which the Chisee could not advance even did they,
at some future date, carry out their plans. The worst possible result
then would be that the people in the sunlit portion would have to
migrate from certain sections, and perhaps would have day and night,
alternately, as do other worlds.

"This is the agreement we have reached; it is the only one that will
save this world. Do you approve, sir?"

"No! Return immediately, and we will show the Chisee that they cannot
hold an officer of the Special Patrol as a hostage. Make haste!"

* * * * *

"It's no go, sir," came the reply instantly. "I threatened them first.
I explained what our disintegrator rays would do, and Wieschien
laughed at me.

"This city is built upon great subterranean passages that lead to many
hidden exits. If we show the least sign of hostility the work will be
resumed on the canal, and, before we can locate the spot, and stop the
work, the damage will be done.

"This is our only chance, sir, to make this expedition a complete
success. Permit me to judge this fact from the evidence I have before
me. Whatever sacrifice there is to make, I make gladly. Wieschien asks
that you depart at once, and in peace, and I know this is the only
course. Good-by, sir; convey my salutations to my other friends upon
the old _Ertak_, and elsewhere. And now, lest my last act as an
officer of the Special Patrol Service be to refuse to obey the
commands of my superior officer, I am removing the menore. Good-by!"

I tried to reach him again, but there was no response.

Gone! He was gone! Swallowed up in darkness and in silence!

* * * * *

Dazed, shaken to the very foundation of my being, I stood there
between the shadowy bulk of the _Ertak_ and the towering mass of the
great silent pile that was the seat of government in this strange land
of darkness, and gazed up at the dark sky above me. I am not ashamed,
now, to say that hot tears trickled down my cheeks, nor that as I
turned back to the _Ertak_, my throat was so gripped by emotion that I
could not speak.

I ordered the exit closed with a wave of my hand; in the navigating
room I said but four words: "We depart at once."

At the third meal of the day I gathered my officers about me and told
them, as quickly and as gently as I could, of the sacrifice one of
their number had made.

It was Kincaide who, when I had finished, rose slowly and made reply