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diff --git a/old/54096-0.txt b/old/54096-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e531099..0000000 --- a/old/54096-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14592 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Olga Romanoff, by George Chetwynd Griffith, -Illustrated by Fred T. Jane - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Olga Romanoff - - -Author: George Chetwynd Griffith - - - -Release Date: February 2, 2017 [eBook #54096] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLGA ROMANOFF*** - - -E-text prepared by MFR, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 54096-h.htm or 54096-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/54096/54096-h/54096-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/54096/54096-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/olgaromanoff00grif - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). - - A dtailed Transcriber’s Note is at the end. - - - - - -OLGA ROMANOFF - - * * * * * - -MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: EVIL IN SUCH A SHAPE MIGHT BE SOMETHING MORE THAN GOOD. -(_Frontispiece._) _See page 176._] - - -OLGA ROMANOFF. - -by - -GEORGE GRIFFITH. - -Author of -“The Angel of the Revolution,” “The Outlaws of the Air,” -“Valdar the Oft-Born,” “Briton or Boer?” “The Romance of -Golden Star,” etc., etc. - - “_And so they waited--waited while the ages-old snow and - ice melted from the bare, black rocks under the fierce - breath of the fire-storm; while the ocean of flame - seethed and roared and eddied about them, licking up the - seas and melted snows, and fighting with them as fire - and water have fought since the world began; while the - foundations of the Southern Pole quivered and rocked - beneath their feet, and the walls of their refuge quaked - and cracked with the throes of the writhing earth, and - cosmos was dissolved into chaos once more._”--p. 368. - -With Sixteen Illustrations by Fred T. Jane. - - - - - - -London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd. - -1897. - -Copyrighted Abroad.] [All Foreign Rights Reserved. - - * * * * * - - TO HIRAM STEVENS MAXIM - - THE FIRST MAN WHO HAS FLOWN BY MECHANICAL MEANS AND SO - APPROACHED MOST NEARLY TO THE LONG-SOUGHT IDEAL OF AERIAL - NAVIGATION - - THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - PROLOGUE 1 - - CHAP. - - I. THE SURRENDER OF THE WORLD-THRONE 8 - - II. A CROWNLESS KING 14 - - III. TSARINA OLGA 26 - - IV. A SON OF THE GODS 35 - - V. A VISION FROM THE CLOUDS 47 - - VI. DEED AND DREAM 53 - - VII. THE SPELL OF CIRCE 66 - - VIII. THE NEW TERROR 75 - - IX. THE FLIGHT OF THE “REVENGE” 83 - - X. STRANGE TIDINGS TO AERIA 94 - - XI. THE SNAKE IN EDEN 102 - - XII. THE BATTLE OF KERGUELEN 110 - - XIII. THE SYREN’S STRONGHOLD 129 - - XIV. FROM THE SEA TO THE AIR 138 - - XV. OLGA IN COUNCIL 146 - - XVI. KHALID THE MAGNIFICENT 159 - - XVII. AN UNHOLY ALLIANCE 174 - - XVIII. A MOMENTOUS COMMISSION 188 - - XIX. FACE TO FACE AGAIN 202 - - XX. THE CALL TO ARMS 215 - - XXI. THE HOME-COMING 226 - - XXII. THE EVE OF BATTLE 243 - - XXIII. THE FIRST BLOW 253 - - XXIV. WAR AT ITS WORST 271 - - XXV. A MESSAGE FROM MARS 289 - - XXVI. SENTENCE OF DEATH 303 - - XXVII. ALMA SPEAKS 314 - - XXVIII. THE SIGN IN THE SKY 319 - - XXIX. THE TRUCE OF GOD 325 - - XXX. THE SHADOW OF DEATH 338 - - XXXI. THE LAST BATTLE 350 - - XXXII. THE SHE-WOLF TO HER LAIR 359 - - EPILOGUE 369 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - PAGE - - EVIL IN SUCH A SHAPE MIGHT BE SOMETHING MORE THAN GOOD - _Frontispiece_ - - NOT A VESTIGE OF OUR AIR-SHIP OR HER CREATORS REMAINED 22 - - AS SHE GAZED UPON IT, THE FIRES DIED AWAY 57 - - FLINGING LONG STREAMS OF RADIANCE FOR MILES INTO THE SKY 83 - - THE CLOUDS WERE RENT AND ROLLED UP INTO VAST SHADOWY BILLOWS 122 - - THE COMBINED SQUADRONS SWEPT ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN BARRIER 237 - - BATTERIES WHICH WOULD BE ABLE TO SURROUND AERIA WITH A ZONE OF - STORM AND FLAME 248 - - THE FOUR HUNDRED BATTLESHIPS OF THE TWO SQUADRONS ROSE INTO - THE AIR 252 - - THREE OF THE AIR-SHIPS SEEMED TO BREAK-UP AND ROLL OVER 259 - - A GREAT BATTLESHIP LEAPT UP OUT OF THE NETHER WATERS 266 - - THE “ISMA” SWOOPED DOWN 281 - - A FEARFUL SCENE UNFOLDED ITSELF AS THEY SWEPT UP OVER PARIS 286 - - “ONLY YOU CAN BID ME LIVE, ALMA” 317 - - STILL THE FIGHT WENT ON AT LONG RANGES 354 - - THE BLAZING SKY WAS LITERALLY RAINING FIRE OVER SEA AND LAND 367 - - OLGA ROMANOFF HAD SURVIVED THE DOOM OF THE WORLD 374 - - * * * * * - -OLGA ROMANOFF. - - - - -PROLOGUE. THE PROPHECY OF NATAS. - - - _These are the last words of Israel di Murska, known in the days of - strife as Natas, the Master of the Terror, given to the Children - of Deliverance dwelling in the land of Aeria, in the twenty-fifth - year of the Peace, which, in the reckoning of the West, is the year - nineteen hundred and thirty._ - -MY life is lived, and the wings of the Angel of Death overshadow me -as I write; but before the last summons comes, I must obey the spirit -within me that bids me tell of the things that I have seen, in order -that the story of them shall not die, nor be disguised by false -reports, as the years multiply and the mists gather over the graves of -those who, with me, have seen and wrought them. - -For this reason the words that I write shall be read publicly in the -ears of you and your children and your children’s children, until they -shall see a sign in heaven to tell them that the end is at hand. No man -among you shall take away from that which I have written, nor yet add -anything to it; and every fifth year, at the Festival of Deliverance, -which is held on the Anniversary of Victory,[1] this writing of mine -shall be read, that those who shall hear it with understanding may lay -its warnings to heart, and that the lessons of the Great Deliverance -may never be forgotten among you. - -It was in the days before the beginning of peace that I, Natas the Jew, -cast down and broken by the hand of the Tyrant, conceived and created -that which was known as the Terror. The kings of the earth and their -servants trembled before my invisible presence, for my arm was long and -my hand was heavy; yet no man knew where or when I should strike--only -that the blow would be death to him on whom it should fall, and that -nowhere on earth should he find a safe refuge from it. - -In those days the earth was ruled by force and cunning, and the nations -were armed camps set one against the other. Millions of men, who had -no quarrel with their neighbours, stood waiting for the word of their -rulers to blast the fair fields of earth with the fires of war, and to -make desolate the homes of those who had done them no wrong. - -In the third year of the twentieth century, Richard Arnold, the -Englishman, conquered the empire of the air, and made the first ship -that flew as a bird does, of its own strength and motion. He joined the -Brotherhood of Freedom, then known among men as the Terrorists, of whom -I, Natas, was the Master, and then he built the aerial fleet which, -in the day of Armageddon, gave us the victory over the tyrants of the -earth. - -At the same time, Alan Tremayne, a noble of the English people, into -whose soul I had caused my spirit to enter in order that he might serve -me and bring the day of deliverance nearer, caused all the nations of -the Anglo-Saxon race to join hands, from the West unto the East, in a -league of common blood and kindred; and they, in the appointed hour, -stood between the sons and daughters of men and those who would have -enslaved them afresh. - -The chief of these was Alexander Romanoff, last of the Tsars, or -Tyrants, of Russia, whose armies, leagued with those of France, Italy, -Spain, and certain lesser Powers, and assisted by a great fleet -of war-balloons that could fly, though slowly, wherever they were -directed, swept like a destroying pestilence from the western frontiers -of Russia to the eastern shores of Britain; and when they had gained -the mastery of Europe, invaded England and laid siege to London. - -But here their path of conquest was brought to an end, for Alan -Tremayne and his brothers of the Terror called upon the men of -Anglo-Saxondom to save their Motherland from her enemies, and they rose -in their wrath, millions strong, and fell upon them by land and sea, -and would have destroyed them utterly, as I had bidden them do, but -that Natasha, who was my daughter and was known in those days as the -Angel of the Revolution, pleaded for the remnant of them, and they were -spared. - -But the Russians we slew without mercy to the last man of those who had -stood in arms against us, saving only the Tyrant and his princes and -the leaders of his armies. These we took prisoners and sent, with their -wives and their children, to die in their own prison-land in Siberia, -as they had sent thousands of innocent men and women to die before them. - -This was my