e craft upon which Tara of Helium
had hovered between life and death these many hours drifted slowly
before a gentle breeze above a landscape of rolling hills that once had
been lofty mountains upon a Martian continent. The girl was exhausted
from loss of sleep, from lack of food and drink, and from the nervous
reaction consequent to the terrifying experiences through which she had
passed. In the near distance, just topping an intervening hill, she
caught a momentary glimpse of what appeared to be a dome-capped tower.
Quickly she dropped the flier until the hill shut it off from the view
of the possible occupants of the structure she had seen. The tower
meant to her the habitation of man, suggesting the presence of water
and, perhaps, of food. If the tower was the deserted relic of a bygone
age she would scarcely find food there, but there was still a chance
that there might be water. If it was inhabited, then must her approach
be cautious, for only enemies might be expected to abide in so far
distant a land. Tara of Helium knew that she must be far from the twin
cities of her grandfather's empire, but had she guessed within even a
thousand haads of the reality, she had been stunned by realization of
the utter hopelessness of her state.

Keeping the craft low, for the buoyancy tanks were still intact, the
girl skimmed the ground until the gently-moving wind had carried her to
the side of the last hill that intervened between her and the structure
she had thought a man-built tower. Here she brought the flier to the
ground among some stunted trees, and dragging it beneath one where it
might be somewhat hidden from craft passing above, she made it fast and
set forth to reconnoiter. Like most women of her class she was armed
only with a single slender blade, so that in such an emergency as now
confronted her she must depend almost solely upon her cleverness in
remaining undiscovered by enemies. With utmost caution she crept warily
toward the crest of the hill, taking advantage of every natural screen
that the landscape afforded to conceal her approach from possible
observers ahead, while momentarily she cast quick glances rearward lest
she be taken by surprise from that quarter.

She came at last to the summit, where, from the concealment of a low
bush, she could see what lay beyond. Beneath her spread a beautiful
valley surrounded by low hills. Dotting it were numerous circular
towers, dome-capped, and surrounding each to