be King amongst these people! A queer sensation tugged at Kirby's
heart as he descended the steps with Naida at his right, and all of
her--and his--dainty and gracious friends following after. Yet, intense
as his emotion was, never for a second was he able to doubt the evidence
of his senses which told him that all of this was real. As they
descended the black steps of the tower, Naida's sweetness, her grace,
the warm humanity of her, made him humble with gratitude for the
extraordinary fortune which had come to him, an unromantic aviator born
in Kansas.

Then they were standing in the brilliant light of the amphitheatre, and
the Duca, surrounded by his caciques, was advancing to meet them.

It was not a long conference which followed. Kirby saw from the start
that the Duca was indeed ready to come to terms. So treasured an object,
it seemed, was the cylinder of gold, that the mere fact that Kirby
possessed it made the Duca respect the possessor, whether he would or
no. With this initial advantage, it did not take long to make demands
and win acceptance.

It was agreed that some systematic campaign of extermination should be
planned and carried out against the ape-men. Further, the project for
eventually bringing other upper-world men to the realm was accepted.
Most notable of all, it was agreed that while the Duca should retain a
voice in the regulation of temporal affairs, Kirby should possess an
absolute veto over his word.

Naida said there must be some formal ceremony to celebrate Kirby's
ascendency to power. To this the Duca consented, and established the
date as a fortnight hence, and the place as the temple on the plateau
beyond the plateau of the castle, where the Ducas had been invested with
their robes of state from time immemorial. At the end, it was decided
that little Elana should be left in the prayer chamber until a burial
ceremony could be held on the morrow.

* * * * *

In less than an hour, Kirby, Naida, and the others withdrew from the
amphitheatre to return to the regular dwelling places of the girls. Deep
in his mind, Kirby did not know how sincere the Duca was, and fear
lingered, somehow, but he put it aside for the present.

As they came out of the castle, proceeding in a gay procession across
the drawbridge above the moat of beautiful aquatic plants, Kirby saw
that the light from the glass sky was fading to a glow like that of
spring twilight in the upper w