ace. They have tried to mix with
those of the Light Country. It doesn't work. There's been trouble for
generations; trouble over the women, for one thing. Anyhow, the Twilight
People have been kept out as much as possible. Now this fellow Tao--"

"Let Miela explain about the women first," Beth interjected.

Then Miela went on to tell me that only the females of Mercury had
wings--given them by the Creator as a protection against the pursuit of
the male. At marriage, to insure submission to the will of her husband, a
woman's wings were clipped. For more than a generation now there had been
a growing rebellion on the part of the women against this practice. In
this movement Miela's mother, Lua, was a leader. To overcome this
masculine desire for physical superiority and dominance which he had had
for centuries seemed practically impossible. Yet, Miela said, the leaders
of the women now felt that some progress was being made in changing public
sentiment, although so far not a single man had been found who would take
for mate a woman with wings unclipped.

This was partly from personal pride and partly because the laws of the
country made such a union illegal, its parties moral outlaws, its children
illegitimate, and thus not entitled to the government benefits bestowed
upon all offspring of legitimate parentage. It was this man-made law the
women were fighting, and of recent years fighting more and more
militantly.

This was the situation when Tao suddenly projected himself into public
affairs as the leader of a new movement. Tao had paid court to Miela
without success. He was active in the fight against the woman movement--a
brilliant orator, crafty, unscrupulous, a good leader. Leadership was to
him purely a matter of personal gain. He felt no deep, sincere interest in
any public movement for any other reason.

Interplanetary communication had become of latter years a possibility;
science had invented and perfected the means. So far these vehicles had
only been used for short trips to the outer edge of the atmosphere of
Mercury--trips that were giving scientific men much valuable knowledge of
atmospheric conditions, and which it was thought would ultimately enable
them to counteract the storms and make the Fire Country habitable. No
trips into space had been made.

Tao now came forward with the proposition to undertake a new world
conquest--a conquest of Venus or the earth. These planets recently had
been observed