interpretation, "The Book of Gold." The leaves of this book are made
from an element costly and rare, more precious to them than gold is to
us. From this book all their sacred books are copied. The civil powers
also accept this book as their authority, and enforce its teachings.

Sin there, as here, is the withering blast of the planet, the destroyer
of the harvest fields of purity and truth. An invisible spirit of evil
holds his force in disciplined command, and the man who wishes to have a
pure heart on Stazza must reach it through conflicts long and sharp. The
path to moral and spiritual purity is quite the same throughout the
whole universe.




CHAPTER VIII.

Tor-tu.


After I had finished my interesting tour of Stazza I visited in quick
succession a score or more of worlds that also revolve around Polaris at
varying distances. I found the majority of these planets barren of all
life, owing principally to their molten condition.

Some unthinkable types of human existence are occupying the worlds that
can be inhabited. I marveled aloud as I viewed a few more links of the
endless chain of intelligent creation. On one of these worlds, which I
have christened Tor-tu, I found human beings that resemble us more than
any others in the entire solar bounds of Polaris.