e with him
in silence, his mind was busy.

Passage through the white flames of the Moon had given him the key.
Those white flames--source of all life on the Moon--rendered almost
godlike those whom it bathed ... gave them unbelievable access of mental
brilliance ... were the source of that blue column which had forced the
Earth outward toward Mars ... were the source, in some way, of the cubes
themselves, as he and Jaska, after passing through them, owed their now
near-divinity to the same white flames! Those flames had made Luar
mistress of the Moon--therefore of the Gnomes and of the cubes!
Therefore, Sarka, having been bathed in the flames, should make himself
master of the cubes, if he could out-will the combined determinations of
Luar and of Dalis!

His confidence was supreme as he fled through outer darkness toward the
eery light which came from the area of demolitions. Looking ahead, he
could see tiny glows in the sky, which he knew to be the rebels of
Dalis' Gens, flying to keep their rendezvous with him.

Higher mounted his courage and his confidence as he approached the
roaring crash, perpetual and always mounting, which showed him where the
cube-army was busiest. The sound vibrated the very air, causing the
bodies of Sarka to tingle with it, causing them to flutter and shake in
their flight with its awesome power. But they did not hold back, flew
onward through the gloom, leaving behind them the brightly lighted areas
where Gens of Earth battled with the fireballs of the Martians, moving
into the area of the eery glowing of the cubes.

* * * * *

Just as he approached the spot where mighty dwellings were tumbling
before the march of the cube-army, he sent a single command toward the
cube which had piloted him from the Moon.

"Come to me on the edge of the crevasse nearest the place of most
destruction!"

Would the cube now be subservient to his will? He wondered. Everything
depended upon that. If not, then he might as well try to stay the forces
of a mighty avalanche with his breath, as halt the cube-army with his
will.

But strangely enough, the closer he came to the vast area of tumbling
dwellings the calmer he became, the more sure that he would win against
the cubes.

For when he landed at the lip of the crevasse, across which he could
look for a hundred miles, a single cube gleamed brightly almost at his
feet, awaiting his orders!

One by one, by twos, threes,