“I wish,” he said, “I had half-a-dozen subjects capable of imagining such an enterprise and hardy enough to undertake it.  But though we all profess to consider knowledge, and especially scientific knowledge, the one object for which it is worth while to live, none of us would risk his life in such an adventure for all the rewards that science and fame could give.”

“I think, Prince,” I replied, “that I am in presence of one inhabitant of this planet who would have dared at least as much as I have done.”

“Possibly,” he said.  “Because, weary as most of us profess to be of existence, the weariest life in this world is that of him who rules it; living for ever under the silent criticism which he cannot answer, and bound to devote his time and thoughts to the welfare of a race whose utter extermination would be, on their own showing, the greatest boon he could confer upon them.  Certainly I would rather be the discoverer of a world than its Sovereign.”

He asked me numerous questions about the Earth, the races that inhabit it, their several systems of government, and their relations to one another; manifesting a keener interest, I thought, in the great wars which ended while I was yet a youth, than in any other subject.  At last he permitted me to take leave.  “You are,” he said, “the most welcome guest I ever have or could have received; a guest distinguished above all others by a power independent of my own.  But what honour I can pay to courage and enterprise, what welcome I can give such a guest, shall not be unworthy of him or of myself.  Retire now to the home you will find prepared for you.  I will only ask you to remember that I have chosen one near my own in order that I may see you often, and learn in private all that you can tell me.”

At the entrance of the apartment I was met by the officer who had introduced me into the presence, and conducted at once to a door opening on the interior court or peristyle of the central portion of the Palace.  This was itself a garden, but, unlike those of private houses, a garden open to the sky and traversed by roads in lieu of mere paths; not serving, as in private dwellings, the purposes of a common living room.  Here a carriage awaited us, and my escort requested me to mount.  I had some misgivings on Eveena’s account, but felt it necessary to imitate the reserve and affected indifference on such subjects of those among whom I had been thrown, at least until I somewhat better understood their ways, and had established my own position.  Traversing a vaulted passage underneath the rearward portion of the Palace, we emerged into the outer garden, and through this into a road lighted with a brilliancy almost equal to that of day.  Our journey occupied nearly half an hour, when we entered an enclosure apparently of great size, the avenue of which was so wide that, without dismounting, our carriage passed directly up to the door of a larger house than I had yet seen.