judgment upon them for the wrong that they had done to me -and mine, for in the hour of victory I spared not those who had not -known how to spare. Now they are dead, and their graves are nameless. -Their name is a byword among men, for they were strong and they used -their strength to do evil. - -So we made an end of tyranny among the nations, and when the world-war -was at length brought to an end, we disbanded all the armies that were -upon land and sank the warships that were left upon the sea, that -men might no more fight with each other. War, that had been called -honourable since the world began, we made a crime of blood-guiltiness, -for which the life of him who sought to commit it should pay; and as a -crime, you, the children of those who have delivered the nations from -it, shall for ever hold it to be. - -We leave you the command of the air, and that is the command of the -world; but should it come to pass--as in the progress of knowledge it -may well do--that others in the world outside Aeria shall learn to -navigate the air as you do, you shall go forth to battle with them and -destroy them utterly, for we have made it known through all the earth -that he who seeks to build a second navy of the air shall be accounted -an enemy of peace, whose purpose it is to bring war upon the earth -again. - -Forget not that the blood-lust is but tamed, not quenched, in the -souls of men, and that long years must pass before it is purged from -the world for ever. We have given peace on earth, and to you, our -children, we bequeath the sacred trust of keeping it. We have won our -world-empire by force, and by force you must maintain it. - -In the day of battle we shed the blood of millions without ruth to -win it, and so far the end has justified the means we used. Since the -sun set upon Armageddon, and the right to make war was taken from the -rulers of the nations, we have governed a realm of peace and prosperity -which every year has seen better and happier than that which went -before. - -No man has dared to draw the sword upon his brother, or by force or -fraud to take that which was not his by right. The soil of earth has -been given back to the use of her sons, and their wealth has already -multiplied a hundredfold on every hand. Kings have ruled with wisdom -and justice, and senates have ceased their wranglings to soberly seek -out and promote the welfare of their own countries, and to win the -respect and friendship of others. - -Yet many of these are the same men who, but a few years ago, rent each -other like wild beasts in savage strife for the meanest ends; who -betrayed their brothers and slaughtered their neighbours, that the rich -might be richer, and the strong stronger, in the pitiless battle for -wealth and power. They have become peaceful and honest with each other, -because we have compelled them to be so, and because they know that -the penalty of wrong-doing in high places is destruction swift and -certain as the stroke of the hand of Fate itself. - -They know that no man stands so high that our hand cannot cast him down -to the dust, and that no spot of earth is so secret and so distant -that the transgressor of our laws can find in it a refuge from our -vengeance. We stand between the few strong and cunning who would -oppress, and the many weak and simple who could not resist them; and -when we are gone, you will hear the voice of duty calling you to take -our places. - -When you stand where we do now, remember who you are and the tremendous -trust that is laid upon you. You are the children of the chosen out of -many nations, masters of the world, and, under Heaven, the arbiters -of human destiny. You shall rule the world as we have ruled it for a -hundred years from now. If in that time men shall not have learnt the -ways of wisdom and justice, you may be sure that they will never learn -them, and deserve only to be left to their own foolishness. Since the -world began, the path of life has never lain so fair and straight -before the sons of men as it does now, and never was it so easy to do -the right and so hard to do the wrong. - -So, for a hundred years to come, you shall keep them in the path in -which we have set them, and those that would wilfully turn aside from -it you shall destroy without mercy, lest they lead others into misery -and bring the evil days upon earth again. - -At the twenty-fifth celebration of the Festival of Deliverance, you -shall give back the sceptre of the world-empire into the hands of the -children of those from whom we took it,--because they wielded it for -oppression, and not for mercy. At that time you shall make it known -throughout the earth that men are once more free to do good or evil, -according to their choice, and that as they choose well or ill so shall -they live or die. - -And woe to them in those days if, knowing the good, they shall turn -aside to do evil! Beyond the clouds that gather over the sunset of -my earthly life, I see a sign in heaven as of a flaming sword, whose -hilt is in the hand of the Master of Destiny, and whose blade is -outstretched over the habitations of men. - -As they shall choose to do good or evil, so shall that sword pass away -from them or fall upon them, and consume them utterly in the midst of -their pride. And if they, knowing the good, shall elect to do evil, it -shall be with them as of old the Prophet said of the men of Babylon the -Great: Their cities shall be a desolation, a dry land and a wilderness; -a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither shall any son of man pass -thereby. - -For from among the stars of heaven, whose lore I have learned and whose -voices I have heard, there shall come the messenger of Fate, and his -shape shall be that of a flaming fire, and his breath as the breath of -a pestilence that men shall feel and die in the hour that it breathes -upon them. - -Out of the depths beyond the light of the sun he shall come, and -your children of the fifth generation shall behold his approach. The -sister-worlds shall see him pass with fear and trembling, wondering -which of them he shall smite, but if he be not restrained or turned -aside by the Hand which guides the stars in their courses, it shall go -hard with this world and the men of it in the hour of his passing. - -Then shall the highways of the earth be waste, and the wayfaring of -men cease. Earth shall languish and mourn for her children that are no -more, and Death shall reign amidst the silence, sole sovereign of many -lands! - -But you, so long as you continue to walk in the way of wisdom, shall -live in peace until the end, whether it shall come then or in the ages -that shall follow. And if it shall come then, you shall await it with -fortitude, knowing that this life is but a single link in the chain of -existence which stretches through infinity; and that, if you shall be -found worthy, you shall be taught how a chosen few among your sons and -daughters shall survive the ruin of the world, to be the parents of the -new race, and replenish the earth and possess it. - -Out of the Valley of the Shadow of Death I stretch forth my hands in -blessing to you, the children of the coming time, and pray that the -peace which the men of the generation now passing away have won through -strife and toil in the fiery days of the Terror, may be yours and -endure unbroken unto the end. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] The 8th of December, on which day, in the year 1904, the armies -of the Anglo-Saxon Federation and the aerial navy of the Terrorists -defeated and almost annihilated the hosts of the Franco-Slavonian -League, then besieging London under the command of Alexander Romanoff, -last of the Tsars of Russia, and so made possible the universal -disarmament which took place the following year.