pleasure. "An' did they get that slinking she-devilof an Olga along with the rest of the carrion?" he asked.
Gerry shook his head. "No, she wasn't there. At least, we didn't seeher. It wasn't likely though that she would come. She probably remainedback in Vaaka-hausen."
McTavish frowned his disappointment. "Ah, weel," he shrugged, "ye canna'have ever'thing."
"Don't worry, McTavish," Sarnak grinned, "we'll probably have her in afew hours. A force of Savissans and Green Men have already left to cleanup Vaaka-hausen."
Gerry grinned. "Good. There's one thing I would like to suggest. Iloathed Lansing as much as any of you, but he is a white man, and Idislike thinking that he may be hauled off and tossed into a commongrave with the rest of the Scaly Ones. Let's go to the garden, and seethat his body has at least a half-way decent interment."
The rest of the party agreed to this, and they made their way back tothe garden. They went down the steps leading to it, then all stopped insurprise. The bodies of the slain Scaly Men and Lansa were gone!
McTavish rubbed his eyes unbelievingly. "What kind of devilment isthis?" he whispered. Sarnak shook his head slowly. "I don't understand.Unless the retreating forces found them, and carried them along withthem. They were all dead, of that I'm sure."
"Lansing, too?" inquired McTavish suspiciously.
Gerry laughed. "Lansing never walked away from here, unless as a ghost.I saw him go down. And men with an arrow transfixing their throats don'tdo much walking."
But the big Scot didn't seem entirely convinced, and as they walkedaway, he was still shaking his great, shaggy head in doubt.
With the strain of the siege over at last, many of the garrison hadsimply dropped to the ground and gone to sleep where they fell. Gerrywas watching the flames sweep over the last of the city. For a long timethe Arrow Tower remained standing above the sea of fire, but then itbegan to tip. Faster and faster it fell, till it came down in a showerof sparks. Closana dropped her head in her hands, but old Rupin-Sangtouched his daughter on the shoulder.
"Save your grief girl," he said. "It is true that the Golden City of ourfathers no longer exists, but there was a second part to the prophesy.That, after the great disaster, the people of Savissa would have are-birth. A message that just came through from those of our people whoare hidden in the hills tells me that--of ten children who have beenborn since we sent all the non-combatants out of the city--seven havebeen boys! The curse has been lifted from our race."
* * * * *
Two days later, even before the ashes of Larr were cool, working partiesof Amazons began to clear away the ruins to prepare for the building ofa new city. Sarnak of Luralla had already returned across the river Girito supervise the rebuilding of his own land. Angus McTavish came up towhere Rupin-Sang and Gerry stood in front of the king's tent.
"Tests all complete, Chief," he said. "That material we got in Moorn isall right."
"I don't suppose there's any way of thanking them for it."
The big Scot shook his head slowly, tugging at his beard. "The cityisn't there any more."
"What do you mean?"
"Just that it's gone. We heard the bells a few hours after you left, andthen we never heard them again. You can walk clean across the plainwhere the city stood. Sand from the beach is drifting into the holesthat held the wall foundations, and grass is already beginning over therest of the place.... It's gone, that's all."
"They were queer folk, the people of Moorn," Gerry said moodily. "Isuppose they were afraid they might get dragged into the affairs of theplanet in spite of themselves, and simply moved the whole city off tosome distant and unknown planet."
"But how could they do that?" McTavish said. Gerry shrugged.
"Ask me another! How could they make the place invisible? We know theydid that, we don't know how much further their science went. Anyway--I'mgoing to be glad to get back to Earth for a while. I guess we're readyto start."
He turned to look at Closana for a moment. The girl had laid aside herbattered armor for her customary bright loin cloth and golden breastplates. She shook back her long golden hair and faced him with a smile.
"Want to come back to Earth with me, Closana?" he asked.
"Either that--or the ship goes back without its captain," she saidquietly. Gerry laughed.
"Darling, I feel sorry for any Earth-woman who ever concludes you'resome shy little stranger she can patronize. Well--the trails ofinterplanetary space are long and we'd better get going. All aboard!"
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