gnificance of what had been transpiring at the Water Festival was not
clear to Elza; she did not know what was impending, but as she sat there
with Tarrano beside her, a sense of danger oppressed her. Danger which
lay like a weight upon her heart. Yet several times she found herself
laughing--hilarious; and from Maida's warning glance, and the steadying
odor which Maida wafted to her, she knew that Tarrano was using the
alcholite fumes to intoxicate her.

The Red Woman and Tarrano were upon the dais. There came a flash; then
darkness. Elza went cold with terror. She sat stiff and silent, while
around her surged that turmoil of confusion. The smell of chemicals was
in the air; her skin prickled as with a million tiny needles where
sparks now began to snap against it.

How long she crouched there, or what was happening, Elza did not know.
But presently she heard Tarrano's voice in her ear.

"Come, Lady Elza, I must get you out of this." In the darkness his face
glowed wraith-like. Then she felt his hand upon her arm.

"Come, we must leave here. I would not have you endangered."

With a haste and roughness that belied the calm solicitude of his words,
he pulled her to her feet. There was light in the pavilion now. Elza saw
dimly the turmoil of struggling figures; and then she saw the scene
duplicated--saw it shift and sway in crazy fashion. Though she did not
know it, she was looking out along the curved rays which Tarrano was
sending from them. Sparks were snapping everywhere. A second image of
Tarrano appeared to the left of her--she saw it in a mirror nearby--yet
he was at her right, gripping her arm.

"Hurry, Lady Elza."

She found herself being dragged along the balcony; stumbling over a body
lying there; feeling a surge of heat and electric disturbance beat
against her face. Then Tarrano had her in his arms, carrying her. She
heard him curse as a sudden wave of fire seemed to strike them--hostile
rays bringing a numbness to muscles and brain. Tarrano was fumbling at
his belt; and through a shower of sparks he stumbled onward with his
burden.

Elza's senses were fading. Vaguely she was conscious that Tarrano was
carrying her down an incline to the ground. Grateful, cool air. Stars
overhead. Trees; foliage; shimmering water. The screams and confusion of
the pavilion growing fainter....

When Elza regained consciousness, she was lying in the bottom of a
little boat, Tarrano beside her.

"So? You have awakene