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of blood. Here no such thing is thought of. To begin with, no person who
is not thoroughly sound can remain with us. Every heart-beat is heard by
our medical men and every vein is transparent. You see evidences of
the benefit of our system in the men and women around you. All our
conveniences, the excellence of our products, our great inventions are
the result."

"I have been wondering about the size of your country," ventured
Thorndyke cautiously.

The king smiled. "That will be one of the things for you to discover
later," he returned. "But this, the City of Moron, is the capital; our
provinces, farming lands, smaller cities, towns and hamlets lie around
us. Come with me and I will show you something."

He waved his hand and dismissed a number of courtiers who were waiting
to be called, and rose from the throne and led the two captives into a
large apartment adjoining the throne-room. Here they found six men in
blue uniforms looking into a large circular mirror on a table. They all
bowed and moved aside as the king approached.

"These men are the municipal police," explained the king, resting his
hand on the gold frame of the glass; "they are watching the city." And
when the strangers drew nearer they were surprised to see reflected,
in the deeply concave glass, the entire city in miniature; its streets,
parks, public buildings, and moving populace. And what seemed to be the
most remarkable feature of the invention was, that the instant the eye
rested on any particular portion of the whole that part was at once
magnified so that every detail of it was clearly observable.

"This is an improvement on your police system," continued the king. "No
sooner does anything go wrong than a red signal is given on the spot of
the trouble and the attention of these officers is immediately called
to it. A flying machine is sent out and the offender is brought to the
police station; but trouble of any nature rarely occurs, and the duties
of our police are merely nominal; my people live in thorough harmony.
Now, come with me and I will give you an idea of the surrounding
country."

As the king spoke he led them into a circular room, the roof of which
was of white glass, and the walls were lined with large mirrors.

"This is our general observatory from which every part of Alpha can be
seen," said the king with a touch of pride in his tone. "Look at the
mirror in front of you."

They did as he requested, and at first saw n