What could I have done under like circumstances burdened with Sanoma Tora? I doubt that she could have walked a dozen haads, while Tavia swung along at my side with the lithe grace of perfect health and strength. It takes a good man to keep up with me on a march, but Tavia never lagged; nor did she show signs of fatigue more quickly than I. "We are well matched, Tavia," I said. "I had thought of that--a long time ago," she said quietly. We continued on until almost dusk without seeing a sign of any living thing and were congratulating ourselves upon our good fortune when Tavia glanced back, as one of us often did. She touched my arm and nodded toward the rear. "They come!" she said simply. I looked back and saw three figures upon our trail. They were too far away for me to be able to do more than identify them as human beings. It was evident that they had seen us and they were closing the distance between us at a steady trot. "What shall we do?" asked Tavia. "Stand and fight, or try to elude them until night falls?" "We shall do neither," I said. "We shall elude them now without exerting ourselves in the least." "How?" she asked. "Through the inventive genius of Phor Tak, and the compound of invisibility that I filched from him." "Splendid!" exclaimed Tavia. "I had forgotten your cloak. With it we should have no difficulty in eluding all dangers between here and Gathol." I opened my pocket pouch and reached in to withdraw the cloak. It was gone! As was the vial containing the remainder of the compound. I looked at Tavia and she must have read the truth in my expression. "You have lost it?" she asked. "No, it has been stolen from me," I replied. She came again and laid her hand upon my arm in sympathy and I knew that she was thinking what I was thinking, that it could have been none other than Sanoma Tora who had stolen it. I hung my head. "And to think that I jeopardized your safety, Tavia, to save such as she." "Do not judge her hastily," she said. "We cannot know how sorely she may have been tempted, or what threats were used to turn her from the path of honor. Perhaps she is not as strong as we." "Let us not speak of her," I said. "It is a hideous sensation, Tavia, to feel love turned to hatred." She pressed my arm. "Time heals all hurts," she said, "and some day you will find a woman worthy of you, if such a one exists." I looked down at her. "If such a one exists," I mused, but she interrupted my meditation with a question. "Shall we fight or run, Hadron of Hastor?" she demanded. "I should prefer to fight and die," I replied, "but I must think of you, Tavia." "Then we shall remain and fight," she said; "but, Hadron, you must not die." There was a note of reproach in her tone that did not escape me and I was ashamed of myself for having seemed to forget the great debt that I owed her for her friendship. "I am sorry," I said. "Tavia, I could not wish to die while you live."