when alice saw that it was llysanorh' standing on the threshold of her room she experienced at once great disappointment and overwhelming relief.
the second space flyer was not driven by ralph, but she was at least safe from fernand.
"oh," she cried with a sob of relief, "i am so glad it is you, llysanorh'! i have been so frightened."
he made no answer, but regarded her with enormous eyes in which burned a somber flame.
"you are going to take me off this horrible flyer, aren't you, llysanorh'? you won't leave me here alone with that—that beast, will you?"
he shook his head soberly, and extended one hand to her.
"come," he said briefly.
she put her own hand confidently in his, and he led her down the stairs, and past the laboratory. she shrank back as she saw fernand's bound and motionless form.
"is he—dead?" she whispered.
"no," said llysanorh', leading her to the connecting tube. he helped her through with gentle hands, and in a moment she found herself in the other flyer. taking her hand again in his, llysanorh' led her to a luxuriously furnished room.
[pg 189]
"stay here until i come back," he said. "i won't be long."
he turned to go but she, catching his sleeve, detained him.
"are you going to—to kill him?" she asked.
"perhaps. i haven't decided yet," he replied, unsmiling. and then, gripping her shoulders with startlingly sudden emotion, "has he harmed you?"
"no, no," she said, frightened, "he just tried to terrify me, that was all."
he released her, and strode to the door.
"i won't kill him," he said, and for the first time he smiled, but in that smile there was no mirth. "i shall let him live, that he may pray for the death i have denied him."
and he was gone.
presently alice heard him disconnecting the two machines, and a moment later she knew that llysanorh's flyer was moving. a half hour passed and still she was left alone. beyond the vibration of the machinery there was no sound to indicate that she was not absolutely alone on the flyer.
feeling a little panicky she finally left the room and made her way through a corridor. several doors that she opened led into rooms even more luxurious and splendid than the one she had left.
so this was the space flyer owned by the martian of which there had been so much gossip. stories she had heard before of its spaciousness and magnificence came back to her.
it was like the palace of the beast in the ancient fairy story, where beauty had wandered for hours through[pg 190] room after room filled with new marvels. alice smiled whimsically at the thought. she was "beauty," she reflected, and llysanorh'—yes, he made a very good "beast." her buoyant spirits were rapidly recovering from the strain of her imprisonment.
finally, she tried one more door, and entered a wonderful laboratory fully equipped.
and at the farther end, seated before a low table sat the martian, his head resting on his folded arms. his whole attitude suggested hopeless desolation. he looked very lonely and remote, and somehow, to her, very pathetic.
she stood, hesitating, uncertain of whether to advance or retreat. finally she spoke his name softly. at her voice he raised his head and stared at her. and she saw that his face was lined and furrowed as if with some terrible strain, but his eyes were steady with resolve.
"how serious you look," she said, coming into the middle of the room. "you seem so worried and anxious, llysanorh'. has something gone wrong with the flyer? and what did you do with fernand and his machine?"
"i left him recovering from the effects of the drug," he said, in a forced and unnatural voice which betrayed, even more than his expression, the disturbed state of his mind. "and nothing is wrong with the flyer. it is i—i with whom everything is wrong."
"oh, surely it can't be as bad as you think," said the girl, her quick sympathies aroused by his obvious misery. "would it make you feel any better to tell me? we have always been such good friends, llysanorh', and i might be able to help you."
"later, perhaps, later," he said, and then with an effort, "can you make yourself comfortable here for a few days,[pg 191] do you think? i brought the maid with me. you will find her waiting in your rooms for you. i don't think she will give you any trouble."
"oh, yes, i surely can," she replied. "it is lovely here. i have heard so much of this flyer. why haven't you shown it to father and me before? the rooms are like those of a fairy palace. tell me, llysanorh', will it be long before we get back to earth? everyone"—she had been about to say ralph, but checked herself—"everyone will be so worried about me."
"we are never going back to earth," he said.
