e slight sound, warned Pegrani and he turned on
his heel just as the slender lad was slinking away. Black rage
contorted his features and Blaine saw him make a quick motion toward
the inner folds of his jacket.

"Pegrani!" he shouted as he saw a glint of steel. "Don't!"

But it was too late and the Llott paid him no attention, anyway. One of
those wicked ray pistols sent forth its crackling blue flame and the
youth stood there, bathed in the eery blue light; dazzling blasts of
exploding atoms were seen within the flare. Then there was the
nothingness into which Wahoney and Kelly had gone.

Blaine shouted horrified and angry protest and Tommy rushed in to mix
it with their guide. But the glowing ray pistol waved them back. Other
guards--the big green-bronze ones--were running in their direction.

"The message!" Pegrani snapped. "Give it to me."

Quick as a flash Blaine crumpled the foil more tightly. A hard little
pellet now, he tossed it over the rail far into the matted vegetation
below. One might as well hunt for a needle in a haystack as for that
tiny ball. But Pegrani would not forget; he'd report to the Zara. They
were in for it now.

CHAPTER IV

_Before the Council_

Pegrani lost no time in reporting the incident to the Zara. The Earth
men were hustled to the throne room of the palace where the leopard
woman sat in conference with her advisers. An ominous silence greeted
their entrance. Ugly faces leered at them from the long table.

"What is it, Pegrani?" The Zara's chalky face went whiter still.

"The Rulans, Your Majesty. They have endeavored to communicate with the
prisoners."

"Did they succeed?" Clyone's voice was terrible in its fury.

"They did not. I destroyed the messenger, and the message itself was
lost in the jungle where Carson flung it."

The Zara shot a fleeting glance in Blaine's direction and permitted
herself the ghost of a smile. "It is well," she breathed. "But it must
not happen again. Have Tiedor brought to me."

Pegrani hurried off to do her bidding and Blaine turned uncertainly to
follow.

"You will remain, Carson--you and Farley." The incisive voice of the
leopard woman halted him in his tracks.

Tiedor was chief of the Rulans, it developed. There was but a handful
of them in the realm and they were the last survivors of the
civilization of Europa; descendants of those original brave souls who
had settled on Io as a last resort in the effort to perpetuate their