"You _will_ let me try," she cried. "Then I shall make them believe. Here, now, this very hour, I shall make them know the truth. And they, my own people, shall I save from sorrow, misery and death." She turned to the Chemist and spoke rapidly. "My husband, will you send Oteo now, up into the city. Him will you tell to have others spread the news. All who desire an end to Targo's rule, shall come here at once. And all too, who in him believe, and who for him want freedom, they shall come too. Let Oteo tell them magic shall be performed and Lylda will speak with them. "Make haste, my husband, for now I go to change my dress. Not as the Master's woman will I speak, but as Lylda--Oroid woman--woman of the people." And with a flashing glance, she turned and swiftly left the balcony. CHAPTER XXIV LYLDA ACTS "She'll do it," the Very Young Man murmured, staring at the doorway through which Lylda had disappeared. "She can do anything." The Chemist rose to his feet. "I'll send Oteo. Will you wait here gentlemen? And will you have some of the drugs ready for Lylda? You have them with you?" The men nodded. "How about Lylda carrying the drugs?" asked the Very Young Man. "And what about her clothes?" "I have already made a belt for Lylda and for myself--some time ago," the Chemist answered. "During the first year I was here I made several experiments with the drugs. I found that almost anything within the immediate--shall I say influence of the body, will contract with it. Almost any garment, even a loose robe will change size. You found that to be so to some extent. Those belts you wore down--" "That's true," agreed the Doctor, "there seems to be considerable latitude----" "I decided," the Chemist went on, "that immediately after your arrival we should all wear the drugs constantly. You can use the armpit pouches if you wish; Lylda and I will wear these belts I have made." Oteo, the Chemist's personal servant, a slim youth with a bright, intelligent face, listened carefully to his master's directions and then left the house hurriedly, running up the street towards the center of the city. Once or twice he stopped and spoke to passers-by for a moment, gathering a crowd around him each time. The Chemist rejoined his friends on the balcony. "There will be a thousand people here in half an hour," he said quietly. "I have sent a message to the men in charge of the government workshops; they will have their people cease work to come here." Lylda appeared in a few moments more. She was dressed as the Chemist had seen her first through the microscope--in a short, grey skirt reaching from waist to knees. Only now she wore also two circular metal discs strapped over her breasts. Her hair was unbound and fell in masses forward over her shoulders. Around her waist was a broad girdle of golden cloth with small pouches for holding the chemicals. She took her place among the men quietly.