an," Sime said in a low voice, "out in the corridor--"

But Murray squeezed his hand warningly, pulled him to the floor.

"Might as well get some sleep," the old man said in ordinary tones.
"Plenty cool here. Let's lie together."

He kept his hold on Sime's wrist, and, by alternately squeezing and
releasing, began to talk in a silent telegraphic code.

"Don't say anything of importance," he spelled out. "They have mikes
in here to pick up all we say. Probably infra-red telenses too, so
they can see what we do."

So Sime told him, as they huddled together in simulated sleep, about
the walled passages, and they speculated on the possibility of felling
the guards and breaking their way to freedom through some underground
cavern. But at last they slept soundly to await the tortures of the
next morning.

CHAPTER III

_The Price of Monarchy_

Had Sime been able to follow and watch the girl he had kissed under
such unusual circumstances on the night of his arrival on Mars, he
would have been both puzzled and enlightened. After her final warning
about Scar Balta she dashed into the luxurious gloom of the passage.
At an intersection a maid was awaiting her. She curtseyed as she threw
a cape over the girl's shoulder, and together they hurried out into
the night.

A magnificently uniformed hotel servant called a private car, drew the
vitrine curtains, and saluted as the car lifted sharply into the
chilly night air. The car sped across the canal to the jeweled city
across the water, to a residence district whose magnificence even the
pale night light revealed.

The two women entered a mansion of glittering metal and came to a
private apartment.

"Everybody's gone to bed," said the girl, addressing her maid.
"That's one thing we can be thankful for."

"Yes, Your Highness. Did you discover anything of importance in the
man's room?"

"No. Draw me a bath, Mellie. He--he caught me--and kissed me!"

The maid, with flasks of perfume and aromatic oils in her hand,
paused, discreetly impudent.

"You seem not displeased, Your Highness."

"But of that he had no inkling." And Princess Sira laughed. "I left
him standing, utterly at a loss. He took me for a common assassin, and
yet he wanted to kiss me. That pleased me. But if he had valuable
information he kept it. And I promised him death for his kiss."

* * * * *

As Princess Sira, claimant to the throne of a planet, slipped into