"
"The presence of Juba with us is another difficulty," I suggested. "If,
as you suppose, they recognize certain racial characteristics in him,
which convince them that he belongs to the other side of Venus, then they
are sure to believe that we belong there, too."
"Certainly. But I must find some way round the difficulty. I depend upon
the intelligence of Ala. If she had been killed, nothing could have saved
us. We have had an unpleasant escape from something too closely
resembling the misfortune of Oedipus."
In the meanwhile, we reached the capital and disembarked on the great
tower. To our intense surprise and delight, instead of being reconducted
to prison, we were led into a magnificent apartment, with open arches
facing toward the distant mountains, and a repast was spread before us.
Juba, to our great contentment, was allowed to accompany us. I think that
Jack was the most pleased member of the party at the sight of the food.
We sat at a round table, and I observed that the eatables consisted, as
with Juba's people, exclusively of vegetables, except that there were
birds, of species unknown to us, but of most exquisite flavor, and a
light, white wine, the most delicious that I ever tasted.
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