Alberdin took a good long look at the syndicate ranged before him.Then he dismounted from his mule, drew his sword, and stuck it,point downward, into the sand.

"I surrender!" he said.

"So do I!" cried the Princess, running toward him, and throwingherself into his arms.

The eyes of Alberdin sparkled with joy.

"Let the Autocracy go!" he cried. "Now that I have my Princess, thethrone and the crown are nothing to me."