torius' side waiting,
watching for the appearance of a humbled Jarmuthian delegation.

"Never since the world began has there been such a hero in Atlans!"
cried Altorius, his face more Roman than ever. "Prithee tarry amongst
us, Hero Nelson. Thou shalt be as my brother. A marble palace shalt
thou have and twenty wives, each fair as those damsels which thou
hast, by thy might, rescued from the profane altar of the fiend,
Beelzebub!"

"Thanks," laughed Nelson, and drained a goblet of tawny wine. "I'd be
delighted to stay, but the point is--He broke off short, for there
came a sudden tramp of feet at the door of the great hall and there,
just visible above the green crests of the royal guards, he recognized
that pale, drawn face which had haunted him ever since he had returned
to find the abandoned aeroplane.

"Dick!" he shouted. "Dick Alden!"

"Nelson!"

With that same irresistible form which had won a certain November
classic for Harvard, Richard Alden bucked and plunged through a double
rank of startled guards and came running across the marble floor, his
eyes lit with an unspeakable gladness.

"Nelson! Nelson!" he panted. "What in hell are you doing up there?"

"Oh!" replied the aviator with a joyous grin, "just visiting with my
friend, the Emperor."

* * * * *

Alden halted, on his handsome features a curious mixture of surprise
and delight. "The Emperor?" he stammered. "You sitting beside an
Emperor?"

"Would it not seem so?" inquired Altorius with a low laugh.

"It would," chuckled Alden. "Victor Nelson, as I remember, always was
a good politician."

"And," thought Nelson, "I'll have to be a damn sight better one to get
us out of Atlans without injuring Altorius' feelings. I don't suppose
he'll ever be able to realize that all the desirable things in the
world don't lie in this valley."

Throngs of brilliantly armored and plumed officers and courtiers, some
of them nursing wounds and bandaged heads, came up to hail the mighty
wanderer who had subdued the might of Jarmuth.

Flushed and pleased, as is any normal man under well-earned praise,
Nelson shook one wiry fist after another, while Alden chatted with the
Emperor. Nobles, officers and courtiers all pressed close to fawn upon
the new hero--but, far back in the council chamber, a group of dark
robed priests were crowded together. Haranguing the priests was a
fierce, white bearded old man who seemed to be arguing vi