approached, I anticipated the coming event with considerable assurance. With a number of warriors as an escort, I waited at the quay with the prison launch; and when Mephis hove in sight with his retinue, I lined up my men and we saluted and Maltu Mephised him in orthodox style. He was quite affable as he greeted me with condescending cordiality.
'I have heard of you,' he said. 'If you are a protege of Toganja Zerka, you must be a good Zani.'
'There is only one good Zani,' I said.
He thought I meant him; and he was pleased. The kordogan had the remaining guardsmen lined up in the guard room; and as we passed through, every one saluted and shouted 'Maltu Mephis!' at the top of his voice. I wondered at the time how Mephis could listen to such forced acclaim without feeling like the ass he was; but I suppose an ass doesn't mind being an ass, or doesn't realize it.
The great man asked to be taken into the basement, where his own particular prisoners were incarcerated. He took only me and two of his aides with him, one of the latter being his present favorite—an effeminate-looking man, bejeweled like a woman. When we reached the room where the prisoners' cells were located, Mephis directed me to show him the cell of Kord, the former jong of Korva.
'Torko has not told me the names of any of these prisoners,' I explained. 'He said it was your wish that they remain nameless.'
Mephis nodded. 'Quite right,' he said, 'but of course the acting governor of the prison should know who they are—and keep the knowledge to himself.'
'You wish to speak to me, Mephis?' asked a voice from a nearby cell.
'That is he,' said Mephis. 'Unlock his cell.'
I took the master key from my belt and did as Mephis bid me.
'Come out!' commanded he.
Kord was still a fine looking man, though wasted by confinement and starvation. 'What do you want of me?' he demanded. There was no 'Maltu Mephis!' here, no cringing. Kord was still the jong, and Mephis shrunk in his presence to the insignificant scum he had been born. I think he felt it; for he commenced to bluster and talk loudly.
'Drag the prisoner to the courtroom!' he shouted to me, and turned back to that room himself, followed by his aides.
I took Kord gently by the arm. 'Come,' I said.
I think he had expected to be jerked or kicked, as he probably had been on former occasions, for he looked at me in something of surprise when I treated him with decent consideration. My heart certainly went out to him, for it must have been galling to a great jong such as he had been to be ordered about by scum like Mephis; and, too, there must have been the knowledge that he was probably going to be tortured. I expected it, and I didn't know how I was going to be able to stand and watch it without raising a hand in interference. Only my knowledge that it would have done him no good and resulted in my own death and, consequently, the defeat of all my own plans, convinced me that I must hide my indignation and accept whatever was forthcoming.
When we entered the courtroom, we saw that Mephis and his aides had already seated themselves at the judges' bench, before which Mephis directed me to bring the prisoner. For a full minute the dictator sat in silence, his shifty eyes roving about the room, never meeting those of Kord and myself but momentarily. At last he spoke.
'You have been a powerful jong, Kord,' he said. 'You may be jong once more. I have come here today to offer you your throne again.'
He waited, but Kord made no reply. He just stood there, erect and majestic, looking Mephis squarely in the face, every inch a king. His attitude naturally irritated the little man, who, though all-powerful, still felt his inferiority to the great man before him.
'I tell you, I will give you back your throne, Kord,' repeated Mephis, his voice rising. 'You have only to sign this,' and he held up a paper. 'It will end needless bloodshed and restore Korva the peace and prosperity she deserves.'
'What is written on the paper?' demanded Kord.
'It is an order to Muso,' replied Mephis, 'telling him to lay down his arms because you have been restored as jong and peace has been declared in Korva.'
'Is that all?' asked Kord.
'Practically all,' replied Mephis. 'There is another paper here that you will sign that will ensure the peace and prosperity of Korva.'
'What is it?'
'It is an order appointing me advisor to the jong, with full power to act in his place in all emergencies. It also ratifies all laws promulgated by the Zani Party since it took control of Korva.'
'In other and more candid words, it betrays my few remaining loyal subjects into the hands of Mephis,' said Kord. 'I refuse, of course.'
'Just a moment,' snapped Mephis. 'There is another condition that may cause you to alter your decision.'
'And that?' inquired Kord.
'If you refuse, you will be considered a traitor to your country, and treated accordingly.'
'Assassinated?'
'Executed,' corrected Mephis.
'I still refuse,' said Kord.
Mephis rose from his seat. His face was livid with rage. 'Then die, you fool!' he almost screamed; and, drawing his Amtorian pistol, poured a stream of the deadly r-rays into the defenseless man standing before him. Without a sound, Kord, jong of Korva, sank lifeless to the floor.
Chapter 11—The Net Draws Closer
The next day, as I was making my rounds of the prison, I took it upon myself to inquire of a number of the prisoners as to the nature of the offenses that had resulted in such drastic punishment, for to be imprisoned in Gap kum Rov was, indeed, real punishment. I found that many of them had expressed their opinions of Mephis and the Zanis too freely, and that supposed friends had informed upon them. Many did not know what the charges against them were, and quite a few were there because of old grudges held against them by members of the Zani Guard. One man was there because an officer of the Zani Guard desired his woman; another because he had sneezed while, standing upon his head, he should have been shouting Maltu Mephis. The only hope any of them had of release was through bribery or the influence of some member of the Zani Party, but this latter was difficult to obtain because of the fear the Zanis themselves felt of directing suspicion upon themselves. These inquiries I had made were of the prisoners in the big tanks on the main floor. My interest lay in the dim corridors below ground, where I thought that Mintep might be confined. I had not dared reveal any interest in these prisoners for fear of directing suspicion upon myself, for I knew that there were constantly informers among the prisoners, who won favors and sometimes freedom by informing upon their fellow prisoners. Torko had told me that I was not even to know the names of the prisoners on that lower level; but I was determined to learn if Mintep was among them, and finally I hit upon a plan that I hoped would serve nay purpose. With difficulty, I wrote some very bad verse in Amtorian, which I sang to a tune that had been popular in America when I left the Earth. In two of the verses was the message I wished to use to elicit a sign from Mintep that he was a prisoner there, and thus to locate his cell.
To allay suspicion, I formed the habit of singing my song as I went about my daily duties; but I sang it at first only on the upper floors. My kordogan and some of the other members of the guard showed an interest in my song, and asked me questions about it. I told them that I didn't know the origin or significance of it, that the words meant nothing to me, and that I only sang it because I was fond of the tune.
In addition to my essay at poetry, I had been busy along another line of endeavor. The cell and door locks of the prison were not all alike, but there was a master key which opened any of them. In Torko's absence, I carried this master key; and one of the first things I did after it came into my possession was to take it into the city and have two duplicates made. I had no definite plan in mind at the time wherein they might figure; but, though I took