--_The Angel of the -Revolution_, chap. xlvi. - - - - -CHAPTER I. THE SURRENDER OF THE WORLD-THRONE. - - -A HUNDRED years had passed since Natas, the Master of the Terror, -had given into the hands of Richard Arnold his charge to the future -generations of the Aerians--as the descendants of the Terrorists who -had colonised the mountain-walled valley of Aeria, in Central Africa, -were now called; since the man, who had planned and accomplished the -greatest revolution in the history of the world, had given his last -blessing to his companions-in-arms and their children, and had “turned -his face to the wall and died.” - -It was midday, on the 8th of December 2030, and the rulers of all the -civilised States of the world were gathered together in St. Paul’s -Cathedral to receive, from the hands of a descendant of Natas in the -fourth generation, the restoration of the right of independent national -rule which, on the same spot a hundred and twenty-five years before, -had been taken from the sovereigns of Europe and vested in the Supreme -Council of the Anglo-Saxon Federation. - -The period of tutelage had passed. Under the wise and firm rule of the -Council and the domination of the Anglo-Saxon race, the Golden Age had -seemed to return to the world. For a hundred and twenty-five years -there had been peace on earth, broken only by the outbreak and speedy -suppression of a few tribal wars among the more savage races of Africa -and Malaysia. Now the descendants of those who had been victors and -vanquished in the world-war of 1904, had met to give back and assume -the freedom and the responsibility of national independence. - -The vast cathedral was thronged, as it had been on the momentous day -when Natas had pronounced his judgment on the last of the Tyrants of -Russia, and ended the old order of things in Europe. But it was filled -by a very different assembly to that which had stood within its walls -on the morrow of Armageddon. - -Then the stress and horror of a mighty conflict had set its stamp -on every face. Hate had looked out of eyes in which the tears were -scarcely dry, and hungered fiercely for the blood of the oppressor. The -clash of arms, the stern command, and the pitiless words of doom had -sounded then in ears which but a few hours before had listened to the -roar of artillery and the thunder of battle. That had been the dawn of -the morrow of strife; this was the zenith of the noon of peace. - -Now, in all the vast assembly, no hand held a weapon, no face was there -which showed a sign of sorrow, fear, or anger, and in no heart, save -only two among the thousands, was there a thought of hate or bitterness. - -For three days past the Festival of Deliverance had been celebrated all -over the civilised world, and now, in the centre of the city which had -come to be the capital, not only of the vast domains of Anglo-Saxondom, -but of the whole world, a solemn act of renunciation was to be -performed, upon the issues of which the fate of all humanity would -hang; for the members of the Supreme Council had come through the skies -from their seat of empire in Aeria to abdicate the world-throne in -obedience to the command of the dead Master, from whom their ancestors -had derived it. - -At a table, drawn across the front of the chancel, sat the President -and the twelve men who with him had up to this hour shared the empire -of the human race. Below the steps, on the floor of the cathedral, -sat, in a wide semicircle, the rulers of the kingdoms and republics -of the earth, assembled to hear the last word of their over-lords, -and to receive from them the power and responsibility of maintaining -or forfeiting, as the event should prove, the blessings which had -multiplied under the sovereignty of the Aerians. - -The President of the Council was the direct descendant not only of Alan -Tremayne, its first President, but also of Richard Arnold and Natasha; -for their eldest son, born in the first year of the Peace, had married -the only daughter of Tremayne, and their first-born son had been his -father’s father. - -Although the average physique of civilised man had immensely improved -under the new order of things, the Aerians, descendants of the pick of -the nations of Europe, were as far superior to the rest of the assembly -as the latter would have been to the men and women of the nineteenth -century; but even amongst the members of the Council, the splendid -stature and regal dignity of Alan Arnold, the President, stamped him -as a born ruler of men, whose title rested upon something higher than -election or inheritance. - -At the last stroke of twelve, the President rose in his place, and, in -the midst of an almost breathless silence, read the message of Natas to -the great congregation. This done, he laid the parchment down on the -table and, beginning from the outbreak of the world-war, rapidly and -lucidly sketched out the vast and beneficent changes in the government -of society that its issues had made possible. - -He traced the marvellous development of the new civilisation, which, in -four generations, had raised men from a state of half-barbarous strife -and brutality to one of universal peace and prosperity; from inhuman -and unsparing competition to friendly co-operation in public, and -generous rivalry in private concerns; from horrible contrasts of wealth -and misery to a social state in which the removal of all unnatural -disabilities in the race of life had made them impossible. - -He showed how, in the evil times which, as all men hoped, had been -left behind for ever, the strong and the unscrupulous ruthlessly -oppressed the weak and swindled the honest and the straightforward. Now -dishonesty was dishonourable in fact as well as in name; the game of -life was played fairly, and its prizes fell to all who could win them, -by native genius or earnest endeavour. - -There were no inequalities, save those which Nature herself had imposed -upon all men from the beginning of time. There were no tyrants and no -slaves. That which a man’s labour of hand or brain had won was his, -and no man might take toll of it. All useful work was held in honour, -and there was no other road to fame or fortune save that of profitable -service to humanity. - -“This,” said the President in conclusion, “is the splendid heritage -that we of the Supreme Council, which is now to cease to exist as such, -have received from our forefathers, who won it for us and for you on -the field of the world’s Armageddon. We have preserved their traditions -intact, and obeyed their commands to the letter; and now the hour has -come for us, in obedience to the last of those commands, to resign our -authority and to hand over that heritage to you, the rulers of the -civilised world, to hold in trust for the peoples over whom you have -been appointed to reign. - -“When I have done speaking I shall no longer be President of the -Senate, which for a hundred and twenty-five years has ruled the world -from pole to pole and east to west. You and your parliaments are -henceforth free to rule as you will. We shall take no further part in -the control of human affairs outside our domain, saving only in one -concern. - -“In the days when our command was established, the only possible basis -of all rule was force, and our supremacy was based on the force that -we could bring to bear upon those who might have ventured to oppose us -or revolted against our rule. We commanded, and we will still command, -the air, and I should not be doing my duty, either to my own people or -to you, if I did not tell you that the Aerians, not as the world-rulers -that they have been, but as the citizens of an independent State, mean -to keep that power in their own hands at all costs. - -“The empire of earth and sea, saving only the valley of Aeria, is yours -to do with as you will. The empire of the air is ours,--the heritage -that we have received from the genius of that ancestor of mine who -first conquered it. - -“That we have not used it in the past to oppress you is the most -perfect guarantee that we shall not do so in the future, but let all -the nations of the earth clearly understand, that we shall accept any -attempt to dispute it with us as a declaration of war upon us, and that -those who make that attempt will either have to exterminate us or be -exterminated themselves. This is not a threat, but a solemn warning; -and the responsibility of once more bringing the curse of war and all -its attendant desolation upon the earth, will lie heavily upon those -who neglect it. - -“A few more needful words and I have done. The message of the Master, -which I have read to you, contains a prophecy, as to the fulfilment of -which neither I nor any man here may speak with certainty. It may be -that he, with clearer eyes than ours, saw some tremendous catastrophe -impending over the world, a catastrophe which no human means could -avert, and beneath which human strength and genius could only bow with -resignation. - -“By what spirit he was inspired when he uttered the prophecy, it is not -for us to say. But before you put it aside as an old man’s dream, let -me ask you to remember, that he who uttered it was a man who was able -to plan the destruction of one civilisation, and to prepare the way for -another and a better. - -“Such a man, standing midway between the twin mysteries of life and -death, might well see that which is hidden from our grosser sight. But -whether the prophecy itself shall prove true or false, it shall be well -for you and for your children’s children if you and they shall receive -the lesson that it teaches as true. - -“If, in the days that are to come, the world shall be overwhelmed with -a desolation that none shall escape, will it not be better that the end -shall come and find men doing good rather than evil? As you now set the -peoples whom you govern in the right or the wrong path, so shall they -walk. - -“This is the lesson of all the generations that have gone before us, -and it shall also be true of those that are to come after us. As the -seed is, so is the harvest; therefore see to it that you, who