There was room and to spare for these haughty warriors to pass them by ... but such was not the way of the Magogean _kraedaru_. As the cavalry captain, drawing near, saw upon the street one cart which had not yet moved completely to the curb, one tiny knot of struggling serfs who had not as yet taken abject posts against the wall, a flush darkened his cheeks and his eyes darted anger. With a guttural cry he changed his troop's straightforward charge, bore directly down upon Dr. Kang and his "family." Then, at the last possible moment, when it seemed certain his armed warriors and their mounts must trample ruthlessly over the bodies of the trapped quintet, shattering their cart to splinters, he drew up his men, and, his voice heavy with rage, leaned from his saddle and cried to Dr. Kang: "You there, slave--what means this? How dare you deliberately block our passage?" [Illustration: The cavalry captain bore directly down on Dr. Kang's cart.] "Why, you--" began Lark O'Day. But Lane, standing with his head abjectly bowed beside his friend, gripped the other man's wrist to silence him. And from the cart, Dr. Kang answered in a thin, meek voice; "Forgiveness, Excellence. Your servants did not know--" "The lash!" cried the warrior captain. "Twenty to each of them, then let us be gone. Or--_Wait!_" His eyes narrowed as the implication of Kang's words struck him. "Did not know? You did not recognize our signal as we approached? Where are you from? You are not of Khundru." "Nay, master," whined Kang. "We are poor exiles of a far northern city, Tabori by name, but recently come out of the Twilight Zone to seek service in the noble capital of our race--" "Recently come?" The chieftain's eyes narrowed still farther. Then: "Where is your master, serf?" "Our master is dead, sire." Kang explained as he had explained to the captain of the barrier guard. But it was evident that in Khundru the higher a man's post the greater became his authority and greed. For scarce had he revealed that their erstwhile master was no more than the cavalry leader interrupted him. "No master, eh? That situation shall soon be remedied. By the rank and authority which is mine as a _kraedar_ of Khundru I hereby claim you as mine own. Not--" He laughed--"that I shall put you to use. A Captain of the Royal Guard has no need of house servants. But your two sons should make sturdy slaves for the tilling of someone's land. And your two daughters--" He paused and stroked his jaw reflectively. It was clear that the Captain of the Royal Guards was reconsidering his need of servants. To forestall his thinking, Kang spoke hurriedly, invoking a law which he had learned existed amongst the Magogeans. "A thousand pardons, sire--but we are not slaves. We are freedmen. When our master died he gave us household goods and chattels wherewith to establish our own little home--"