he seemed to be king. The sea of upturned
faces, staring eyes.

* * * * *

Mado fidgeted and opened his mouth to voice a protest but Carr nudged
him into silence. The king had risen from his seat in the circle on
the platform and was about to address them. There was no repetition of
the telepathic means of communication.

"Welcome, travelers from the inner planets," said the king. He spoke
Cos perfectly! "Cardos, emperor of the body you call Europa, salutes
you. Our scientists have recorded your thoughts with their psycho-ray
apparatus and have learned that you have a message for us, a message
we fear is not pleasant. Am I correct?"

Carr stared at the soft-voiced monarch of this remarkable land. It was
incredible that he spoke in the universal language of the inner
planets!

"Your Highness," he replied, "is correct. We have a message. But it
amazes us that you are familiar with our language."

"That we shall explain later. Meanwhile--the message!"

"The message," Carr said, "is not pleasant. A golden sphere out in
space. Helpless in the clutches of a nameless monster, a vast creature
of jellylike substance but possessed of enormous destructive energy. A
mental message to our vessel warning us away and bidding us to come
here; to tell you of their fate. We escaped and here we are."

The face of Cardos paled. He reached for an egg-shaped crystal that
reposed on the table; spoke rapidly into its shimmering depths. Hidden
amplifiers carried his voice throughout the square in booming tones.
It was a strange tongue he spoke, with many gutturals and sibilants. A
groan came up from the assembled multitude.

Cardos tossed the crystal to the table with a resigned gesture, then
tottered and swayed. Instant confusion reigned in the square and the
emperor was assisted from the platform by two of his retainers. They
never saw him again.

* * * * *

One of the counsellors, a middle-aged man with graying russet hair and
large gray eyes set in a perfectly smooth countenance, stepped from
the platform and grasped the two adventurers as the confusion in the
square increased to an uproar.

"Come," he whispered, in excellent Cos; "I'll explain all to you in
the quiet of my own apartments. I am Detis, a scientist, and my home
is close by."

Gently he clung to them as the larger men forced their way between the
milling groups of excited Europans. No one gave them