are -now the free rulers of the nations, so discharge the awful trust and -responsibility which is thus laid upon you, that your children’s -children shall not, perhaps in the hour of Humanity’s last agony, rise -up and curse your memory rather than bless it. I have spoken!” - - - - -CHAPTER II. A CROWNLESS KING. - - -LATE in the evening of the same day two of the President’s -audience--the only two who had heard his words with anger and -hatred instead of gratitude and joy--were together in a small but -luxuriously-furnished room, in an octagonal turret which rose from one -of the angles of a large house on the southern slope of the heights of -Hampstead. - -One was a very old man, whose once giant frame was wasted and shrunken -by the slow siege of many years, and on whose withered, care-lined -features death had already set its fatal seal. The other was a young -girl, in all the pride and glory of budding womanhood, and beautiful -with the dark, imperious beauty that is transmitted, like a priceless -heirloom, along a line of proud descent unstained by any drop of -base-born blood. - -Yet in her beauty there was that which repelled as well as attracted. -No sweet and gentle woman-soul looked out of the great, deep eyes, -that changed from dusky-violet to the blackness of a starless night as -the sun and shade of her varying moods swept over her inner being. Her -straight, dark brows were almost masculine in their firmness; and the -voluptuous promise of her full, red, sensuous lips was belied by the -strength of her chin and the defiant poise of her splendid head on the -strongly-moulded throat, whose smooth skin showed so dazzlingly white -against the dark purple velvet of the collar of her dress. - -It was a beauty to enslave and command rather than to woo and win; the -fatal loveliness of a Cleopatra, a Lucrezia, or a Messalina; a charm to -be used for evil rather than for good. In a few years she would be such -a woman as would drive men mad for the love of her, and, giving no love -in return, use them for her own ends, and cast them aside with a smile -when they could serve her no longer. - -The old man was lying on a low couch of magnificent furs, against whose -dark lustre the grey pallor of his skin and the pure, silvery whiteness -of his still thick hair and beard showed up in strong contrast. He -had been asleep for the last four hours, resting after the exertion -of going to the cathedral, and the girl was sitting watching him with -anxious eyes, every now and then leaning forward to catch the faint -sound of his slow and even breathing, and make sure that he was still -alive. - -A clock in one of the corners of the room chimed a quarter to nine, -as the old man raised his hand to his brow and opened his eyes. They -rested for a moment on the girl’s face, and then wandered inquiringly -about the room, as though he expected someone else to be present. Then -he said in a low, weak voice-- - -“What time is it? Has Serge come yet?” - -“No,” said the girl, glancing up at the clock; “that was only a quarter -to nine, and he is not due until the hour.” - -“No; I remember. I don’t suppose he can be here much before. Meanwhile -get me the draught ready, so that I shall have strength to do what has -to be done before”-- - -“Are you sure it is necessary for you to take that terrible drug? Why -should you sacrifice what may be months or even years of life, to gain -a few hours’ renewed youth?” - -The girl’s voice trembled as she spoke, and her eyes melted in a sudden -rush of tears. The one being that she loved in all the world was this -old man, and he had just told her to prepare his death-draught. - -“Do as I bid you, child,” he said, raising his voice to a querulous -cry, “and do it quickly, while there is yet time. Why do you talk to me -of a few more months of life--to me, whose eyes have seen the snows -of a hundred winters whitening the earth? I tell you that, drug or no -drug, I shall not see the setting of to-morrow’s sun. As I slept, I -heard the rush of the death-angel’s wings through the night, and the -wind of them was cold upon my brow. Do as I bid you, quick--there is -the door-telephone. Serge is here!” - -As he spoke, a ring sounded in the lower part of the house. Accustomed -to blind obedience from her infancy, the girl choked back her rising -tears and went to a little cupboard let into the wall, out of which she -took two small vials, each containing about a fluid ounce of colourless -liquid. She placed a tumbler in the old man’s hand, and emptied the -vials into it simultaneously. - -There was a slight effervescence, and the two colourless liquids -instantly changed to deep red. The moment that they did so, the dying -man put the glass to his lips and emptied it at a gulp. Then he threw -himself back upon his pillows, and let the glass fall from his hand -upon the floor. At the same moment a little disc of silver flew out at -right angles to the wall near the door, and a voice said-- - -“Serge Nicholaivitch is here to command.” - -“Serge Nicholaivitch is welcome. Let him ascend!” said the girl, -walking towards the transmitter, and replacing the disc as she ceased -speaking. - -A few moments later there was a tap on the door. The girl opened -it and admitted a tall, splendidly-built young fellow of about -twenty-two, dressed, according to the winter costume of the time, in -a close-fitting suit of dark-blue velvet, long boots of soft, brown -leather that came a little higher than the knee, and a long, fur-lined, -hooded cloak, which was now thrown back, and hung in graceful folds -from his broad shoulders. - -As he entered, the girl held out her hand to him in silence. A bright -flush rose to her clear, pale cheeks as he instantly dropped on one -knee and kissed it, as in the old days a favoured subject would have -kissed the hand of a queen. - -“Welcome, Serge Nicholaivitch, Prince of the House of Romanoff! Your -bride and your crown are waiting for you!” - -The words came clear and strong from the lips which, but a few minutes -before, had barely been able to frame a coherent sentence. The strange -drug had wrought a miracle of restoration. Fifty years seemed to have -been lifted from the shoulders of the man who would never see another -sunrise. - -The light of youth shone in his eyes, and the flush of health on -his cheeks. The deep furrows of age and care had vanished from his -face, and, saving only for his long, white hair, if one who had seen -Alexander Romanoff, the last of the Tsars of Russia, on the battlefield -of Muswell Hill could have come back to earth, he would have believed -that he saw him once more in the flesh. - -Without any assistance he rose from the couch, and drew himself up to -the full of his majestic height. As he did so the young man dropped -on his knee before him, as he had done before the girl, and said in -Russian-- - -“The honour is too great for my unworthiness. May heaven make me worthy -of it!” - -“Worthy you are now, and shall remain so long as you shall keep -undefiled the faith and honour of the Imperial House from which you are -sprung,” replied the old man in the same language, raising him from his -knee as he spoke. Then he laid his hands on the young man’s shoulders, -and, looking him straight in the eyes, went on-- - -“Serge Nicholaivitch, you know why I have bidden you come here -to-night. Speak now, without fear or falsehood, and tell me whether you -come prepared to take that which I have to give you, and to do that -which I shall ask of you. If there is any doubt in your soul, speak it -now and go in peace; for the task that I shall lay upon you is no light -one, nor may it be undertaken without a whole heart and a soul that is -undivided by doubt.” - -The young man returned his burning gaze with a glance as clear and -steady as his own, and replied-- - -“It is for your Majesty to give and for me to take--for you to command -and for me to obey. Tell me your will, and I will do it to the death. -In the hour that I fail, may heaven’s mercy fail me too, and may I die -as one who is not fit to live!” - -“Spoken like a true son of Russia!” said the old man, taking his hands -from his shoulders and beckoning the girl to his side. Then he placed -them side by side before an _ikon_ fastened to the eastern wall, with -an ever-burning lamp in front of it. He bade them kneel down and join -hands, and as they did so he took his place behind them and, raising -his hands as though in invocation above their heads, he said in slow, -solemn tones-- - -“Now, Serge Nicholaivitch and Olga Romanoff, sole heirs on earth of -those who once were Tsars of Russia, swear before heaven and all its -holy saints that, when this body of mine shall have been committed to -the flames, you will take my ashes to Petersburg and lay them in the -Church of Peter and Paul, and that when that is done, you will go to -the Lossenskis at Moscow, and there, in the Uspènski Sobōr, where your -ancestors were