THE COUP D’ETAT
The next Myles Cabot was under to the of the thirteen: Formis and her twelve advisers. The was in a cage, from which he his as the opened.
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On a the queen, by a canopy, which set off the perfect of her jet-black body. On each of her six and ant-men, her councillors. One of the twelve was Doggo.
Messenger and thither.
First the was read, Myles being with a copy.
The were then called. They were who had in the in which Cabot had twice Cupia from the of its Formian oppressors. They spoke with of the of their Formia. Their was brief.
Then the was asked if he to say anything in his own behalf. Myles rose, then his shoulders, sat again, and wrote: “I the of making an through the of another.”
Whereupon the queen and the into executive session. Their were not for the of the prisoner, but he soon that some of a was on Doggo, supported by two named Emu and Fum on one side, and a named Barth on the other.
As this its height, a messenger in and up one paw. Cabot’s interpreter, not this a part of the executive session, the into writing:
The messenger: “Yuri and over Cupia. It is his that Cabot die.”
Barth: “It is the radio. Know then, O Queen, and ye, members of the council, that when we across the under the of Prince Yuri, the man with the of a Formian, he with him one of those powerful radio sets by the who is our here to-day.
“Supporters of Yuri still among the Cupians, and he has been in with these since after our here. From them he learned of the return of Myles Cabot to the Minos.
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“Then Yuri disappeared. Those of us who were to him that he had gone across the to as his own the of Cupia. But we to this until we were sure, for we that some of our own people would his as desertion. Yet who can him for returning to his father-land and to the which is his by rights?”
To which the messenger added: “And he offers to give us our own old country, if we too will return across the again.”
“It is a lie!” Doggo shouted.
“Yuri, of the of two continents. Bah!” Emu.
“Yuri, our leader,” Barth.
“Give us a queen of our own race,” Fum.
“Release the prisoner,” the Queen.
And that is all that Myles learned of the conversation, for his at this stopped and the queen. The earth-man was free!
With one he the throne, where was already in progress the two factions. Barth and Doggo were over and over on the in a death grapple, while the ant-queen had to the of the stage, closely by Emu and Fum.
Seizing one of the which supported the canopy, Myles it and it into the of Barth. In another the earth-man and Doggo the queen.
Ant-men now came into the through all the entrances, taking as they entered and sized up the situation. If it had still been in among the Formians to be by numbers than names, and to have these numbers painted on the of their by the numbers of those they had in the so common among them, then many a Formian would have “got the number” of many another, that day.
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As Myles with his Formis, queen of the ants, he well the of “Death to the usurper!” “Formia for the Formians!” “Long Live Queen Formis!” “Long live Prince Yuri!” which must have the chamber; but to him all was silence, for he was without the to up the speech of the contenders.
So as he the in silence, he had opportunity to on the of his position. Here was he, Myles Cabot of Cupia, the man who had the from their over his people, and yet now by with their the life of their queen.
Yet was she not the of Doggo his only friend among the ants? And would not her victory the return of Myles to his own continent?
As the earth-man to right and left among the supporters of his enemy Yuri there came to his ears the of fire. It might prove a or an added menace, according to the rifle. But no must be taken on the life of the queen. So Myles to Doggo of danger.
The queen and her supporters, outnumbered, were with their to one of the of the room. A along this on the where Cabot was a door; so he now his way along the to this door. This was not difficult, as the ant-men, having only their to with, his pike.
He the door and passed by, but not through it. The came nearer and nearer. Then Doggo opened the door and through with Formis and the of her supporters; the door closed, and Myles Cabot the with his pike—alone against the of antdom.
He had no in himself from those in of him, but the who to close in on him from each were a different matter.
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He on his and hips, and his was and torn; but he was able to off their bites. Nevertheless, his pressed so close that it was difficult for him to his long weapon. In fact, it was only the of the upon one another and upon the of their that them from him.
He now was his by the middle, with hands, using one end as a and the other as a dagger. The black circle of the was in on him. A pair of from the left a of his throat. Instantly he the point of his home jaws. But at the same its was by a pair of to his right. He not it free.
At last he was weaponless, and not only that, but to the by the of his own as well.
And then to his the him as at a command. The of his was dropped. As Myles the point from the of the Formian in which it had been stuck, and the long which had opened him, he saw him at the other end an ant-man with the type of claw-operated which the Formians had from those which Myles himself had for Cupian use in the of liberation.
Briefly the two each other. Then slowly the was until its settled upon the earth-man’s chest.
Instantaneously the of Myles Cabot the black which him in on each side. There was no escape!
Yet how can man die better,
Than odds?
