keeping the rendezvous. "The odds are
pretty heavily against me, M. S.," he went on. "It would be stupid not
to admit that I may not come out of this affair alive--and that's why
I'm calling. My affairs, of course, are in your hands. You know where my
storerooms and papers are. Sell my trading posts and ranches; Hartz of
Newark-on-Venus is the best man to deal through. But I'd advise you to
keep for yourself that information on the Pool of Radium. Look into it
sometime. I'm in Judd's ship, the _Scorpion_; our _Star Devil's_ on
Iapetus, hidden in the jungle near the ranch. That's all, I think."

"Carse, I should be with you!"

"No, M. S.--couldn't risk it. You're too valuable a man. But don't
worry, you know my luck. I'll very likely be down to see you after this
meeting, and perhaps with a visitor who will enable you once again to
return to an honorable position on Earth. Where will you be?"

"In eight Earth days? Let's make it Porno, at the house you know. I'll
come in for some supplies and wait for you."

"Good," the Hawk said shortly. "Good-by, M. S."

He paused, his hand on the switch. There came a parting wish:

"Good luck, old fellow. Get him! _Get him!_"

The Master Scientist's voice trembled at the end. Through Ku Sui he had
lost honor, position, home--all good things a man on Earth may have;
through Ku Sui he, the gentlest of men, was regarded by Earthlings as a
black murderer and there was a price on his head. Hawk Carse did not
miss the trembling in his voice. As he switched off, the adventurer's
eyes went bleak as the loneliest deeps of space....

CHAPTER II

_The Coming of Ku Sui_

Straight through the vast cold reaches that stretched between one mighty
planet and another the _Scorpion_ arrowed, Carse and Friday standing
watch and watch, Sako always on duty with the latter. Behind, Saturn's
rings melted smaller, and ahead a dusky speck grew against the vault of
space until the red belts and one great seething crimson spot that
marked it as Jupiter stood out plainly. By degrees, then, the ship's
course was altered as Carse checked his calculations and made minor
corrections in speed and direction. So they neared the rendezvous. And a
puzzled furrow grew on Friday's brow.

What was bothering his master? Instead of becoming more impassive and
coldly emotionless as the distance shortened, he showed distinct signs
of worry. This might be natural in most men, but it was unusual in the
Hawk. O