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"It is wonderful," he said, when she had finished; "but I did not tell Luud--you

noticed that I did not tell Luud about it. Had he known, he would have had you

sing to him and that would have resulted in your being kept with him that he

might hear you sing whenever he wished; but now I can have you all the time."

How do you know he would like my singing?" she asked.

He would have to," replied Ghek. "If I like a thing he has to like it, for are we not

identical--all of us?"

"The people of my race do not all like the same things," said the girl.

How strange!" commented Ghek. "All kaldanes like the same things and dislike

the same things. If I discover something new and like it I know that all kaldanes

will like it. That is how I know that Luud would like your singing. You see we are

all exactly alike."

"But you do not look like Luud," said the girl.

"Luud is king. He is larger and more gorgeously marked; but otherwise he and I

are identical, and why not? Did not Luud produce the egg from which I hatched?"

What?" queried the girl; "I do not understand you."

Yes," explained Ghek, "all of us are from Luud's eggs, just as all the swarm of

Moak are from Moak's eggs."

Oh!" exclaimed Tara of Helium understandingly; "you mean that Luud has many

wives and that you are the offspring of one of them."

"No, not that at all," replied Ghek. "Luud has no wife. He lays the eggs himself.

You do not understand."

Tara of Helium admitted that she did not.

I will try to explain, then," said Ghek, "if you will promise to sing to me later."

I promise," she said.

We are not like the rykors," he began. "They are creatures of a low order, like

yourself and the banths and such things. We have no sex--not one of us except

our king, who is bi-sexual. He produces many eggs from which we, the workers

and the warriors, are hatched; and one in every thousand eggs is another king

egg, from which a king is hatched. Did you notice the sealed openings in the room

where you saw Luud? Sealed in each of those is another king. If one of them

escaped he would fall upon Luud and try to kill him and if he succeeded we

The Chessmen of Mars