Bang! A crash shook the palace. A veritable shower of bits of stone and
mortar spattered among the diners. The entire company sprang to their
feet, overturning the chairs in their haste. The scene instantly became
one of wild confusion, every one trying to demonstrate his calmness by
taking command and giving orders to every one else. Another boom in the
distance.
Bang! A shell broke within the banquet hall itself. Buh Tedn and two of
the attendants writhed upon the floor. Several others sustained minor
wounds.
Cabot leaped upon the table.
“Ten-shun!” he snapped out.
Every one halted.
“Poblath,” he directed, “take the princess and Bthuh to the cellars!
Here, you orderlies, carry the wounded below. Dr. Emsul, accompany them!
Hah and the rest of you, to the plaza to take command of your forces! I
go to reconnoiter.”
Boom! Bang! Another shell burst somewhere else near by in the palace.
But order had been brought out of chaos. Cabot, the radio man, vaulted
onto the back of Portheris, the whistling bee, adjusted his radio-set to
the latter’s wave-length, and sailed out into the air through one of the
broad windows of the banquet hall: Straight up shot the Hymernian, as
his rider scanned the surrounding landscape.
A puff of smoke to the south. Boom! The smoke and the sound came
unmistakably from the stadium. Bang! A shell exploded on the upper
terraces of the palace behind them.
Cupian fliers now appeared from the southward, headed for the stadium,
and soon the thud of bursting bombs mingled with the booming of the
stadium gun and the detonations of its projectiles.
Cabot had seen enough. He signaled to his mount and they settled down
upon the plaza, where the earthman joined Hah Babbuh and his staff.
“Where is the artillery fire coming from?” the Babbuh anxiously
inquired.
“From the besieged Formians in the stadium,” his chief replied, “the
airships which brought them their rifles, undoubtedly also brought them
a field gun.”
“Then we must radio to Wautoosa for more bombing planes,” said Hah, and
dispatched one of his attendants with orders to that effect.
Bang! A shell burst upon the plaza itself.
“They have changed target,” Myles remarked. “We were none too early. If
Poblath were here, he would undoubtedly say something about ‘Out of the
frying pan, into the fire.’”
But no more shells fell, and soon one of the fliers returned with the
news that a well-placed bomb had put the Formian gun out of commission.
“I hate to wreck our beautiful stadium with any more bombs,” said Cabot.
“Can’t we take the place by assault, or land an attacking force within
the arena?”
“I doubt it,” Hah replied, “for the ant men have probably taken cover
beneath the stands, whence they could repel an attack from either
direction.”
Just then an orderly arrived with a message. One of the jailers, who had
been in charge of the prisoners, had escaped when they overthrew the
guard and seized the stadium. He reported that before his own escape
Prince Yuri had sneaked into the stadium from wherever he had been in
hiding in the city, and had taken command of the insurgent Formians.
“We must capture him alive!” Cabot shouted. “The bombing must stop!”
Here at last was an excuse to save his beloved stadium. Hah gave orders
to recall the planes, and soon they could be seen proceeding to their
base. A special force was then organized for the assault.
But, as they were assembling, three Formian air ships arose from within
the stadium and headed due south at full speed. The meaning was only too
evident; with the withdrawal of the Cupian bombers there had been
nothing to prevent the renegade prince and the survivors of his black
allies from making their escape in the planes which had originally
brought them their arms, and which must have been kept under cover
during the bombing of the stadium. Hurried orders were given for
pursuit; but, as the Cupian fliers returned from their base and
disappeared over the southern horizon, the silver sky began to darken in
the east and to turn red in the west. Another day was at an end. Prince
Yuri was still at large.
As the evening fell, the assaulting column was launched against the
stadium. But they met with no resistance. As Poblath would say, the
pterodactyl had flown. The stadium was empty of all save the corpses of
the slain and the remains of what once had been a
one-hundredth-of-a-parastad field gun, i.e., just about a seventy-five.
So the council of war resumed its sessions in the palace, where the
débris had been removed by the attendants. The ladies were safe. One of
the wounded had died, but Buh Tedn and the other were reported to be
resting comfortably.
The conference proceeded with its plans for the war. When all the
military dispositions had been completed, Toron suggested that baby Kew
ought to be crowned at once, in order to consolidate the popular support
behind the throne.
So early next morning Lilla was dispatched to the north by plane, amply
convoyed, to bring back the little monarch. Not without qualms did Cabot
let her go, but something had to be risked in times like these, and it
hardly seemed possible that one who had been through so many
tribulations could be subjected to any further danger.