"never going—why, what has happened then? is there something wrong that you won't tell me?—or are you joking? but of course you're joking, llysanorh', and for a minute i thought you were serious."
"i was never more serious," he said, rising to his feet and facing her. "we are never going back, you and i."
alice looked at him wide-eyed, amazed and bewildered.
"but i don't understand," she faltered. "why, llysanorh'?"
it was then that the pent-up emotion of months burst the bonds of self-restraint that he had forced upon himself.
"why!" he cried passionately, "you ask me why! can't you see why? how can you look into my eyes and not know why? because i am a man—because i am a fool—good god, because i love you!" he flung himself upon his knees, clasping her about the waist with his arms.
"i worship you, i adore you—i always shall. you must love me, you cannot help but love me, i love you so much, alice, alice, my dearest, my beloved."
he threw his head back and looked into her face im[pg 192]ploringly, as if by the very force of his love she must respond, but he read there only terror and a growing abhorrence. it cooled him more effectually than any words she could have spoken, and he relinquished his hold on her, rose and went back to his former position at the table, while she watched him speechlessly.
for a time neither spoke. at last he said in quiet tones strangely in contrast with his late passion, "you can't hate me, alice, i love you too much."
"no," she said, gently, "i don't hate you, llysanorh', but oh, can't you see how hopeless all this is? i love ralph, and if you keep me here forever i will still love him."
she got a glimpse, then, of the terrible struggle this man of mars had had with his conscience.
"i know, i know," he groaned, "i have gone over that ground many times—many times, but i can not—will not—give you up. i tell you," he went on with a return of his former frenzied emotion, "that rather than let him have you i will kill you with my own hands. at least, when you are dead i will be sure that no other man can possess you."
she was a courageous girl, but before the madness in his face she fled shuddering.
during the next several days alice kept close to her rooms. she saw little of llysanorh', who seemed to be avoiding her purposely, and the maid, lylette, was uncommunicative. alice was horribly lonely and afraid. at first she had confidently expected ralph to rescue her at any moment, but as the days dragged on, and still the space flyer drew nearer to mars, and there were no signs[pg 193] of ralph, she became increasingly aware that her situation was desperate.
she knew that llysanorh' controlled powerful interests on his native planet, and that once there, all her pleadings would be in vain and he would make her his bride.
the few times she saw him he was quiet in manner, showing a courteous deference to her. but he could not hide the triumphant light in his eyes, which, the nearer they came to mars, he took less pains to disguise from her. and yet, she could not deny the fact of his genuine, and fervent love for her. only once, did he again speak of it.
one day she was sitting in the beautifully appointed library reading, with lylette near by, when he entered. he gazed at her a moment in silence. then he said, "you know, alice, just to have you here with me, where i can see you occasionally, is wonderful to me."
her eyes filled with quick tears, for she was worn and unhappy. and seeing them he quickly withdrew.
later, he seemed very busy in the machine room. passing it, once, she saw him working frantically at something; what, she could not see. but a glimpse of his face revealed it haggard and drawn. it was but a few minutes after that, back in her own room, a complete and terrifying blackness obliterated everything. she heard lylette screaming somewhere in dreadful panic, and she heard llysanorh' shout something hoarsely.
stumbling, she made her way as fast as she could in the darkness back to the machine room. she heard him at one of the windows. apparently he was trying to pierce the blackness, to ascertain its cause. she started toward him, when the light returned in a blinding flash, and she saw[pg 194] llysanorh' stagger as if struck by something.
"llysanorh'," she cried, "what is it? what is happening?"
he lurched toward her and caught her in his arms savagely. "i'll tell you what has happened," he shouted, "i see it all now. the comet—a trick, damn him! and now he's got me. but not you, alice, not you. you are going with me—"
the martian's face was distorted with passion. he had a gleaming dagger in his right hand poised over her. then, just as it was about to strike she saw his face go blank and felt a terrific blow on her arm. the next instant she was slumping—seemed to drop off into a dreamless sleep.
