, you wonder, eh?" The Zar inspected him carefully and then broke
into a cackle of horrible laughter. "A Van Dorn in gray denim!" he
chortled. "A mole of the Americas! And to think that even the Zar has
been unable to find him in all these years!"

"Stop!" bellowed Karl. "I'll not have your ridicule. Come to the point
now and have it over with. Kill me if you will, but tell me the story!"
He had seen the slender tube in the Zar's hand.

* * * * *

An expression of surprise, almost of admiration, flickered in the beady
eyes of the Zar and was gone. He spoke coldly.

"Very well, I shall explain. You, Peter, are actually my nephew. Your
father, Derek Van Dorn, was my brother; he a king of Belravia and I a
poor but experienced scientist. He scorned me and he paid, for I learned
of the ancient race of the other side of the Moon, the side we can not
see from the earth. I went to them and enlisted their aid in warring
upon my brother. When we returned to carry on this war I learned that I
had a son. So, too, did Derek. But my son was born in obscurity and
Derek's son--you, Peter--in the lap of luxury. The war was short and, to
me, sweet. Belravia was first to fall, and I had your father removed
from this life by the vibrating death."

"You monster!" cried Karl. But the slender rod menaced him.

"A moment, my hot-headed nephew. I vowed I'd have your life, Peter, but
your father had a few friends and one of these spirited you away. So
temporarily you escaped. But now I have you where I can keep that vow.
You, too, shall die. By the vibration. But first--ha! ha!--I'll give you
a taste of the purple. Just so the going will be harder."

Karl kept his temper as best he could. He thought, conscience-stricken,
of old Rudolph, that good friend of his father. Then he thought of that
youth he had taken from the Square.

"Your son?" he asked gently. "Has he the triangular brand?"

The Zar was taken aback. "He has, yes. Why?" he asked.

"I have seen him in the Americas. He now lies wounded and in peril of
his life. What do you think of that?"

Karl was triumphant as the Zar paled.

"You lie, Peter Van Dorn!"

* * * * *

But the beady eyes saw that the young man was truthful. Sudden fury
assailed the monarch of the East. A bell pealed its mellow summons and
three Moon men entered the Presence.

"Quick, Taru--the radiovision! Our ambassador in the Americas!" The Z