CHAPTER III
The Price of Monarchy
Had Sime been able to follow and watch the girl he had kissed under such unusual circumstances on the night of his arrival on Mars, he would have been both puzzled and enlightened. After her final warning about Scar Balta she dashed into the luxurious gloom of the passage. At an intersection a maid was awaiting her. She curtseyed as she threw a cape over the girl's shoulder, and together they hurried out into the night.
A magnificently uniformed hotel servant called a private car, drew the vitrine curtains, and saluted as the car lifted sharply into the chilly night air. The car sped across the canal to the jeweled city across the water, to a residence district whose magnificence even the pale night light revealed.
The two women entered a mansion of glittering metal and came to a private apartment.
"Everybody's gone to bed," said the girl, addressing her maid. "That's one thing we can be thankful for."
"Yes, Your Highness. Did you discover anything of importance in the man's room?"
"No. Draw me a bath, Mellie. He—he caught me—and kissed me!"
The maid, with flasks of perfume and aromatic oils in her hand, paused, discreetly impudent.
"You seem not displeased, Your Highness."