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 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. 16 THE SUPREME VICTORY When Ralph burst into the machine room of the Martian's flyer and saw Alice lying dead in a pool of her own blood the shock was almost more than he could bear. Falling on his knees beside her he caught her small, yet warm hand in his, calling her name again and again in agonized tones. He covered her lovely white face with kisses, while dry tearless sobs tore at his throat. Then, thinking that perhaps he had made a mistake, that her heart _must_ still beat, he tried, with trembling hands to discover the extent of her injuries. Llysanorh' had aimed at her heart but the dying man had missed his mark, and the sharp point of the dagger had slashed her arm, cutting into the large artery. And in those precious moments when Ralph had been connecting the two flyers, and making his way from one to the other, her warm rich life's blood had ebbed rapidly away. He lifted the lifeless body in his arms and carried it to his machine, where he laid it on his bed. His mind was confused and disordered and he was unable to think coherently. A sickening sensation of depression so overwhelmed him that he felt physically ill. Suddenly an electric thrill seemed to pass through his body and his clouded mental vision cleared. A picture flashed upon his mind. He saw himself in his laboratory on Earth, bending over a "dead" dog. And there came to him a memory of the words of that Dean of scientists: "_What you have done with a dog, you can do with a human being._"