The next morning after breakfast _en famille_, Xora led me outside and into a hangar, where a few planes of different sizes were standing. She went to a corner closet where there was an assortment of what I would call large, light weight snow shoes. They had two parts, hinged together and pliable, similar to those I saw in Sun-Rank Banard's plane. They were covered by a thin fabric with clasps on one surface and were of different colors to blend with her garments. She fastened them tightly on both her arms, and flapping them like bird wings, she swiftly lifted herself off the ground. She flew around gracefully showing me all kinds of tricks. When she came down, Xora told me that it was too bad I did not know how to bird-fly, but that we could take her small tandem. She picked up a few small contraptions which I helped her carry outside. The piece I carried seemed to be a double seat of a swing with attachable back and legs and with metal ropes. I thought she was going to hang it somewhere and do some swinging; but no, she next hooked on two flat oval pieces like oars or wings. She also screwed onto it tightly a small propeller smokeless jet engine. When the legs were lowered, it became a double bench seat. She sat down on one end and asked me to sit down beside her, carefully fastening her wings on her arms. When she gave me a bundle to strap on (she afterwards told me it was a parachute), I obeyed, puzzled. She covered our knees with a blanket and touched a button near the engine. To my great astonishment, we both were lifted slowly off the ground. Laughing at my surprise, she explained, "This is my old portable tandem plane. It can travel 500 miles an hour. I can control its speed, and bring it to a dead stop on any surface. It's driven by perpetual atomic energy. First, we'll go sight-seeing above the city, and then we'll land on the roof of my home in the city. I want you to meet my parents and my sister and brother." As I sat beside her, the pleasant scent of her hair, the nearness and warmth of her body, and the occasional light touch of her hands thrilled me so much that I almost lost control of myself. I told myself I was acting like a school boy, instead of a grown man. By the faint color in her cheeks she showed she was aware of my predicament. "You are so lovely," I said, "that all these other marvels seem secondary. How do you expect me to concentrate on them? By the way, isn't there a Martian boy who will be jealous of the time you are spending with me?" She hesitated a minute before she answered. "Not seriously," she finally said. "Of course I have friends, but as yet I haven't made any decision."