Then for several days every one marked time, while Kuana was cleared of
skulking Formians, and the army was provisioned and equipped. Brief
furloughs were given all who wished to visit their families and to
reestablish their homes. Kamel, as predicted, was overwhelmed by his
sarkarship, and made stirring patriotic addresses throughout the city.
The Popular Assembly, which Yuri had dissolved, was reassembled; and,
under the leadership of Kamel and Toron, both parties joined in
unanimously voting for war to the hilt.
The Cupian air fleet finally captured Wautoosa, thus giving them an
oasis in the midst of the enemy, who still stubbornly continued to hold
the line of the old pale.
Then Lilla returned with baby Kew. Such a reunion as there was, when
Myles Cabot clasped to his breast his wife and his infant son!
* * * * *
The little boy, whom Cabot had never seen, was all that the proud father
could have hoped. He had not dared to ask whether the little one had
inherited any of his own earth-born peculiarities. He had feared that
such might be the case and might disincline the Cupians to accept the
baby as their king; for, much as the country admired and respected, yea,
even loved, Myles Cabot, they still regarded him as not one of them; a
hero, even a demi-god perhaps, yet still not quite human.
But Cabot’s fears proved groundless. Baby Kew was earless, and had
antennae, vestigial wings, twelve fingers, and twelve toes.
“I shall have to invent another line for ‘This little pig went to
market,’” Myles remarked, and then explained to Lilla that rite of Anglo
Saxon babyhood.
The infant king surveyed his newly-produced father solemnly out of the
big blue eyes beneath his long yellow lashes; then shook his curly
golden head, and smiled, and holding out one tiny hand, encircled Myles’
forefinger with all six fingers.
It was the thrill of a lifetime, never before experienced, and never to
be repeated; the first response of one’s baby son!
On the day after the arrival, Kew XIII, in his mother’s arms, was
crowned King of all Poros. He behaved very badly at the ceremony,
screaming with rage and dashing to the ground a toy ant man which had
been given him to pacify him. But, as this was taken as a good omen by
the populace, no harm was done.
Among the guests of honor at the coronation were Portheris the Hymernian
king of the bees, Prince Toron, Poblath the mango, Hah Babbuh, Nan-nan,
and Glamp-glamp.
Owva, the holy father sent his blessing from the Caves of Kar, but
declined to attend.
“The prophecy is not yet fulfilled,” he declared, “for ant men still
live.”
In honor of the occasion, Poblath composed a new proverb: “Thrones have
no upholstery,” which caught the popular fancy.
Everywhere throughout Kuana fluttered the red pennant of the restored
Kew dynasty. Myles Cabot, as regent, delivered the speech from the
throne. It was a carefully prepared oration, which quoted from the
memorable address of the late Kew XII, and reiterated Cabot’s own
determined idea that there could be no peace on Poros until the last
Formian was exterminated.
Thus Kew the Thirteenth became the king of a whole planet, and took up
his residence at the Palace of Kuana.
And once again the armies of Myles Cabot swept southward against their
black enemies. But this time there was no quarter.
Of course the ant men contested every step of the way, and thus many
sangths dragged on. Once more, as in the previous war, Myles Cabot had
given orders that Doggo, the ant man, and Yuri, the renegade prince,
should be captured alive if possible. Once more the serial numbers of
all Formian dead were tabulated at headquarters. But Doggo’s number was
not among the slain, and no trace was found of Yuri.
For the most part, Cabot directed the war from the palace at Kuana. He
had braved much and suffered much, and once more he had saved Cupia from
the accursed Formians, so no one begrudged him his well-earned rest. Buh
Tedn, who was convalescing from his wounds, remained as a guest and
adviser at the palace. Princess Lilla also was a source of constant help
and counsel to her husband.
Slowly the Formians were driven southward, and this time there was no
demand from the rank and file of the Cupians that the fighting be given
up, for all realized that this present war and its hardships were due to
the fact that the previous war had not been fought to a finish. There
were now no pacifists in Cupia, for that unfortunate country had reaped
to the full the fruits of pacifism. Also the fact that the former leader
of the pacifists, Kamel, had been promoted to a full sarkarship may have
had something to do with it.
* * * * *
So the war progressed without event until word was brought to G. H. Q.
that a Formian plane, bearing Prince Yuri himself, had been shot down
within the Cupian lines, but that the prince had escaped.
Myles Cabot had experienced once before how Yuri had been able to pass
safely among even hostile bodies of his own countrymen, due to their
respect for the sacredness of his royal person. Therefore, if Yuri were
now within the lines, there was no limit to the trouble which he might
cause. Accordingly it behooved Cabot to proceed at once to the front and
take personal charge of the man-hunt.