crowned, take each other for wedded wife and husband, -according to the ancient laws of Russia and the rites of the orthodox -church.” - -The oath was taken by each of the now betrothed pair in turn, and then -Paul Romanoff, great-grandson of Alexander, the Last of the Tsars, -raised them from their knees and kissed each of them on the forehead. -Then, taking from his neck a gold chain with a small key attached to -it, he went to one of the oak panels, from which the walls of the room -were lined, and pushed aside a portion of the apparently solid beading, -disclosing a keyhole into which he inserted the key. - -He turned the key and pulled, and the panel swung slowly out like a -door. It was lined with three inches of solid steel, and behind it was -a cavity in the wall, from which came the sheen of gold and the gleam -of jewels. A cry of amazement broke at the same moment from the lips of -both Olga and Serge, as they saw what the glittering object was. - -Paul Romanoff took it out of the steel-lined cavity, and laid it -reverently on the table, saying, as he did so-- - -“To-morrow I shall be dead, and this house and all that is in it will -be yours. There is my most precious possession, the Imperial crown -of Russia, stolen when the Kremlin was plundered in the days of the -Terror, and restored secretly to my father by the faith and devotion of -one of the few who remained loyal after the fall of the Empire. - -“In a few hours it will be yours. I leave it to you as a sacred -heritage from the past for you to hand on to the future, and with it -you shall receive and hand on a heritage of hate and vengeance, which -you shall keep hot in your hearts and in the hearts of your children -against the day of reckoning when it comes. - -“Now sit down on the divan yonder, and listen with your ears and your -hearts as well, for these are the last words that I shall speak with -the lips of flesh, and you must remember them, that you may tell them -to your children, and perchance to their children after them, as I -now tell them to you; for the hour of vengeance may not come in your -day nor yet in theirs, though in the fulness of time it shall surely -come, and therefore the story must never be forgotten while a Romanoff -remains to remember it.” - -The old man, on whom the strange drug that he had taken was still -exercising its wonderful effects, threw himself into an easy-chair -as he spoke, and motioned them with his hand towards a second low -couch against one of the walls, covered with cushions and draped with -neutral-tinted, silken hangings. - -Olga, moving, as it seemed, with the unconscious motion of a -somnambulist, allowed her form to sink back upon the cushions until -she half sat and half reclined on them; and Serge, laying one of the -cushions on the floor, sat at her feet, and drew one of her hands -unresistingly over his shoulder, and kept it there as though she were -caressing him. Thus they waited for Paul Romanoff to teach them the -lesson that they had sworn to teach in turn to the generations that -were to come. - -The old man regarded them in silence for a moment or two, and as he did -so the angry fire died out of his eyes, and his lips parted in a faint -smile as he said, rather in soliloquy to himself than to them-- - -“As it was in the beginning, it is now and for ever shall be until the -end! Empires wax and wane, and dynasties rise and fall! Revolutions -come and go, and the face of the world is changed, but the mystery of -the sex, the beauty of woman, and the love of man, endure changeless as -Destiny, for they are Destiny itself!” - -As he spoke, the fixed, rigid look melted from Olga’s face. The bright -flush rose again to her cheeks, and she bowed her royal head, and -looked almost tenderly at the blond, ruddy, young giant at her feet. -After all, he was her fate, and she might well have had a worse one. - -Then after a brief pause, Paul Romanoff began to speak again, slowly -and quietly, with his eyes fixed on the glittering symbol of the -vanished sovereignty of his House, as though he were addressing it, and -communing with the mournful memories that it recalled from the past. - -“It is a hundred and twenty-five years since the hand of Natas, the -Jew, came forth out of the unknown, and struck you from the brow of the -Last of the Tsars. On the day that Natas died, I was born, a hundred -years ago. There are barely a score of men left on earth who have seen -and spoken with the men who saw the Great Revolt and the beginning -of the Terror, and I alone, of the elder line of Romanoff, remain to -pass the story of our House’s shame and ruin on, so that it may not be -forgotten against the day of vengeance, that I have waited for in vain. - -“But I have no time left for dreams or vain regrets. Listen, Children -of the Present, and take my words with you into the future that it is -not given to me to see.” - -He passed his hands upwards over his eyes and brow, and then went on, -speaking now directly to Olga and Serge, in a quick, earnest tone, as -though he feared that his fictitious strength would fail him before he -could say what he had to say-- - -“When Alexander, the last of the crowned Emperors of Russia, fell down -dead on the morning after he reached the mines of Kara, to which the -Terrorists had exiled him as a convict for life, those who remained -of his family, and who had taken no part in the war, were allowed to -return to Europe, on condition that they lived the lives of private -citizens and sought no share in the government of any country to which -they were allied by marriage or otherwise. - -“Only two of those who had survived the march to Siberia were able to -avail themselves of this permission, and these were Olga, the daughter -of Alexander, and Serge Nicholaivitch, the youngest son of his nephew -Nicholas. These two settled at the Court of Denmark, and there, two -years later, Olga married Prince Ingeborg. Her first-born son, the only -one of her children who lived beyond infancy, was my father, as my own -first-born son was yours, Olga Romanoff. - -“Serge married Dagmar, the youngest daughter of the House of Denmark, -three years later, and from him you, Serge Nicholaivitch, are descended -in the fourth generation. Thus in you will be united the only two -remaining branches of the once mighty House of Romanoff. May the day -come when, in you or your children, its ancient glories shall be -restored!” - -“Amen!” said Olga and Serge in a single breath, and as she uttered -the words, Olga’s eyes fell on the lost crown upon the table, and for -the moment they seemed to flame with the inner fires of a quenchless -rage. Paul Romanoff’s eyes answered hers flash for flash, for the same -hatred and longing for revenge possessed them both--the old man who had -carried the weight of a hundred years to the brink of the grave, and -the young girl whose feet were still lingering on the dividing line -between girlhood and womanhood. - -Then he went on, speaking with an added tone of fierceness in his -voice-- - -“From the day of my birth until this, the night of my death, it has -been impossible to do anything to recover that which was lost in the -Great Revolt. Not that stout hearts and keen brains and willing hands -have been wanting for the work; but because the strong arm of the -Terror has encircled the earth with unbreakable bonds; because its eye -has never slept; and because its hand has hurled infallible destruction -upon all who have dared to take the first step towards freedom. - -“Natas spoke truly when he said that the Terrorists had ruled the world -by force, and Alan Arnold to-day spoke truly after him when he said -that the supremacy of the Aerians was based upon the force that they -could bring to bear upon any who revolted against them, through their -possession of the empire of the air. - -“It is this priceless possession that gives them the command of the -world, and for a hundred years they have guarded it so jealously, that -they have slain without mercy all who have ventured to take even the -first step towards an independent solution of the mighty problem which -Richard Arnold solved a hundred and twenty-six years ago. - -“The last man who died in this cause was my only son, and your father, -Olga. Remember that, for it is not the least item in the legacy of -revenge that I bequeath to you to-night. He had devoted his life, as -many others had done before him, to the task of discovering the secret -of the motive power of the Terrorists’ air-ships. - -“The year you were born, success had crowned the efforts of ten years -of tireless labour. Working with the utmost secrecy in a lonely hut -buried in the forests of Norway, he and six others, who were, as he -thought, devoted to him and the glorious cause of wresting the empire -of the world from the grasp of the Terrorists, had built an air-ship -that would have been swifter and more powerful than any of their aerial -fleet. - -“Two days before she