ely original
with himself, and he took great delight in delivering it to the
discomfiture of his enemies. As he was leaving the little group of men
I-Gos called after him. "At what hour does O-Tar intend visiting the
chambers of O-Mai?" he asked.

"Toward the end of the eighth zode*," replied the major-domo, and went
his way.

* About 1:00 A. M. Earth Time.

"We shall see," stated I-Gos.

"What shall we see?" asked a warrior.

"We shall see whether O-Tar visits the chamber of O-Mai."

"How?"

"I shall be there myself and if I see him I will know that he has been
there. If I don't see him I will know that he has not," explained the
old taxidermist.

"Is there anything there to fill an honest man with fear?" asked a
chieftain. "What have you seen?"

"It was not so much what I saw, though that was bad enough, as what I
heard," said I-Gos.

"Tell us! What heard and saw you?"

"I saw the dead O-Mai," said I-Gos. The others shuddered.

"And you went not mad?" they asked.

"Am I mad?" retorted I-Gos.

"And you will go again?"

"Yes."

"Then indeed you are mad," cried one.

"You saw the dead O-Mai; but what heard you that was worse?" whispered
another.

"I saw the dead O-Mai lying upon the floor of his sleeping chamber with
one foot tangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon his couch. I heard
horrid moans and frightful screams."

"And you are not afraid to go there again?" demanded several.

"The dead cannot harm me," said I-Gos. "He has lain thus for five
thousand years. Nor can a sound harm me. I heard it once and live--I
can hear it again. It came from almost at my side where I hid behind
the hangings and watched the slave Turan before I snatched the woman
away from him."

"I-Gos, you are a very brave man," said a chieftain.

"O-Tar called me 'doddering fool' and I would face worse dangers than
lie in the forbidden chambers of O-Mai to know it if he does not visit
the chamber of O-Mai. Then indeed shall O-Tar fall!"

The night came and the zodes dragged and the time approached when
O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, was to visit the chamber of O-Mai in search
of the slave Turan. To us, who may doubt the existence of malignant
spirits, his fear may seem unbelievable, for he was a strong man, an
excellent swordsman, and a warrior of great repute; but the fact
remained that O-Tar of Manator was nervous with apprehension as he
strode the corridors of his palace toward the deserted halls of O-Mai
and