“Then he is afraid to run counter to the prophecy?”

“Yes, my lord; that is, its literal interpretation.  He is opposed only to the broader version as held by such liberals as the Rhamda Avec.  The Bars are always warning the people against the false one.”

“And the Senestro is at their head,” mused Chick aloud.  “This brother of his who died—­usually there are two such princes and chiefs?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“And the Senestro plans to marry both queens, according to the custom!”

“My lord”—­and the Jan suddenly snapped erect—­“the Bar will do exceedingly well if he succeeds in marrying one of them!  Certainly he shall never have the Aradna—­not while I live and can fight!”

“Good!  How about the Nervina?”

“He’ll do well to find her first!”

“True enough.  What would you say was his code of honour?”

“My lord, the Senestro actually has no code.  He believes in nothing.  He is so constituted, mentally and morally, that he cares for and trusts in none but himself.  He is a sceptic pure and simple; he cares nothing for the Jarados and his teachings.  He is an opportunist seeking for power, wicked, lustful, cruel—­”

“But a good sportsman!”

“In what way, my lord?”

“Didn’t he allow me the choice of combat?”

The Jan laughed, but his handsome face could not hide his contempt.

“It is ever so with a champion, my lord.  He has never been defeated in a matter of physical prowess.  It would be far more to his glory to overcome you in combat of your own selection.  It will be spectacular—­he knows the value of dramatic climax—­and he would kill you in a moment, before a million Thomahlians.”

“It’s a nice way to die,” said Watson.  “You must grant that much.”

“I don’t know of any nice way to die, my lord.  But it is a good way of living—­to kill the Bar Senestro.  I would that I could have the honour.”

“How does it come that the Rhamdas, superintellectual as they are, can consent to such a contest?  Is it not degrading, to their way of thinking?  It smacks of barbarism.”

“They do not look upon it in that light, my lord.  Our civilisation has passed beyond snobbery.  Of course there was a time, centuries ago when we were taught that any physical contest was brutal.  But that was before we knew better.”

“You don’t believe it now?”

“By no means, my lord.  The most wonderful physical thing in the Thomahlia is the human body.  We do not hide it.  We admire beauty, strength, prowess.  The live body is above all art; it is the work of God himself; art is but an imitation.  And there is nothing so splendid as a physical contest—­the lightning correlation of mind and body.  It is a picture of life.”

“Do the Rhamdas think this?”

“Most assuredly.  A Rhamda is always first an athlete.”

“Why?”

“Perfection, my lord.  A perfect mind does not always dwell in a perfect body, but they strive for it as much as possible.  The first test of a Rhamda is his body.  After he passes that he must take the mental test.”