wed meekly when
he was led from the ship.

Endlessly they rode upward in a high-speed lift, dismounting finally at
a pneumatic tube entrance. A special car whisked them roaring into the
blackness. Then they were shot forth into the open and Karl saw the
light of the sun for the first time in many years. They were on the
upper surface of a great city, Dorn, the capital the Continental
Empire.

The air was filled with darting ships of all sorts and sizes, most of
them being pleasure craft of the wearers of the purple. To Karl it was
the sudden realization of his dreams. He was one of them. He, too,
should be wearing the purple. Then his heart sank as one of his guards
prodded him into action. His dream already was shattered for they stood
at the entrance to a great crystal pyramid that rose from the flat
expanse of the roofs of Dorn. It was the palace of the Zar.

It seemed then that fairyland had opened its gates to the young man in
gray denim. He immediately fell under its influence when they traversed
a long lane between rows of brightly colored growing things which filled
the air with sweet odors. Feathered creatures fluttered about and
twittered and caroled in the sheer joy of being alive. It was sweeter
music than he had ever believed possible or even imagined as existing.
Again he forgot the menace of the imperial edict which had brought him
from the other side of the world.

* * * * *

Then rudely, he was brought back to earth. He was in the presence of the
mighty Zar and his three escorts were bowing themselves from the huge
room in which the wizened monarch sat enthroned. They had finished their
duties.

A shriveled face; beady eyes; trembling hands with abnormally large
knuckles; a cruel and determined mouth--these were the features that
most impressed Karl as he stared wordlessly at this Zar of the Eastern
Hemisphere. The magnificence of the royal robe was lost on the young
wearer of the gray.

"Well, well, so this is Peter Van Dorn, my beloved nephew." The Zar was
speaking and the chilly sarcasm in which the words were uttered belied
the friendliness they otherwise might have implied.

"That's what I'm told," replied Karl, "though I didn't know I'm supposed
to be the nephew of so great a figure as yourself."

Not bad that, for an humble wearer of the gray.

"Oh, yes, yes, indeed. Why else should I have sent for you?"

"I have wondered why--and still wonder."

"Oh