ed officially with coral-light beams over considerable distances. But
it sufficed in this emergency. Slowly she spelled out the letters,
words, phrases.

_"I am Princess Maida----"_

Georg whispered to us: "Hereditary ruler of the Central State----"

I nodded. "Watch, Georg----"

_"Prisoner----"_ came next: _"Like yourselves, and we must escape."_

She paused a moment, letting her arms drop to her sides, shaking the
glorious waves of her white hair with a toss of her head. Then, at a
gesture from Georg that he understood, she began again:

_"Escape tonight----"_

I half expected that any moment Tarrano or one of his men would burst in
to stop this. But the signals continued.

_"I am sending you a friend--tonight--soon--he will come to you. With
plans for our escape. A good friend----"_

Her tower abruptly went dark. Cautiously I gazed down from our balcony.
Argo had appeared on the spider bridge; he was pacing back and forth.
Did he suspect anything? We could not tell, but it seemed not. It was
the midnight hour; a brilliant white flash swept the city to mark it.

In a low corner of the balcony, behind the glow of our barrage, we
crouched together, whispering excitedly. But cautiously, for we
knew that the microphonic ears of a jailor might be upon us. The
Princess Maida--here in Tarrano's hands! She was sending us a
friend--tonight--soon; a friend who would help us all to escape.

"By the code!" Georg exclaimed. "If we could get to Washington--if I
could be there now in this crisis--with my knowledge of the Brende
light----"

Far above our personal safety, our lives, lay the importance of Georg's
knowledge. With the Brende secret--through him--in the hands of the
Earth Council, Tarrano's greatest lever to power would be broken. Our
Earth public would sway back to patriotic loyalty. The Little People of
Mars unquestionably would remain friendly with us, with the Brende light
to be developed on Earth and shared with them. They would see Tarrano
perhaps, for what he was--a dangerous, unscrupulous enemy.... If only
Georg could escape....

An hour went by with murmured thoughts like these. A friend coming to
help us? How could he reach us? And how help us to escape?

We crouched there, waiting. Argo--obviously on night guard--still paced
the bridge. The city was comparatively dark and silent; yet even so,
there seemed more activity than we felt was normal. Occasional beams
flashed across the narrow segment