And so I had prepared the rope.

Whether I was being observed I did not know. I must go on as though none were

spying upon me. In less then four hours Thuria would return (just before the

sudden Barsoomian dawn) and in the interval I must reach Valla Dia, persuade her

of the necessity of my plan and carry out its details, returning to my chamber

before Thuria could disclose me to any accidental observer. I carried my weapons

with me and in my heart was unbending determination to slay whoever might cross

my path and recognize me during the course of my errand, however innocent of

evil intent against me he might be.

The night was quiet except for the usual distant sounds that I had heard ever

since I had been here – sounds that I had interpreted as the cries of savage

beasts. Once I had asked Ras Thavas about them, but he had been in ill humor and

had ignored my question. I reached the ground quickly and without hesitation

moved directly to the nearest entrance of the building, having previously

searched out and determined upon the route I would follow to the vault. No one

was visible and I was confident, when at last I reached the doorway, that I had

come through undetected. Valla Dia was so happy to see me again that it almost

brought the tears to my eyes.

"I thought that something had happened to you," she cried, "for I knew that you

would not remain away so long of your own volition."

I told her of my conviction that I was being watched and that it would not be

possible for me longer to bring food to her without incurring almost certain

detection, which would spell immediate death for her.

"There is a single alternative," I said, "and that I dread even to suggest and

would not were there any other way. You must be securely hidden for a long time,

until Ras Thavas' suspicions have been allayed; for as long as he has me watched

I cannot possibly carry out the plans I have formulated for your eventual

release, the restoration of your own body and your return to Duhor."

"Your will shall be my law, Vad Varo."

I shook my head. "It will be harder for you than you imagine."

"What is the way?" she asked.

I pointed, to the ersite topped table. "You must pass again though that ordeal

that I may hide you away in this vault until the time is ripe for the carrying

out of my plans. Can you endure it?"

She smiled. "Why not?" she asked. "It is only sleep – if it lasts for ever I

shall be no wiser."

I was surprised that she did not shrink from the idea, but I was very glad since

I knew that it was the only way that we had a chance for success. Without my

help she disposed herself upon the ersite slab.

"I am ready, Vad Varo," she said, bravely; "but first promise me that you will

take no risks in this mad venture. You cannot succeed. When I close my eyes I

know that it will be for the last time if my resurrection depends upon the

successful outcome of the maddest venture that ever man conceived; yet I am

happy, because I know that it is inspired by the greatest friendship with which

any mortal woman has ever been blessed."

As she talked I had been adjusting the tubes and now I stood beside her with my

finger upon the starting button of the motor.

"Good-bye, Vad Varo," she whispered.

"Not good-bye, Valla Dia, but only a sweet sleep for what to you will be the

briefest instant. You will seem but to close your eyes and open them again. As

you see me now, I shall be standing here beside you as though I never had

departed from you. As I am the last that you look upon to-night before you close

your eyes, so shall I be the first that you shall look upon as you open them on

that new and beautiful morning; but you shall not again look forth through the

eyes of Xaxa, but from the limpid depths of your own beautiful orbs."

She smiled and shook her head. Two tears formed beneath her lids. I pressed her

hand in mine and touched the button.

SUSPICIONS

IN so far as I could know I reached my apartment without detection. Hiding my

rope where I was sure it would not be discovered, I sought my sleeping silks and

furs and was soon asleep.

The following morning as I emerged from my quarters I caught a fleeting glimpse

of a figure in a nearby corridor and from then on for a long time I had further

evidence that Ras Thavas suspicioned me. I went at once to his quarters, as had

been my habit. He seemed restless, but he gave me no hint that he held any

assurance that I had been responsible for the disappearance of Valla Dia, and I

think that he was far from positive of it. It was simply that his judgment

pointed to the fact that I was the only person who might have any reason for

interfering in any way with this particular subject, and he was having me

watched to either prove or disprove the truth of his reasonable suspicions. His

restlessness he explained to me himself.

"I have often studied the reaction of others who have undergone brain

transference," he said, "and so I am not wholly surprised at my own. Not only

has my brain energy been stimulated, resulting in an increased production of

nervous energy, but I also feel the effects of the young tissue and youthful

blood of my new body. They are affecting my consciousness in a way that my

experiment had vaguely indicated, but which I now see must be actually

experienced to be fully understood. My thoughts, my inclinations, even my

ambitions have been changed, or at least coloured, by the transfer.