“Is forfeited, of course.  I understand that perfectly well.  And that means two things, as direct corollaries.  First, that you lose a trained flyer and a woman with Red Cross training; a woman you may sorely need before this expedition is done.  Second, you deny a human being who is just as eager as you are for life and the spice of adventure, just as hungry for excitement as you or any man here—­you deny me all this, everything, just because a stupid accident of birth made me a woman!”

Her clenched right fist passionately struck the table at her side.

“A man’s world!  That’s what this world is called; that’s what it is!  And you—­of all men—­are living down to that idea!  You—­the Master!”

The man’s face changed color.  It grew a little pale, with deepening lines.  He passed a hand over his forehead, a hand that for the first time trembled with indecision.  His strong teeth gnawed at his lower lip.  Never before had he lacked words, but now he found none.

The woman exclaimed, her voice incisive, eager, her eyes burning: 

“It is because you are a master of men, and of yourself, that I have taken this chance!  It is because I have heard of your absolute sense of justice and fair play, your appreciation of unswerving loyalty and of the heart that dares!  Now you understand.  I have only one more thing to say.”

“And what is that?”

“If you respect my secret and let me go with you on this great enterprise, no man aboard the Eagle of the Sky will serve you any more loyally than I. No man will venture more, endure more, suffer more—­if suffering has to be.  I give you my word of honor on that, as a fighter and—­a woman!”

“Your word of honor as—­”

“A woman!  Do you understand?”

Silence again.  Their eyes met.  The Master’s were first to lower.

“Your life is spared,” he answered.  “That is a concession to your sex, madam.  Had you been a man, I would inevitably have put you to death.  As it is, you shall live.  And you shall remain with us—­”

“Thank God for that!”

“Till we reach land.  There you must leave Nissr.”

“I shall not leave it alive,” the woman declared, her eyes showing dilated pupils of resentment, of anger.  “I haven’t come this far to be thrown aside like a bit of worthless gear!”

“You and your machine will be cast off, over the first land we touch,” the Master repeated doggedly.  “Whatever information you may give, cannot injure us, and—­”

“Stop!  Not another word like that, to me!”

Her eyes were blazing now; her right fist quivered in air.

“You accuse me of treason,” she cried.  “Oh, what injustice, what—­”

“I accuse you of nothing, save of having deceived us all, and of being very much deplacee here.  The deception shall continue, as far as the others are concerned.  You came to us, as a man.  You shall go as one.  Your secret shall be absolutely respected, by me.  But, madam, understand one thing clearly.”