usband had done scant justice to the
establishment by calling it a dry fish shop. It is true, fish supplied
the staple of the repast, as was inevitable in a seaport, but, like all
Martian fish, it was of ambrosial kind, with a savour about it of wine
and sunshine such as no fish on our side of space can boast of. Then
there were cakes, steaming and hot, vegetables which fitted into the
previous course with exquisite nicety, and, lastly, a wooden tankard of
the invariable Thither beer to finish off. Such a meal as a hungry man
might consider himself fortunate to meet with any day.

The woman watched me eat with much satisfaction, and when I had
answered a score of artless questions about my previous state, or
present condition and prospects, more or less to her satisfaction, she
supplied me in turn with some information which was really valuable to
me just then.

First I learned that Ar-hap's men, with the abducted Heru, had passed
through this very port two days before, and by this time were probably
in the main town, which, it appeared, was only about twelve hours'
rowing up the salt-water estuary outside. Here was news! Heru, the
prize and object of my wild adventure, close at hand and well. It
brought a whole new train of thoughts, for the last few days had been
so full of the stress of travel, the bare, hard necessity of getting
forward, that the object of my quest, illogical as it may seem, had
gone into the background before these things. And here again, as I
finished the last cake and drank down to the bottom of the ale tankard,
the extreme folly of the venture came upon me, the madness of venturing
single-handed into the den of the Wood King. What had I to hope for?
What chance, however remote, was there of successfully wresting that
blooming prize from the arms of her captor? Force was out of the
question; stealth was utterly impractical; as for cajolery, apparently
the sole remaining means of winning back the Princess--why, one might
as well try the persuasion of a penny flute upon a hungry eagle as seek
to rouse Ar-hap's sympathies for bereaved Hath in that way. Surely to
go forward would mean my own certain destruction, with no advantage, no
help to Heru; and if I was ever to turn back or stop in the idle quest,
here was the place and time. My Hither friends were behind the sea; to
them I could return before it was too late, and here were the rough but
honest Thither folk, who would doubtless let me