y of barbarians and savages. So he had
delegated the rule of a vast area to the south to another--a Lieutenant
commander James, known as "One-Eye," a man who had helped finance the
original expedition, and had arrived after the conquest.

One-Eye went south and made very small headway against the more barbaric
tribes there. He did not become rich, and he did not achieve anywhere
near the success that the Viceroy had. So he came back north with his
army and decided to unseat the Viceroy and take his place. That was five
years after the capture of the Greatest Noble.

One-Eye took Center City, the old capital, and started to work his way
northward, toward Kingston. The Viceroy's forces met him at a place
known as Salt Flats and thoroughly trounced him. He was captured, tried
for high treason, and executed.

One would think that the execution ended the threat of Lieutenant
commander James, but not so. He had a son, and he had had followers.

XV

Nine years. Nine years since the breaking of a vast empire. It really
didn't seem like it. The Viceroy looked at his hands. They were veined
and thin, and the callouses were gone. Was he getting soft, or just
getting old? A little bit--no, a _great deal_ of both.

He sat in his study, in the Viceregal Palace at Kingston, chewing over
the events of the past weeks. Twice, rumors had come that he was to be
assassinated. He and two of his councilors had been hanged in effigy in
the public square not long back. He had been snubbed publicly by some of
the lesser nobles.

Had he ruled harshly, or was it just jealousy? And was it, really, as
some said, caused by the Southerners and the followers of Young Jim?

He didn't know. And sometimes, it seemed as if it didn't matter.

Here he was, sitting alone in his study, when he should have gone to a
public function. And he had stayed because of fear of assassination.

Was it--

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

A servant entered. "Sir Martin is here, my lord."

The Viceroy got to his feet. "Show him in, by all means."

Sir Martin, just behind the servant, stepped in, smiling, and the
Viceroy returned his smile. "Well, everything went off well enough
without you," said Sir Martin.

"Any sign of trouble?"

"None, my lord; none whatsoever. The--"

"Damn!" the Viceroy interrupted savagely. "I should have known! What
have I done but display my cowardice? I'm getting yellow in my old age!"

Sir Martin shook h