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When she was conducted into his presence he was squatting in a corner of the

chamber upon his six spidery legs. Near the opposite wall lay his rykor, its

beautiful form trapped in gorgeous harness--a dead thing without a guiding

kaldane. Luud dismissed the warriors who had accompanied the prisoner. Then

he sat with his terrible eyes fixed upon her and without speaking for some time.

Tara of Helium could but wait. What was to come she could only guess. When it

came would be sufficiently the time to meet it. There was no necessity for

anticipating the end. Presently Luud spoke.

"You think to escape," he said, in the deadly, expressionless monotone of his

kind--the only possible result of orally expressing reason uninfluenced by

sentiment. "You will not escape. You are merely the embodiment of two imperfect

things--an imperfect brain and an imperfect body. The two cannot exist together

in perfection. There you see a perfect body." He pointed toward the rykor. "It has

no brain. Here," and he raised one of his chelae to his head, "is the perfect brain.

It needs no body to function perfectly and properly as a brain. You would pit your

feeble intellect against mine! Even now you are planning to slay me. If you are

thwarted in that you expect to slay yourself. You will learn the power of mind over

matter. I am the mind. You are the matter. What brain you have is too weak and

ill-developed to deserve the name of brain. You have permitted it to be weakened

by impulsive acts dictated by sentiment. It has no value. It has practically no

control over your existence. You will not kill me. You will not kill yourself. When I

am through with you you shall be killed if it seems the logical thing to do. You

have no conception of the possibilities for power which lie in a perfectly developed

brain. Look at that rykor. He has no brain. He can move but slightly of his own

volition. An inherent mechanical instinct that we have permitted to remain in him

allows him to carry food to his mouth; but he could not find food for himself. We

have to place it within his reach and always in the same place. Should we put

food at his feet and leave him alone he would starve to death. But now watch

what a real brain may accomplish."

He turned his eyes upon the rykor and squatted there glaring at the insensate

thing. Presently, to the girl's horror, the headless body moved. It rose slowly to its

feet and crossed the room to Luud; it stooped and took the hideous head in its

hands; it raised the head and set it on its shoulders.

What chance have you against such power?" asked Luud. "As I did with the

rykor so can I do with you."

Tara of Helium made no reply. Evidently no vocal reply was necessary.

"You doubt my ability!" stated Luud, which was precisely the fact, though the girl

had only thought it--she had not said it.

The Chessmen of Mars