t little we know, and now we each have the
benefit of two lifetimes, spent upon different worlds! I must admit,
though, that I have a whole lot of knowledge that I don't know how to
use."

"I am glad you take it that way," returned the other warmly, "for I am
infinitely the better off for the exchange. The knowledge I imparted was
nothing, compared to that which I received. But time presses--I must
tell you our situation. I am, as you now know, the Kofedix of Kondal.
The other thirteen are fedo and fediro, or, as you would say, princes
and princesses of the same nation. We were captured by one of Nalboon's
raiding parties while upon a hunting trip, being overcome by some new,
stupefying gas, so that we could not kill ourselves. As you know, Kondal
and Mardonale have been at war for over ten thousand karkamo--something
more than six thousand years of your time. The war between us is one of
utter extermination. Captives are never exchanged and only once during
an ordinary lifetime does one ever escape. Our attendants were killed
immediately. We were being taken to furnish sport for Nalboon's party by
being fed to one of his captive kolono--animals something like your
earthly devilfish--when the escort of battleships was overcome by those
four karlono, the animals you saw, and one of them seized Nalboon's
plane, in which we were prisoners. You killed the karlon, saving our
lives as well as those of Nalboon and his party.

* * * * *

"Having saved his life, you and your party should be honored guests of
the most honored kind, and I venture to say that you would be so
regarded in any other nation of the universe. But Nalboon, the Domak--a
title equivalent to your word 'Emperor' and our word 'Karfedix'--of
Mardonale, is utterly without either honor or conscience, as are all
Mardonalians. At first he was afraid of you, as were we all. We thought
you visitors from a planet of our fifteenth sun, which is now at its
nearest possible approach to us. After your display of superhuman power
and ability, we expected instant annihilation. However, after seeing the
Skylark as a machine, discovering that you are short of power, and
finding that you are gentle instead of bloodthirsty by nature, Nalboon
lost his fear of you and resolved to rob you of your vessel, with its
wonderful secrets of power. Though we are so ignorant of chemistry that
I cannot understand the thousandth part of what I just learned fr