n."

Maskull gave an uneasy laugh. "What Corpang doesn't tell you,
Sullenbode, is that I am far better acquainted with Muspel-light than
he, and that, but for a chance meeting with me, he would still be saying
his prayers in Threal."

"Still, what he says must be true," she replied, looking from one to the
other.

"And so I am not to be allowed to--"

"So long as I am with you, I shall urge you onward, and not backward,
Maskull."

"We need not quarrel yet," he remarked, with a forced smile. "No doubt
things will straighten themselves out."

Sullenbode began kicking the snow about with her foot. "I picked up
another piece of wisdom in my sleep, Corpang."

"Tell it to me, then."

"Men who live by laws and rules are parasites. Others shed their
strength to bring these laws out of nothing into the light of day, but
the law-abiders live at their ease--they have conquered nothing for
themselves."

"It is given to some to discover, and to others to preserve and perfect.
You cannot condemn me for wishing Maskull well."

"No, but a child cannot lead a thunderstorm."

They started walking again along the centre of the ridge. All three were
abreast, Sullenbode in the middle.

The road descended by an easy gradient, and was for a long distance
comparatively smooth. The freezing point seemed higher than on Earth,
for the few inches of snow through which they trudged felt almost warm
to their naked feet. Maskull's soles were by now like tough hides. The
moonlit snow was green and dazzling. Their slanting, abbreviated shadows
were sharply defined, and red-black in colour. Maskull, who walked
on Sullenbode's right hand, looked constantly to the left, toward the
galaxy of glorious distant peaks.

"You cannot belong to this world," said the woman. "Men of your stamp
are not to be looked for here."

"No, I have come here from Earth."

"Is that larger than our world?"

"Smaller, I think. Small, and overcrowded with men and women. With all
those people, confusion would result but for orderly laws, and
therefore the laws are of iron. As adventure would be impossible without
encroaching on these laws, there is no longer any spirit of adventure
among the Earthmen. Everything is safe, vulgar, and completed."

"Do men hate women there, and women men?"

"No, the meeting of the sexes is sweet, though shameful. So poignant is
the sweetness that the accompanying shame is ignored, with open eyes.
There is no hatred, or only a