+--------------------------------------+ | | | _By the time you finish reading the | | final instalment of "The Skylark of | | Space," we are certain that you will | | agree with us that it is one of the | | outstanding scienti-fiction stories | | of the decade; an interplanetarian | | story that will not be eclipsed | | soon. It will be referred to by all | | scienti-fiction fans for years to | | come. It will be read and reread. | | This is not a mere prophecy of ours, | | because we have been deluged with | | letters since we began publishing | | this story. In the closing chapters, | | you will follow the adventures with | | bated breath, and you will find that | | though the two preceding instalments | | were hair-raising and thought | | absorbing, the final instalment | | eclipses the others a good deal. | | Plots, counterplots, hair-raising | | and hair-breadth escapes, mixed with | | love, adventure and good science | | seem to fairly tumble all over the | | pages. By the time you finish this | | instalment, you will wish to go back | | to the beginning of the story and | | read it more carefully and thrill | | all over again._ | | | +--------------------------------------+ CHAPTER XIV Nalboon Unmasked After a long, sound sleep, Seaton awoke and sprang out of bed. No sooner had he started to shave, however, than one of the slaves touched his arm, motioning him into a reclining chair and showing him a keen blade, long and slightly curved. Seaton lay down and the slave shaved him with a rapidity and smoothness he had never before experienced, so wonderfully sharp was the peculiar razor. After Seaton had dressed, the barber started to shave the chief slave, without any preliminary treatment save rubbing his face with a perfumed oil. "Hold on a minute," interjected Seaton, who was watching the process with interest, "here's something that helps a lot." He lathered the face with his brush and the man looked up in surprised pleasure as his stiff beard was swept away without a sound. Seaton called to the others and soon the party was assembled in his room, all dressed very lightly, because of the unrelieved and unvarying heat, which was constant at one hundred degrees. A gong sounded, and one of the slaves opened the door, ushering in a party of servants bearing a table, ready set. During the meal, Seaton was greatly surprised at hearing Dorothy carrying on a halting conversation, with one of the women standing behind her. "I knew that you were a language shark, Dottie, with five or six different ones to your credit, but I didn't suppose you could learn to talk this stuff in one day."