“How queer!” she exclaimed. “How very queer! Still, I do remember hearing that people used to have to pay for everything before the Submergence. But that was so long ago, I thought the world had outgrown such crudity.” “I don’t see anything wrong about paying for what you get,” I stated, thinking this the most topsy-turvy land in the world. “Don’t they really charge you for going to theatres down here?” “Of course not! How could any one be so gross? Fancy being charged for beauty or ecstasy or dreams! Why, one would as soon think of paying for the air one breathes or the light that shines upon one! The State naturally recognizes the theatre as the birthright of every citizen, just as it recognizes poetry and music and education. We all take part in giving the performances, and of course every one is invited.” “And do you yourself take part?” I queried, my personal interest in Aelios overshadowing my general interest in the native customs. “Oh, yes, I try to do my share,” she acknowledged, with a faint blush that seemed only to accentuate her beauty. “I sometimes lead in the dances.” “And a most exquisite dancer you make!” said I, recalling my first enchanting glimpse of Aelios on the colonnade outside the city. But before I had had time for further compliments, she had whispered a light “Good-bye,” and had gone tripping toward the further end of the court and out of sight through a little half concealed door at the base of the campanile. * * * * * It hardly need be stated that I waited eagerly for the day of the Pageant. Not that I was looking forward to the entertainment itself; I remembered only that Aelios had seen fit to invite me, and that I should be able to see her again. So utterly out of my head was I that her bright face now appeared to me at all times of the day and night; her least smile, her slightest gesture, her most careless nod, was re-enacted a thousand times in my memory. And what if somewhere in the past there had been an Alma Huntley whom I had admired and fancied I had loved?--she was now no more than a ghost amid the shadows of a vanished world. Certainly, I had no thought of Alma when at last the day of the pageant arrived. I was jubilant merely at the prospect of speaking with Aelios again; I could hardly restrain my impatience, but left for the festivities a full hour earlier than necessary. Such was my eagerness that I could not even walk at a normal pace, but unconsciously hastened my steps as when, in my native land, I had feared to miss a street car or be too late for an appointment with Alma. But the day’s pleasure was to be unexpectedly varied. As I hastened through the streets, striding more rapidly than ever before in this land of leisure, I heard a well known voice shouting behind me, “Hey, wait a minute! Where are you going so fast?” With a sinking heart I wheeled about--to face the grinning Stranahan.