" she said soberly, "that there is something worse."

Bell was silent for an instant.

"For me," he said bitterly, "it is. Before The Master dares to make
his coup public, he must be sure that there will be no foreign
interference. So, he must establish a deputy in Washington. A
relatively few chosen men, completely enslaved, could hold back our
Government from any action. Leaders in Congress, and members of the
Cabinet, working, in defense of The Master because his defeat would
mean their madness.... He would demand no treason of them at first. He
would require simply that he should not be interfered with. But his
plans include the appointment of deputies in the United States later
on. I don't think he can subdue America. I don't think so. But he
could--and I think he would--send whole cities mad. And if you think
of that...."

* * * * *

He was silent, working. A long, long time later he swung on the
propeller. The motor caught. He throttled it down and watched it
grimly. The motor warmed up to normal, and stayed there.

"It will run," he said coldly. "Those two plugs in the crankcase may
come out at any time. I've tightened them a little. They'd worked
loose from the vibration. But--well.... That Service man was heading
for Asuncion. He'd been found out. They probably shot him down in
mid-air after he'd gotten away. His plane may be crashed anywhere in
the jungle within a mile or so. And I've two bearings on the _fazenda_
where Ribiera went, now. One from Asuncion through here and one from
Rio. I want to go back there to-night and dump burning gasoline on the
buildings, to do enough damage to disorganize things a little. Then
I'm going to try to make it to a seaport. We can stow away, perhaps."

He shut off the motor.

"We'll start at dusk. There'll be lights there. This report says it's
nearly a city--of slaves. We want the darkness for our getaway."

Paula looked at the sky.

"We have three hours," she said quietly. "Let us cook and eat. You
must keep up your strength, Charles."

She said it in all seriousness, with the air of one who has entire
confidence and is merely solicitous. And Bell, who knew of at least
three excellent reasons why neither of them should survive until
dawn--Bell looked at her queerly, and then grinned, and then took her
in his arms and kissed her. She seemed to like it.

And they lunched quite happily on _piranha_ and _pacu_--which is
smaller--an