ny things. And he was weighing
them carefully. His hand clasped and unclasped at something safely
hidden in his pocket. He had taken it from his pack; he had wanted
something for Marahna, something she would treasure.

* * * * *

And now she was offering him herself. He could take her with him, take
her to that far-off world that she never dreamed existed. He could
show her the things of that world, its wonders and beauties. He could
train her in its ways. He would watch over her, love her.... And she
would be miserable and heartsick for the sight of this awful
desolation. He knew it--he told himself it was the truth--and he hated
himself for the telling.

The voice of Winslow aroused him. The inventor had come from his ship.
"We had better be starting," he said.

The slim figure of the girl in her robe of pure gold trembled visibly.
She knew, it was plain, the import of the words. She spoke rapidly,
beseechingly, in her own tongue. The words were liquid music in the
air. Then, realizing their impotence, she resorted to her poor
vocabulary of their own strange sounds.

"No!" she said, and shook her head vehemently. "No--no!"

She motioned to wait, and she called loud and clear across the silence
to her own people. There was a stir about the priests. One in the
robes and head-dress of the high priest was brought forward, led by
two others of her men. They stopped a few steps from her and bowed
low.

Again she called, and the leaders among the vast throng came, too, and
made their obeisance before her.

* * * * *

She turned then to Jerry. And now it was Marahna, Princess of the
Moon, who stood quiet and poised before him. The light, he saw, made
soft wavelets of radiance in her hair, and her eyes were still glowing
and tender. She stepped forward toward the priest.

The helmet of the sun god was upon his head. It marked him, Jerry
knew, as the master of their world. True, they had bowed in
submission to that other master, whose vile head lay horrible and
harmless on the floor of the great hall--they had believed in the
commands the priests had pretended to receive from him--but this
emblem on the helmet marked the leader of the race, the master of this
world, for these simple folk.

Marahna reached her slim hands and lifted the thing of gold. She
turned, and held it above the startled eyes of Jerry Foster, and she
placed it upon his head with al