t a pace which no Terrestrial could equal. It was evident to
the watchers that he would seize Lura before she could reach the
sanctuary she sought.

A mingled chorus of cries of rage and hisses came from the Earthmen who
witnessed the scene. The Jovian guards strove to suppress the outcries
until a word from Havenner made them cease their efforts and close in
around the Viceregal chariot. The cries rose to a tumult but as yet none
of the Earthmen dared to raise a hand against the person of the
representative of Tubain, the far-off Jovian whom they had been forced
to acknowledge as God, and whom many of the ignorant believed _was_ God.

The Viceroy rapidly overtook his victim and his hand was outstretched to
grasp her when there came an interruption. From the doorway which the
girl had been striving to reach, a man burst forth and leaped between
her and her pursuer. Glavour stopped and glowered at the new obstacle in
the path of his sensuality.

The newcomer stood five inches over six feet in his flat sandals but it
was only in his unusual height and his enormous strength that he showed
the blood of his Jovian father. His feet were small and shapely with a
high-arched instep and his whole form was graceful and symmetrical.
Crisply curling yellow hair surmounted a head which Praxiteles would
have reveled in as a model for his youthful Hermes. As he faced the
Viceroy, his usual pleasant smile was gone and his face was set in grim
lines, his clear blue eyes as cold as the ice brought from the polar
regions to cool the Viceroy's drink.

* * * * *

The two stood and stared at one another, the black eyes of the Jovian
burning like fire in strange contrast to the cold glare of the blue
ones. Then tension in the street grew taut. The Earthmen gradually
closed in about them. At a word from Havenner, the Jovian guards closed
up and drew from their garments long black tubes. Presently Glavour
broke the silence.

"Make way, son of Hortan, for the Viceroy of God," he rumbled in his
deep-toned voice.

Damis made no reply, nor did he move a muscle. The rage deepened on the
Viceroy's face and he strode forward, his hand raised to strike down
this puny assailant who had interposed his slight form between the
massive limbs of the Jovian and the object of his desires. With a cry of
rage he brought down his huge hand and then Damis moved. So swiftly
that the eye could hardly follow his move