“We shall get them when they reach the valley!” I shouted to the men.  Then I reached for my tube, and sighted it on the lower end of the flume, far, far below, almost too far away to be clear to the naked eye.

In an incredibly short time the craft reached the end.  It traveled at an extraordinary rate; perchance ’twas weighted; I marveled that its windows could stand the force of the air.  And I scarce had time to fear that the twain should be destroyed on that upturned spillway before it was there.

And then an awesome thing happened.  As the boat struck the incline it shot upward into the air at a steep slant.  Up, up it went; my heart jumped into my mouth; for surely they must be crushed when they came down.

But the craft did not come down.  It went on and on, up and up; its speed scarcely slackened; ’twas like that of a shooting star.  And in far less time than it takes to tell it, the little boat was high up among the stars, going higher every instant, and farther away from me.  And suddenly the sweat broke cold on my forehead; for dead ahead, directly in line with their travel, lay the bluish white gleam of Jeos.

So great was my rage over the escape of the dreamer with my woman, at first I felt no sorrow.  Later, after days and days of search in and about the basin, I came to grieve most terribly over my loss.  When I came home to the palace, I was well-nigh ill.

In vain did I make the most generous of rewards.  The whole empire turned out to search for the missing ones, but nothing came of it all.  Yet I never ceased to hope, especially after my talk with Maka.

“Aye,” he said, when I questioned him, “it were barely possible that they have left this world for all time.  I have calculated the speed which their craft might have attained, had it the right proportions, and, in truth, it might have left the spillway at such a speed that it entirely overcame the draw of the ground.

“But I think it were a slim chance.  It is more than likely, Strokor, that Ave shall return to thee.”

Was I not the fitter man?  Surely Edam’s purpose could not succeed; Jon would not have it so.  The woman was mine, because I had chosen her; and she must come back to me, and in safety, or I should tear Edam into bits.

But as time went on and naught transpired, I became more and more melancholy.  Life became an empty thing; it had been empty enough before I had craved the girl, but now it was empty with hopelessness.

After a while I got to thinking of some of the things Maka had told me.  The more I thought of the future, the blacker it seemed.  True, there were many other women; but there had been only one Ave.  No such beauty had ever graced this world before.  And I knew I could be happy with no other.

Now I saw that all my fame had been in vain.  I had lost the only woman that was fit for me, and when I died there would be naught left but my name.  Even that the next emperor might blot out, if he chose.  It had all been in vain!