Pyatt and Colton had gone somewhere else in the house, and Larry sat with Diana in a small room whose windows looked out on the green fields beyond the city. The girl had loosened her blue veil so that it hung in soft folds about her chin.
"This is the first time in my life I have been anywhere but in the Caverns and on the waste-land," she said moodily. "This valley of Gral-Thala is a pleasant place."
"You would like Earth even better."
"I suppose I would. Will you take me back to that Earth of yours when you return, Larry?"
"Not until the Gray Death is overcome! I would not want to take any chance of it striking you down."
"Do you love me, Larry?" she asked, without either coquetry or embarrassment.
"I guess I do. Of course, we've only known each other for a few hours—but I guess I do."
"I am glad," she said simply.
The two hours passed, and Pyatt came striding back into the room. They had given him one of the ray-guns brought ashore from the Sky Maid, and he carried it thrust in his girdle close to his hand.
"It is time to go," he said. "We must make our attempt now, win or lose. Where is Colton?"