It pleased him much to have an excuse to put an end to his inaction. So
he radioed to Hah Babbuh to expect him, and early the next morning set
out by kerkool for the front, accompanied by Poblath as aide.
Lilla and Bthuh did not want them to go.
Said Lilla, “I can see disaster ahead. Every time you ever go anywhere,
you get into trouble.”
“And always get out of it again,” the earth man added, “for, as Poblath
here says, ‘You cannot kill a Minorian.’”
Lilla and Bthuh were a bit reassured as their husbands kissed them an
affectionate farewell and departed. The two men were in high spirits at
the prospect of fighting.
The day was a perfect one. Silver sky o’erhead, silver woods and fields
on each side, and a straight road before them.
Another noon—six hundred o’clock—they reached the air naval base at
Wautoosa, and stopped for lunch. It seemed almost like a homecoming to
Myles to be once more in the old ant-city where he had been held a
captive so long during the early part of his stay on his planet, and
where he had first met and loved the Princess Lilla. To Poblath,
however, the stop was not so pleasant, for an orderly at once brought
him a radiogram from the capitol to the effect that Bthuh had been taken
ill.
“I must return at once,” he announced.
And Cabot, who realized that that is what he himself would have done in
the same situation, readily assented. So Poblath requisitioned one of
the army planes and hurriedly departed.
But this left Cabot without an escort. The commandant of the air base
insisted on detailing a bar-pootah to accompany the regent; but the war
was on, Wautoosa was short-handed, and every man was needed; so Myles
tactfully declined.
Before continuing on his journey, he unbuckled his various
accoutrements; and, for relaxation, revisited some of his old haunts;
such as the room where he had been confined when the ants had captured
him at the time of his arrival on the planet; the garden where he had
first seen the lovely Cupian who had later become his bride; the room
where he had so often visited her, after his triumphant return from
Mooni with the artificial radio speech-organs which he had constructed;
and so on. Every spot was crowded with memories.
But finally he tore himself away, and resumed his journey. It would be
late at night before he could reach Saltona, his next stopping place.
As he sped along over the smooth concrete road in his silent two-wheeled
vehicle, he reflected on a plan of action for the capture of Yuri, the
arch trouble-maker of the continent. Poros could not be sure of peace
until not only the ant men were exterminated, but also Yuri along with
them.
Cabot had chosen for this trip a kerkool, rather than a plane or a
whistling bee, because he wished to stop at every town and army post, in
order to keep in touch with the development of the man-hunt.
And so, in the course of the afternoon, he received a message which
caused him to turn sharp to the right, and give up his plan of spending
the night at Saltona. For Yuri had been reported as seen only a few
stads west of the point where Cabot had received the message.
As the earthman sped along in this new direction, the sky began to turn
black. Not nightfall, but rather the approach of one of those tropical
thunderstorms which are so common on Poros. Darker and darker grew the
sky. And then the storm burst.
Myles had to run his machine at a mere crawling speed now, not only to
prevent skidding, but also because the rain made it difficult to see
where he was going. And as he crept along, a figure loomed ahead,
holding up its left hand as a signal for him to stop. Cabot slowed down
even more, and approached the figure.
It turned out to be a Cupian in an army toga, wearing the insignia of a
low-ranking officer, and with a revolver slung at his side. This officer
was holding over his head one of those umbrellas which all inhabitants
of Poros carry whenever outdoors, not so much for protection against
storms like these, as to ward off the blasting heat of the sun if it
should happen to shine for a moment through a rift in the silver clouds.
For Poros is very close to the center of the solar system, and only the
circumambient cloud-envelop keeps it from being shriveled by the sun’s
heat.
The umbrella had evidently not protected this particular Cupian very
much from the swirling rain, for his toga was dripping wet. Myles
brought the car to a full stop and offered the officer a ride; so the
latter clambered aboard through the rear door, as Myles sat impatiently
at the levers, anxious to be on his way again.
As the other walked forward to a seat just behind the driver, Cabot
started up the kerkool.
“Glad to give you a lift,” he said. “Pretty wet out, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” his guest replied. “Very wet.”
The voice sounded familiar. Maybe this Cupian was one whom he had met
before.
“I am Myles Cabot,” the regent announced. “Can you tell me anything
about the progress of the hunt for Prince Yuri?”
“Perhaps I can,” the other replied, sticking the muzzle of a revolver
into Cabot’s ribs, “for I am Prince Yuri.”