“Let your mind rest at ease,” I begged him; “Duare has been avenged.” “What do you mean?” “I killed the captain myself,” I explained. He clapped a hand upon my shoulder, his eyes alight with pleasure. “Again you have won the undying gratitude of Vepaja,” he cried. “I wish that it might have been my good fortune to have killed the beast and thus wiped out the insult upon Vepaja, but if I could not be the one, then I am glad that it was you, Carson, rather than another.” I thought that he took the matter rather seriously and was placing too much importance upon the action of the _Sovong_’s captain, since it had resulted in no harm to the girl; but then, of course, I realized that love plays strange tricks upon a man’s mental processes, so that an affront to a mistress might be magnified to the proportions of a national calamity. “Well, it is all over now,” I said, “and your sweetheart has been returned to you safe and sound.” At that he looked horrified. “My sweetheart!” he exclaimed. “In the name of the ancestors of all the jongs! Do you mean to tell me that you do not know who Duare is?” “I thought of course that she was the girl you loved,” I confessed. “Who is she?” “Of course I love her,” he explained; “all Vepaja loves her—she is the virgin daughter of a Vepajan jong!” Had he been announcing the presence of a goddess on shipboard, his tone could have been no more reverential and awed. I endeavored to appear more impressed than I was, lest I offend him. “Had she been the woman of your choice,” I said, “I should have been even more pleased to have had a part in her rescue than had she been the daughter of a dozen jongs.” “That is nice of you,” he replied, “but do not let other Vepajans hear you say such things. You have told me of the divinities of that strange world from which you come; the persons of the jong and his children are similarly sacred to us.” “Then, of course, they shall be sacred to me,” I assured him. “By the way, I have word for you that should please you—a Vepajan would consider it a high honor. Duare desires to see you, that she may thank you personally. It is irregular, of course; but then circumstances have rendered strict adherence to the etiquette and customs of our country impracticable, if not impossible. Several hundred men already have looked upon her, many have spoken to her, and nearly all of them were enemies; so it can do no harm if she sees and speaks with her defenders and her friends.” I did not understand what he was driving at, but I assented to what he had said and told him that I would pay my respects to the princess before the day was over.