"Strangers," she commenced in a voice that was singularly sweet and musical--"for your names I know not--I, Volinè, daughter of the King, give you greeting. I have bidden our trusty soldier Kaosp conduct me hither, so that mine eyes may see that it is still well with ye, for I feel an interest in your fate. My ears are open to any complaint, which perchance ye may wish to make concerning your treatment in this our palace, since my royal father and his councillors, in their great wisdom, commanded that ye be held prisoners here. We dwellers in the city Edos are not wanting in hospitality to the stranger; but ye are not our people, not of our world; we know ye not, still, Volinè is your friend."
Doctor Hermann advanced and kissed the white, ring-decked hand extended towards him, and did his best to convey our gratitude to the generous girl; telling her that we were friends, fashioned in the same creative mould as her own race; and that we came from the star which is known as Ramos, but to us, its people, as "Earth"; that we had come to study this new world of hers, and to take back our information, if we were spared to do so, to our fellow-men.
John Temple was then commanded by Volinè to come forward and salute her, a mark of royal favour of which he was not slow to avail himself, as what man would not when the donor was so ravishingly beautiful as she! Then Sandy was called for, and bidden to bring Rover, too. Volinè was deeply interested, and asked many questions, through Kaosp, concerning the Scotsman and his dog.
Volinè's voice was distinctly less commanding in its tone, even tender, when with some slight hesitation she asked that Graham might be presented to her; and as he came forward and pressed her hand to his lips for a moment, we all noticed a blush steal over her lovely face. As a special mark of her favour, she bade one of her attendant maidens hand to him the flowers she was carrying. Graham already was, evidently, held high in her esteem. He was so utterly confounded by such an unexpected mark of royal favour that, beyond kissing the hand held out to him, he was unable to utter a word of gratitude, of compliment, or thanks. Very soon after this the interview came to an end, and Volinè with her attendants withdrew, leaving us to recover ourselves as if from some delicious dream. We had had no feminine society for years, and if the Doctor and Sandy did not miss it, certainly Graham and Temple did, and appreciated the visit of this peerless maiden to the uttermost.