een, and so she
guessed that these must be higher in authority than the others. Nor was
she mistaken. The demeanor of her captor indicated it. He addressed
them as one who holds intercourse with superiors.

Several of those who examined her felt her flesh, pinching it gently
between thumb and forefinger, a familiarity that the girl resented. She
struck down their hands. "Do not touch me!" she cried, imperiously, for
was she not a princess of Helium? The expression on those terrible
faces did not change. She could not tell whether they were angry or
amused, whether her action had filled them with respect for her, or
contempt. Only one of them spoke immediately.

"She will have to be fattened more," he said.

The girl's eyes went wide with horror. She turned upon her captor. "Do
these frightful creatures intend to devour me?" she cried.

"That is for Luud to say," he replied, and then he leaned closer so
that his mouth was near her ear. "That noise you made which you called
song pleased me," he whispered, "and I will repay you by warning you
not to antagonize these kaldanes. They are very powerful. Luud listens
to them. Do not call them frightful. They are very handsome. Look at
their wonderful trappings, their gold, their jewels."

"Thank you," she said. "You called them kaldanes--what does that mean?"

"We are all kaldanes," he replied.

"You, too?" and she pointed at him, her slim finger directed toward his
chest.

"No, not this," he explained, touching his body; "this is a rykor; but
this," and he touched his head, "is a kaldane. It is the brain, the
intellect, the power that directs all things. The rykor," he indicated
his body, "is nothing. It is not so much even as the jewels upon our
harness; no, not so much as the harness itself. It carries us about. It
is true that we would find difficulty getting along without it; but it
has less value than harness or jewels because it is less difficult to
reproduce." He turned again to the other kaldanes. "Will you notify
Luud that I am here?" he asked.

"Sept has already gone to Luud. He will tell him," replied one. "Where
did you find this rykor with the strange kaldane that cannot detach
itself?"

The girl's captor narrated once more the story of her capture. He
stated facts just as they had occurred, without embellishment, his
voice as expressionless as his face, and his story was received in the
same manner that it was delivered. The creatures seemed totally l