That didn't look very formidable; so I dropped down closer, whereupon one of the men shot an arrow at us; and he and one of the omen screamed insults at us.

About all I could make out was, "Co away, llorgas, or we'll kill you!" Realizing that it was a case of mSstaken identity and knowing that I must in some way learn where we were, I decided to make an effort to allay their Łears and win their confidence sufficiently to obtain the information we had to have if we were ever to reach Sanara.

I turned the controls over to Ero Shan; and, taking writing materials from one of the compartments, wrote a note explaining that we were strangers in their country, that we were lost, and that all we wished was information that would help us find our way home.

One of the men picked up the note after we had dropped it in the ballium; and I saw him read it carefully, after which he handed it to one of the women.

The other man and woman pressed close and read it over her shoulder; then they all discussed it for several minutes while we circled around above them. Presently the older man beckoned us to come closer, at the same time making the sign of peace.

When we were close to them as I could get without hitting the towers and they had examined us as closely as possible, one of them said, "It is not Morgas; they are indeed strangers," and then the older man said, "You may come down. We will not harm you, if you come in peace.

There was a small level piece of ground outside the castle walls, with barely space to land; but I made it, and a moment later Ero Shah and I stood outside the castle gate. We had stood there several minutes when a voice spoke to us from above. Looking up, we saw a man leaning from the window embrasure of one of the small towers that flanked the gateway.

"Who are you?" he demanded, "and from where do you come?"

"This is Korgan Sentar Ero Shan of Havatoo," I replied;

"and I am Carson of Venus, Tanjong of Korva."

"You are sure you are not wzaras, he asked.

"Absolutely not," I assured him; but his question made me wonder if we had, by ill chance, landed at an insane asylum. ˇ

"What is that thing that you came in?"

"An anotar."

"If you are not wizards, how do you keep it up in the air? Why does it not fall? Is it alive?"

"It is not alive," I told him, "and it is only the pressure of the air on the under surface of the wings that keeps it up while it is in motion. If the motor that drives it should stop, it would have to come down. There is nothing mysterious about it at all."

"You do not look like wizards," he said, and then he drew back into the embrasure and disappeared.

We waited some more; and then the castle gate swung open, and as we looked in we saw fully fifty warriors waiting to receive us. It didn't look so good, and I hesitated.

"Don't be afraid," urged the man, who had come down from the tower. "If you are not wizards, and if you come in peace, you will not be harmed. My retainers are here only to protect us in the event you are not what you claim to be."

Chapter Four

WELL, THAT SEEMED FAIR ENOUGH; SO we went in. I was so anxious to know where we were that I didn't wait for any proper introductions, but asked immediately what country we were in.

"This is Gavo," replied the man.

"Is it in Anlap?" I asked.

"It is in Donuk," he replied.

Donuk! Now, I had seen Donuk on Amtorian maps; and as near as I could recall it was at least ten thousand miles from Sahara and almost due west of Anlap. Ac-cording to the maps, there was a considerable body of water separating the two land masses: one of the numer-ous great oceans of Venus. I was glad we hadn't bailed out, for the chances were that most of the time we had been flying above that ocean.

The older man touched my arm; and, indicating the older of the women, said, "This is Noola, my woman."

Noola was a wild eyed looking dame with dishevelled hair and a haunted expression. Suspicion was writ large on her countenance as she appraised us. She said nothing.

The man then introduced his son, Endar, and his son's woman, Yonda, a pretty girl with f'rightened eyes.

"And I am Tovar," said the older man, in concluding the introductions: "I am a togan of the house of Pandar."

Togan is something of a title ,of nobility, possibly analogous to baron. The literal tramslation of the word is high man. Tovar's real title, as head of the house of Pandar, was Vootogan, or First T'ogan: his son's title was Klootogan, or Second T0gan. lX2oola's title was Vootoganja, and Yonda's, Klo0toganj'a. We had landed among the nobility.

Tovar invited us into the castle, where, he said, he had an excellent map of Arntor tat might aid us in returning to Sanara. While I had maps in the anotar; yet, as usual, I was always glad to examine new maps in the hope that I might eventually find one that was not almost entirely useless.

The interior of the main building, or donjon, was a bare and cheerless place. There were a few grass mats scattered about the floor, a long table, some wooden benches, and a low divan covere,d with the pelts of animals. On the walls were a few pictures, bows, quivers of arrows, spears, and swords. Th arrangement of the weapons suggested that they wer not there for ornamentation; but that this main hall of the castle was, in effect, an armory.

Noola sat down on a bench and glowered at us while Tovar brought out the map and sp. read it on the table.

The map was no better than any of the others I had seen. While I was examining it, h summoned servants and ordered food brought. Endar amd Yonda sat silently staring at us. The whole atmosphere of the place was one of constraint, suspicion, fear. The fear in Yonda's eyes was like something tangible that reached out and touched one's heart. Even Tovar, the only one of this strange quartet who had made any gesture of hospitality, was obviously nervous and ill at ease.