was ready to take the air, one of his men -deserted. The traitor was never seen again, but the next night a -Terrorist vessel descended from the clouds, and in a few minutes not -a vestige of our air-ship or her creators remained. Only a blackened -waste in the midst of the forest was left to show the scene of their -labours. Within forty-eight hours, it was known all over the civilised -world that Vladimir Romanoff and his associates had been killed by -order of the Supreme Council, for endeavouring to build an air-ship in -defiance of its commands. - -[Illustration: NOT A VESTIGE OF OUR AIR-SHIP OR HER CREATORS REMAINED. -_Page 22._] - -“Such are the enemies against whom you will have to contend. They are -still virtually the masters of the world, and the task before you -is to wrest that mastery from them. It is no light task, but it is not -impossible; for these Aerians are, after all, but men and women as you -are, and what they have done, other men and women can surely do. - -“The Great Secret cannot always remain theirs alone. While they -actively controlled the nations, nothing could be done against them, -for their hand was everywhere and their eyes saw everything. But now -they have abdicated the throne of the world, and left the nations to -rule themselves as they can. For a time things will go on in their -present grooves, but that will not be for long. - -“I, who am their bitterest enemy on earth, am forced to confess that -the Terrorists have proved themselves to be the wisest as well as -the strongest of despots. Under their rule the world has become a -paradise--for the _canaille_ and the multitude. But they have curbed -the mob as well as the king, and abolished the demagogue as well as the -despot. Now the strong hand is lifted and the bridle loosed; and before -many years have passed, the brute strength of the multitude will have -begun to assert itself. - -“The so-called kings of the earth, who rule now in a mockery of -royalty, will speedily find that the real kings of the old days ruled -because, in the last resource, they had armies and navies at their -command and could enforce obedience. These are but the puppets of -the popular will, and now that the moral and physical support of the -Supreme Council and its aerial fleet is taken from them, they will see -democracy run rampant, and, having no strength to stem the tide, they -will have to float with it or be submerged by it. - -“In another generation the voice of the majority, the blind, brute -force of numbers, will rule everything on earth. What government there -may be, will be a mere matter of counting heads. Individual freedom -will by swift degrees vanish from the earth, and human society will -become a huge machine, grinding all men down to the same level until -the monotony of life becomes unendurable. - -“Hitherto all democracies in the history of the world have been ended -by military despotisms, but now military despotism has been made -impossible, and so democracy will run riot, until it plunges the world -into social chaos. - -“This may come in your time or in your children’s, but it is the -opportunity for which you must work and wait. Even now you will find in -every nation, thousands of men and women who are chafing against the -limitations imposed on individual aspirations and ambition; and as the -rule of democracy spreads and becomes heavier, the number of these will -increase, until at last revolt will become possible, nay, inevitable. - -“Of this revolt you must make yourselves the guiding-spirits. The work -will be long and arduous, but you have all your lives before you, and -the reward of success will be glorious beyond all description. - -“Not only will you restore the House of Romanoff to its ancient glories -in yourselves and your children, but you will enthrone it in an even -higher place than that which your ancestor had almost won for it, when -these thrice-accursed Terrorists turned the tide of battle against him -on the threshold of the conquest of the world. - -“Do not shrink from the task, or despair because you are now only two -against the world. Think of Natas and the mighty work that he did, and -remember that he was once only one against the world which in the day -of battle he fought and conquered. - -“Above all things, never let your eyes wander from the land of the -Aerians. That once conquered and the world is yours to do with as -you will. To do that, you must first conquer the air as they have -done. Aeria itself, by all reports, is such a paradise as the sun -nowhere else shines upon. Some day, whether by force or cunning, it -may be yours; and when it is, the world also will be yours to be your -footstool and your plaything, and all the peoples of the earth shall be -your servants to do your bidding. - -“Yes, I can see, through the mists of the coming years and beyond the -grave that opens at my feet, aerial navies, flying the Eagle of Russia -and scaling the mighty battlements of Aeria, hurling their lightnings -far and wide in the work of vengeance long delayed! Behind the battle, -I see darkness that my weak eyes cannot pierce, but yours shall see -clearly where mine are clouded with the falling mists of death. - -“The shadows are closing round me, and the sands in the glass are -almost run out. Yet one thing remains to be done. Since Alexander -Romanoff died at the mines of Kara, no Tsar of Russia has been crowned. -Now I, Paul Romanoff, his rightful heir, will crown myself after the -fashion of my ancestors, and then I will crown you, the daughter of my -murdered son, and you will place the diadem on your husband’s brow when -God has made you one!” - -So saying, the old man rose from his seat, with his face flushed and -his eyes aglow with the light of ecstasy. Olga and Serge rose to -their feet, half in fear and half in wonder, as they looked upon his -transfigured countenance. - -He lifted the Imperial crown from the table, and then, drawing himself -up to the full height of his majestic stature, raised it high above his -head, and lowered it slowly down towards his brow. - -The jewelled circlet of gold had almost touched the silver of his snowy -hair when the light suddenly died out of his eyes, leaving the glaze -of death behind it. He gasped once for breath, and then his mighty -form shrank together and pitched forward in a huddled heap at their -feet, flinging the crown with a dull crash to the floor, and sending it -rolling away into a corner of the room. - -“God grant that may not be an omen, Olga!” said Serge, covering his -eyes with his hands to shut out the sudden horror of the sight. - -“Omen or not, I will do his bidding to the end,” said the girl slowly -and solemnly. Then her pent-up passion of grief burst forth in a long, -wailing cry, and she flung herself down on the prostrate form of the -only friend she had ever known and loved, and laid her cheek upon his, -and let the welling tears run from her eyes over those that had for -ever ceased to weep. - - - - -CHAPTER III. TSARINA OLGA. - - -THREE days after his death, the body of Paul Romanoff was reduced to -ashes in the Highgate Crematorium, a magnificent building, in the -sombre yet splendid architecture of ancient Egypt, which stood in -the midst of what had once been Highgate Cemetery, and what was now -a beautiful garden, shaded by noble trees, and in summer ablaze with -myriads of flowers. - -Not a grave or a headstone was to be seen, for burial in the earth had -been abolished throughout the civilised world for nearly a century. -In the vast galleries of the central building, thousands of urns, -containing the ashes of the dead, reposed in niches inscribed with -the name and date of death, but these mostly belonged to the poorer -classes, for the wealthy as a rule devoted a chamber in their own -houses to this purpose. - -The body was registered in the great Book of the Dead at the -Crematorium as that of Paul Ivanitch, and the only two mourners signed -their names, “Serge Ivanitch and Olga Ivanitch, grand-children of the -deceased.” The reason for this was, that for more than a century the -name of Romanoff had been proscribed in all the nations of Europe. It -was believed that the Vladimir Romanoff who had been executed by the -Supreme Council, for attempting to solve the forbidden problem, was the -last of his race, and Paul had taken great pains not to disturb this -belief. - -Long before his son had met with his end, he had called himself Paul -Ivanitch, and settled in London and practised his profession as a -sculptor, in which he had won both fame and fortune. Olga had lived -with him since her father’s death, and Serge, who at the time the -narrative opens had just completed his studies at the Art University of -Rome, had passed as her brother. - -They took the urn containing the ashes of the old man back with them -to the house, which now belonged, with all its contents, to Olga and -Serge. On the morning after his death, a notice, accompanied