place was lighted
by metal discs set flush in the ceiling, discs of a substance that gave
forth a soft and golden glow. Even this light, Gerry noticed, was so
diffused as to be shadowless. "The Land of No-Shadow!" he muttered under
his breath, remembering the phrase that had come to him earlier. Somehow
the friendly old Earth seemed very far away at that moment!

In an ante-chamber they met the first man they had seen since they
reached Venus, aside from the half-animal raiders of the Scaly Ones.
This man was short and slight, with a very high forehead and unusually
large eyes. His skin had the same tawny tinge as that of the feminine
warriors of his race, but he was more lightly built than they. He wore a
loose yellow tunic, and his hair and thin beard were heavily shot with
gray. Somehow he looked tired, and old even beyond his years, as though
the sands of his race were running very low.

"Rupin-Sang awaits your coming," he said to Gerry. As Portok and the
others from the _Viking_ came into sight, the Venusian stared at them
with strangely startled eyes. He said nothing more, but his glance
seemed to hold a strange, terrible haunting fear.

At the end of the corridor they stepped into a small golden car. A door
closed behind them. The floor shot rapidly upward. A few seconds later
the door of the lift-car swung open again and they stepped out into a
round chamber near the top of the great tower.

"Enter to His Highness Rupin-Sang, Lord of Savissa and the Mountain
Lands, ruler of field and forest and castle, hereditary Warden of the
Great Sea!" the Venusian courtier said sonorously.

The room was circular, with glassless windows set in the walls every few
feet. A warm breeze blew in to stir the tiny metal discs that hung
around near the tops of the walls in a sort of frieze, setting them
swinging till they clashed together with a continuous jingling. A small
fountain murmured in the center of the room. A peculiarly shaped
telescope stood by one wall, and there were other scientific instruments
of a type unfamiliar to the Earth-men.

* * * * *

In a big carved chair in the center sat a very old man, a rolled
parchment lying across his knees. What remained of his hair and beard
were pure white. His face was lined and sunken. He half raised his arm
in a ceremonial gesture of welcome, but then a sudden expression of
alarm came over his face. He pointed with one shaking hand.

"_Aie_