Michel Drawers couldn't help noticing the feminine, unassumed grace of her movements, the smooth, round contours of her face, her soft, perfectly proportioned curves. The glory-sheen of her hair that was arched up a few inches at the brow, and then allowed to fall in glistening strands down and around her shoulders.
Here were beauty and goodness incarnate.
Without further consideration Drawers knew he was falling hopelessly in love. Knew it in the maddening fashion that only a man who yearns for the admittedly impossible can know.
"Thank you," she was thinking. And then, "Oh, how can I ever thank you enough? You were so brave, so fine, so strong, so daring."
"Ah—it was nothing. I mean—" Drawers knew he was speaking tripe. Common everyday, ordinary tripe, but he couldn't think in the presence of this dazzling little creature. All his senses, except his pounding heartbeat, seemed locked in a state of suspended animation.
Then he was tired—more tired than he thought anyone could ever be. He tried to sustain himself, but his words lisped off, and nature demanded that he rest. He fell back upon the radiant pillows, asleep before his head had indented its form upon their softness.
So he couldn't have seen, as Persum did, the soft, lingering caress that the golden girl bestowed upon his brow before she hastily retired from the room.
The ensuing days were happy ones for Michel Drawers. He was entertained royally by the elite of the golden people. The dazzling little woman he had rescued, along with Persum, were always at his side, acting as a sort of self-appointed escort service. They showed him their great city, strangely devoid of any mechanical devices or any utilization of natural laws.
He was introduced to the nation's leading thinkers who expounded learnedly upon almost incomprehensible theories. He was shown the ideal, simple, quiet life led by most of the populace and noted without being told the general tone of happiness, good will, and the utter lack of crime of any sort.
The complete and utter lack of sensible equipment convinced him more than ever that he should and could repay in some ways the unusual kindness bestowed upon him.