by an -abstract of his will, had been inserted in _The Official Gazette_, the -journal devoted exclusively to matters of law and government. - -Paul Romanoff had, however, left two wills behind him, one which had to -be made public in compliance with the law, and one which was intended -only for the eyes of Olga and Serge. This second will reposed, with -the crown of Russia, in the secret recess in the wall of the octagonal -chamber; and the instructions endorsed upon it stated that it was to -be opened by Serge in the presence of Olga, after they had brought -his ashes back to the house and had been legally confirmed in their -possession of his property. - -Consequently, on the evening of the 11th, the two shut themselves into -the room, and Olga, who since her grandfather’s death had worn the key -of the recess on a chain round her neck, unlocked the secret door and -gave the will to Serge. As she did so, a sudden fancy seized her. She -took the crown from its resting-place, and, standing in front of a long -mirror which occupied one of the eight sides of the room from roof to -floor, poised it above the lustrous coils of her hair with both hands, -and said, half to Serge and half to herself-- - -“What age could not accomplish, youth shall do! By my own right, and -with my own hands, I am crowned Tsarina, Empress of the Russias in -Europe and Asia. As the great Catherine was, so will I be--and more, -for I will be Mistress of the West and the East. I will have kings for -my vassals and senates for my servants, and I will rule as no other -woman has ruled before me since Semiramis!” - -As she uttered the daring words, whose fulfilment seemed beyond the -dreams of the wildest imagination, she placed the crown upon her brow -and stood, clothed in imperial purple from head to foot, the very -incarnation of loveliness and royal majesty. Serge looked up as she -spoke, and gazed for a moment entranced upon her. Then he threw himself -upon his knees before her, and, raising the hem of her robe to his -lips, said in a voice half choked with love and passion-- - -“And I, who am also of the imperial blood, will be the first to salute -you Tsarina and mistress! You have taken me as your lover, let me also -be the first of your subjects. I will serve you as woman never was -served before. You shall be my mistress--my goddess, and your words -shall be my laws before all other laws. If you bid me do evil, it -shall be to me as good, and I will do it. I will kill or leave alive -according to your pleasure, and I will hold my own life as cheap as any -other in your service; for I love you, and my life is yours!” - -Olga looked down upon him with the light of triumph in her eyes. No -woman ever breathed to whom such words would not have been sweet; but -to her they were doubly sweet, because they were a spontaneous tribute -to the power of her beauty and the strength of her royal nature, and an -earnest of her future sway over other men. - -More than this, too, they had been won without an effort, from the lips -of the man whom she had always been taught to look upon as higher than -other men, in virtue of his descent from her own ancestry, and the -blood-right that he shared with her to that throne which it was to be -their joint life-task to re-establish. - -If she did not love him, it was rather because ambition and the -inborn lust of power engrossed her whole being, than from any lack of -worthiness on his part. Of all the men she had ever seen, none compared -with him in strength and manliness save one--and he, bitter beyond -expression as the thought was to her, was so far above her as she was -now, that he seemed to belong to another world and to another order of -beings. - -As their eyes met, a thrill that was almost akin to love passed through -her soul, and, acting on the impulse of the moment, she took the crown -from her own head and held it above his as he knelt at her feet, and -said-- - -“Not as my subject or my servant, but as my co-ruler and helpmate, you -shall keep that oath of yours, Serge Nicholaivitch. We have exchanged -our vows, and in a few days I shall be your wife. We will wed as -equals; and so now I crown you, as it is my right to do. Rise, my lord -the Tsar, and take your crown!” - -Serge put up his hands and took the crown from hers at the moment that -she placed it on his brow. He rose to his feet, holding it on his head -as he said solemnly-- - -“So be it, and may the God of our fathers help me to wear it worthily -with you, and to restore to it the glory that has been taken from it by -our enemies!” - -Then he laid it reverently down on the table and turned to Olga, who -was still standing before the mirror looking at her own lovely image, -as though in a dream of future glory. He took her unresisting in his -arms, and kissed her passionately again and again, bringing the bright -blood to her cheeks and the light of a kindred passion to her eyes, and -murmuring between the kisses-- - -“But you, darling, are worth all the crowns of earth, and I am still -your slave, because your beauty and your sweetness make me so.” - -“Then slave you shall be!” she said, giving him back kiss for kiss, -well knowing that with every pressure of her intoxicating lips she -riveted the chains of his bondage closer upon his soul. - -To an outside observer, what had taken place would have seemed but -little better than boy-and-girl’s play, the phantasy of two young and -ardent souls dreaming a romantic and impossible dream of power and -glory that had vanished, never to be brought back again. And yet, if -such a one had been able to look forward through little more than a -single lustrum, he would have seen that, in the mysterious revolutions -of human affairs, it is usually the seemingly impossible that becomes -possible, and the most unexpected that comes to pass. - -The secret will of Paul Romanoff, to the study of which the two lovers -addressed themselves when they awoke from the dream of love and empire -into which Olga’s phantasy had plunged them both, would, if it had been -made public, have given a by no means indefinite shape to such vague -dreams of world-revolution as were inspired in thoughtful minds, even -in the thirty-first year of the twenty-first century. - -It was a voluminous document of many pages, embodying the result of -nearly eighty years of tireless scheming and patient research in the -field of science as well as in that of politics. Paul Romanoff had -lived his life with but one object, and that was, to prepare the way -for the accomplishment of a revolution which should culminate in the -subversion of the state of society inaugurated by the Terrorists, and -the re-establishment, at anyrate in the east of Europe, of autocratic -rule in the person of a scion of the House of Romanoff. All that he had -been able to do towards the attainment of this seemingly impossible -project was crystallised in the document bequeathed to Olga and Serge. - -It was divided into three sections. The first of these was mostly -of a personal nature, and contained details which it would serve no -purpose of use or interest to reproduce here. It will therefore suffice -to say, that it contained a list of the names and addresses of four -hundred men and women scattered throughout Europe and America, each of -whom was the descendant of some prince or noble, some great landowner -or millionaire, who had suffered degradation or ruin at the hands of -the Terrorists during the reorganisation of society, after the final -triumph of the Anglo-Saxon Federation in 1904. - -The second section of the will was of a purely scientific and technical -character. It was a theoretical arsenal of weapons for the arming of -those who, if they were to succeed at all, could only do so by bringing -back that which it had cost such an awful expenditure of blood and -suffering to banish from the earth in the days of the Terror. The -designs of Paul Romanoff, and the vast aspirations of those to whom he -had bequeathed the crown of the great Catherine, could have but one -result if they ever passed from the realm of fancy to that of deeds. - -If the clock was to be put back, only the armed hand could do it, and -that hand must be so armed that it could strike at first secretly, and -yet with paralysing effect. The few would have to array themselves -against the many, and if they triumphed, it would have to be by the -possession of some such means of terrorism and irresistible destruction -as those who had accomplished the revolution of 1904 had wielded in -their aerial fleet. - -By far the most important part of this section of the will consisted of -plans and diagrams of various descriptions of air-ships and submarine -vessels, accompanied by minute directions for building and working -them. Most of these were from the hand of Vladimir Romanoff, Olga’s -father; but of infinitely more importance even than all these was a -detailed description, on the last page but two