, sent a final message -to the mighty shapes still circling over the city. "Remain until the -morning. Watch for the plane at dawn."</p> - -<p>Robur's answering flash winked promptly back at him redly, and bidding -Helmon join them, they entered the palace, through which Jason had -flitted in the astral presence so many times.</p> - -<p>Yet different now indeed was the situation, as Helmor summoned -slave-girls to attend on Naia, provide for her every comfort. He left -her with Croft for the moment and Croft drew her into his arms.</p> - -<p>For a long, long moment he held her, sensing her nearness—her -dearness—the truth that now again, not only in spirit but in body, was -she his own.</p> - -<p>"Beloved!" he whispered, and crushed her to him.</p> - -<p>"Beloved!" she whispered, and threw back her golden head to lift her -purple eyes to him.</p> - -<p>So for a long moment, and then she spoke again. "And thou canst -accomplish thy purpose, beloved—were it not well worth suffering, -indeed? Thinkest thou Helmor is taken with the notion?"</p> - -<p>"Aye," said Jason, and he paused as he recalled Gaya's words that out -of his bereavement, his agony of spirit, would come not only peace to -his soul, but a possible peace between the nations—and found himself -undecided, but his own thought of such a peace as he had offered Helmor -had been first inspired by a woman's attempt to give him encouragement -in a troubled hour of need.</p> - -<p>"Zitu grant it."</p> - -<p>Naia nestled against him. "Go then and arrange it. I shall pray for thy -success upon my knees."</p> - -<p>After that, Croft left her, and rejoined Helmor and his son. To that -same apartment in which Jason had inspired his dream of warning against -Kalamita, the Zollarian monarch led them, and there they took up the -matter of a treaty between their nations, at the point where they had -laid it down.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Thereafter, while the hours passed, Helmor's expression altered; his -eyes grew darkly flashing; the deeply graven lines in his somber -visage relaxed as Croft expounded the advantages to be gained in a -friendly intercourse between his own and Helmor's people, suggested -with what must have seemed to the two Zollarians closeted with him, -an inspired mental vision. He proposed the terms of the international -coalition—teachers from Tamarizia to instruct the Zollarian -workmen—the establishment of telegraphic communication—a readjustment -of trade relations—the extension north of Croft's interrupted scheme -for a system of electrically operated railroads—the opening of shops -and schools.</p> - -<p>Until at last Helmor, rising in no small excitement, sent Helmon to -summon a scribe, and demanded the immediate drawing-up of a provisional -bond, which Jason should take with him in the morning for ratification -at Zitra. He began a restless pacing to and fro as the scribe set to -work upon it, holding his heavy hands clasped together behind his back -as he paced and turned.</p> - -<p>It was a strange night for Helmor of Zollaria, as he must have thought, -wherein Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu—the man who had thrice baffled his -purpose, sat with him in his own apartment, and rather than crushing -him wholly, now, in his final defeat—placed the objects of his seeking -in his hands—a strange night, indeed, whereon he owed not only his own -throne to his singular foeman—but the promise of a greater future than -ever to his nation—greater than he had dreamed in all his scheming.</p> - -<p>And then—the scribe had finished his labors. Helmor strode to the -table, removed his signet from his finger and affixed its seal to the -agreement. Through the windows of the apartment a faint gray light was -stealing—the harbinger of dawn.</p> - -<p>He replaced his signet, extended his hand to Jason. Across the promise -of a newer dawn for their people Helmor of Zollaria and the Mouthpiece -of Zitu struck palms.</p> - -<p>And in the light of that double dawn, the fullness of that double -peace, Jason and Naia of Aphur, Maia, the girl of Mazzeria, and Jason, -Son of Jason, went down to the waiting machine.</p> - -<p>Croft helped the women aboard and passed up the child. Cased in his -suit and helmet of leather, Avron took his place in the machine. Then -ere he followed, Jason turned to look into Helmor's face.</p> - -<p>"Hail Helmor—and farewell. And thou, Helmon, son of Helmor," he said.</p> - -<p>"Hail, Mouthpiece of Zitu—and Naia of Aphur—and farewell," they -replied.</p> - -<p>Up, up shot the plane; leaving Helmor and Helmon and the soldiery to -mark its swift ascent. Up, up it mounted over Berla, until the sunlight -caught it also, turning its wheeling vanes like the greater shapes -above them to gold. Up, up—the city fell away beneath it as it swung -in an ever widening circle, beneath the mighty ships that all night had -waited for its rising. Naia of Aphur lifted her voice.</p> - -<p>Clear, strong, true, and perfect as a golden bell, it mounted in a -paean of thanksgiving.</p> - -<p>"Hail, Zitu—father of all life—and thanks from a grateful heart. -Hail, Azil—giver of life—who poured life into the mold of life—from -which I was born. Thanks be to thee for the life that is mine—this -life—I hold from thee—to be mine own. Blessings—my blessings upon -thee, Ga—that I am a woman—my thanks for the tears with which, -womanlike, I have washed your feet—not knowing that so I washed out -also sorrow—preparing thereby my heart as a flask for the mellow wine -of life from which now joy is drunk."</p> - -<p>So sang Naia of Aphur, and I recognized the song as one of which Croft -had told me—as one she had sung on another occasion when she bore him -back from the camp of the Mazzerian army under Bandhor—as a chant—a -prayer, used by Tamarizian women for one who had lain at the very door -of death, and returned.</p> - -<p>Here, then, I think is the logical end of the story—with the -great plane driven south by Avron, and behind him, Maia, the girl -of Mazzeria, and Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu, and Naia of Aphur -singing—with Jason, Son of Jason, held safe in her cradling arms.</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JASON, SON OF JASON ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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