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With a wild warwhoop, which was on the radio-sense of the assembled Formians, Myles the narrow way, into the of the of his antagonist. The ant-man the trigger. A out. But still the of Myles continued, and the be a second time, Myles had his into the face.
The Formian back. The to the floor. The earth-man, not waiting to his own weapon, stooped, the firearm, and to his enemies, who in a this new menace.
Myles now in one of the of the chamber, and thus was secure against attack. But not against an from the rear. In fact, as he thus irresolute, a noise him in the to his ears the approach of a new enemy. What was he to do? To as he was meant to this newcomer, to turn about would that those the would him.
In this Myles his gun firmly, and to the left until he was against the of the in which he was standing. From this position he turn his to the left and see into the chamber, or to the right and look the long hall.
Directly opposite him was one of those narrow, windows, so of Porovian architecture. It was too narrow for the passage of the of an ant-man, but a being through. Thus it offered a means out, a way of escape.
The in the was joined by the others. They and their the slowly closed in on the earth-man.
There was no time to upon the of the outside. With a which his to momentarily, Myles across to the window, his way through, and, still his rifle, two into a of in the below.
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Hastily himself, he looked up at the window which he had just quitted. There, by the masonry, was the of an ant-man. A quick shot, and the at him no more.
Before another Formian take post at the window to the direction of Cabot’s departure, the ran from the garden into the of the again.
His was to join Doggo, Queen Formis, and their faction; so, taking a on his rifle, he in the direction in which they had their escape.
The ant-man he met the was Emu, one of the three members of the who had been a party to the original conspiracy. This was from something in very terror, so that it was all Cabot do to stop him, but the threat of rifle-shooting was effective.
Then, a from the magazine of his firearm, Cabot upon the the question: “What of Doggo and Formis?”
Emu the and the reply: “Dead, dead. The has collapsed. Flee for your life!”
Then the ant-man off the corridor, taking the with him. He had not been too to think of that.
Myles a of self-reproach at having his friends to this sad end. But then, he reflected, Doggo had been in a in which with the and then would have been sooner or later. The had been his one best bet, and it was no one’s fault that it had failed.
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Now that Doggo and Formis were dead, there was no longer any Myles to and fight. In fact, he it to his loved ones in Cupia to his own life until he some way of them. So he set out to from the city.
For some time he the without meeting any ants, although occasionally there to him the of on the upper levels. But at last, as he a turn, he saw him a Formian, and it was one he recognized, the messenger who had to the trial the from Prince Yuri. The ant’s was toward him. Cabot a step; then his rifle, he again and full at his enemy.
But the clicked. There was no explosion. The magazine was empty.
Cabot’s was to the away. Then he that an gun might well to his and them at a distance; so he it.
By this time the messenger had around a turn the corridor, so Cabot after him; for it had to the earth-man that this was returning to the radio set, he had come.
Radio! Means of a with his own continent, if he but the instruments!
The messenger had at the trial that Yuri was in Cupia and of Cabot’s presence in this new land. Thus it was that complete had been the two continents. But, equally, undoubtedly, this had been at a wave-length which the knowledge of Cabot’s return much a of Prince Yuri and his own followers. This would the to speed up he had in Cupia.
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But if Cabot once on the air and the Formian sending set to the wave-length of Luno Castle, or it through all its available wave-lengths, he to the Cupian nation the that he was alive and well, and would return again—though he not how—to lead them. Such news should the of the Cupians to to the of his wife, the Princess Lilla, and his son, the king.
So he his pace, and soon again of the messenger ant. From, then on he his quarry, who him through many a passage-way, they from the city into the open fields.
Beyond the the of a range. Caution that Cabot under the of the city until the Formian among the rocks. Then he ran across the plain to take up the once more.
As he, too, the rocks, he to see if his had been noted. No, there was no of life. Evidently the had all the to the of the city. So, with a of relief, Myles after the messenger ant.
At the place where Myles had noticed the Formian enter the there was the well-defined of a trail; so up this he sped, and soon of his quarry. From that time on more was necessary, but the was able to keep the always in until, just after a turn in the road had his view, Myles came upon a place where the way forked.
Pausing, he his in dismay, then the ground for of marks; but none were apparent. Dropping to his hands and knees, the earth-man the with more care; and at last, that he some to the right, he took the right-hand branch.
It was necessary for him to with great rapidity, if he would catch up with the messenger ant, so Myles into a dog trot. On and on he ran; up, into the mountains.
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At last he sat on a large boulder, just as the sky in the west, and up out of the east. It was that he had taken the road at the fork, and also that he must now the night, and alone the of the of this new continent.
