FLIGHT I was not permitted to accompany Duare to her examination. She was placed in charge of the same woman who had guarded Nalte at the time of her examination, Hara Es. To pass the hours until the result should be made known, I went to the hangar to inspect my plane. It was in perfect condition. The motor hummed almost noiselessly. I could not, under ordinary circumstances, have withstood the urge to have the ship wheeled out onto the plain before the city for a trial flight; but my mind was so distraught with apprehension concerning the fate of Duare that I had no heart for anything. I spent an hour alone in the hangar. None of my assistants was there, they having all returned to their ordinary duties after the completion of the plane. Then I returned to the house that I shared with Ero Shan. He was not there. I tried to read, but I could not concentrate long enough to know what I was reading about. My eyes followed the strange Amtorian characters, but my thoughts were with Duare. At last I gave it up and walked in the garden. An unreasoning terror enveloped me like a shroud, numbing my faculties. How long I walked I do not know, but at last my sad reveries were interrupted by the approach of footsteps through the house. I knew that Ero Shan must be coming to the garden. I stood waiting, looking toward the doorway through which he must come; and the instant that I saw him my heart turned cold. I read the confirmation of my worst fears in the expression on his face. He came and laid a hand upon my shoulder. "I have bad news for you, my friend," he said. "I know," I replied; "I read it in your eyes. They have ordered her destroyed?" "It is a miscarriage of justice," he said, "but there is no appeal. We must accept the decision as the board's honest conviction that they are thus serving the best interests of the city." "Is there nothing I can do?" I asked. "Nothing," he replied. "Won't they let me take her away from Havatoo?" "No; they are so afraid of the contaminating influence of Skor and his creatures that they will never permit one to live that falls into their hands." "But she is not one of Skor's creatures!" I insisted. "I am quite sure that they had their doubts, but the benefit of the doubt is given to the city and not to the accused. There is nothing more to be done." "Do you think they would let me see her?" I asked. "It is possible," he replied. "For some reason she is not to be destroyed until to-morrow." "Will you try to arrange it for me, Ero Shan?" "Certainly," he replied. "Wait here, and I will see what I can do."