of the section, of the -solution of a problem which had been attempted in the last decade of -the nineteenth century, but which was still unsolved so far as the -world at large was concerned. - -This was the direct transformation of the solar energy locked up -in coal into electrical energy, without loss either by waste or -transference. How vast and yet easily controlled a power this would -be in the hands of those who were able to wield it, may be guessed -from the fact that, in the present day, less than ten per cent. of the -latent energy of coal is developed as electrical power even in the most -perfect systems of conversion. - -All the rest is wasted between the furnace of the steam-engine and -the dynamo. It was to electrical power, obtained direct from coal and -petroleum, that Vladimir Romanoff trusted for the motive force of his -air-ships and submarine vessels, and which he had already employed -with experimental success as regards the former, when his career was -cut short by the swift and pitiless execution of the sentence of the -Supreme Council. - -The remainder of this section was occupied by a list of chemical -formulæ for the most powerful explosives then known to science, and -minute instructions for their preparation. At the bottom of the page -which contained these, there was a little strip of parchment, fastened -by one end to the binding of the other sheets, and covered with very -small writing. - -Olga’s eyes, wandering down over the maze of figures which crowded the -page, reached it before Serge’s did. One quick glance told her that it -was something very different to the rest. She laid one hand carelessly -over it, and with the other softly caressed Serge’s crisp, golden -curls. As he looked round in response to the caress, their eyes met, -and she said in her sweet, low, witching voice-- - -“Dearest, I have a favour to ask of you.” - -“Not a favour to ask, but a command to give, you mean. Speak, and you -are obeyed. Have I not sworn obedience?” he replied, laying his hand -upon her shoulder and drawing her lovely face closer to his as he spoke. - -“No, it is only a favour,” she said, with such a smile as Antony might -have seen on the lips of Cleopatra. “I want you to leave me alone for -a little time--for half an hour--and then come back and finish reading -this with me. You know my brain is not as strong as yours, and I feel a -little bewildered with all the wonderful things that there are in this -legacy of my father’s father. - -“Before we go any further, I should like to read it all through again -by myself, so as to understand it thoroughly. So suppose you go to your -smoking-room for a little, and leave me to do so. I shall not take very -long, and then we will go over the rest together.” - -“But we have only a couple more pages to read, sweet one, and then I -will go over it all again with you, and explain anything that you have -not understood.” - -As he spoke, Serge’s eyes never wavered for a moment from hers. Could -he but have broken their spell, he might have seen that she was hiding -something from him under her little, white hand and shapely arm. -She brought her red, smiling lips still nearer to his as she almost -whispered in reply-- - -“Well, it is only a girl’s whim, after all, but still I am a girl. -Come, now, I will give you a kiss for twenty minutes’ solitude, and -when you come back, and we have finished our task, you shall have as -many more as you like.” - -The sweet, tempting lips came closer still, and the witching spell of -her great dusky eyes grew stronger as she spoke. How was he to know -what was hanging in the balance in that fateful moment? He was but a -hot-blooded youth of twenty, and he worshipped this lovely, girlish -temptress, who had not yet seen seventeen summers, with an adoration -that blinded him to all else but her and her intoxicating beauty. - -He drew her yielding form to him until he could feel her heart beating -against his, and as their lips met, the promised kiss came from hers -to his. He returned it threefold, and then his arm slipped from her -shoulder to her waist, and he lifted her like a child from her chair, -and carried her, half laughing and half protesting, to the door, -claimed and took another kiss before he released her, and then put her -down and left her alone without another word. - -“Alas, poor Serge!” she said, as the door closed behind him; “you are -not the first man who has lost the empire of the world for a woman’s -kiss. Before, I saw that you were my equal and helpmate, now you and -all other men--yes, not even excepting he who seems so far above me -now--shall be my slaves and do my bidding, so blindly that they shall -not even know they are doing it. - -“Yes, the weapons of war are worth much, but what are they in -comparison with the souls of the men who will have to use them!” - -In half an hour Serge came back to finish the reading of the will -with her. The little slip of paper had been removed so skilfully that -it would have been impossible for him to have even guessed that it had -ever been attached to the parchment, or that it was now lying hidden in -the bosom of the girl who would have killed him without the slightest -scruple to gain the unsuspected possession of it. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. A SON OF THE GODS. - - -ON the day but one following the reading of Paul Romanoff’s secret -will, Olga and Serge set out for St. Petersburg, to convey his ashes -to their last resting-place in the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul in -the Fortress of Petropaulovski, where reposed the dust of the Tyrants -of Russia, from Peter the Great to Alexander II. of Russia, now only -remembered as the chief characters in the dark tragedy of the days -before the Revolution. - -The intense love of the Russians for their country had survived the -tremendous change that had passed over the face of society, and it was -still the custom to bring the ashes of those who claimed noble descent -and deposit them in one of their national churches, even when they had -died in distant countries. - -The station from which they started was a splendid structure of -marble, glass, and aluminium steel, standing in the midst of a vast, -abundantly-wooded garden, which occupied the region that had once been -made hideous by the slums and sweating-dens of Southwark. The ground -floor was occupied by waiting-rooms, dining-saloons, conservatories, -and winter-gardens, for the convenience and enjoyment of travellers; -and from these lifts rose to the upper storey, where the platforms and -lines lay under an immense crystal arch. - -Twelve lines ran out of the station, divided into three sets of four -each. Of these, the centre set was entirely devoted to continental -traffic, and the lines of this system stretched without a break from -London to Pekin. - -The cars ran suspended on a single rail upheld by light, graceful -arches of a practically unbreakable alloy of aluminium, steel, and -zinc, while about a fifth of their weight was borne by another single -insulating rail of forged glass,--the rediscovery of the lost art of -making which had opened up immense possibilities to the engineers of -the twenty-first century. - -Along this lower line the train ran, not on wheels, but on lubricated -bearings, which glided over it with no more friction than that of a -steel skate on ice. On the upper rail ran double-flanged wheels with -ball-bearings, and this line also conducted the electric current from -which the motive-power was derived. - -The two inner lines of each set were devoted to long-distance, express -traffic, and the two outer to intermediate transit, corresponding to -the ordinary trains of the present day. Thus, for example, the train by -which Olga and Serge were about to travel, stopped only at Brussels, -Berlin, Königsberg, Moscow, Nijni Novgorod, Tomsk, Tobolsk, Irkutsk, -and Pekin, which was reached by a line running through the Salenga -valley and across the great desert of Shamoo, while from Irkutsk -another branch of the line ran north-eastward viâ Yakutsk to the East -Cape, where the Behring Bridge united the systems of the Old World and -the New. - -The usual speed of the expresses was a hundred and fifty miles an -hour, rising to two hundred on the long runs; and that of the ordinary -trains, from a hundred to a hundred and fifty. Higher speeds could of -course be attained on emergencies, but these had been found to be quite -sufficient for all practical purposes. - -The cars were not unlike the Pullmans of the present day, save that -they were wider and roomier, and were built not of wood and iron, -but of aluminium and forged glass. Their interiors were, of course, -absolutely impervious to wind and dust, even at the highest speed -of the train, although a perfect system of ventilation kept their -atmosphere perfectly fresh. - -The long-distance trains were fitted up exactly as moving hotels, and -the traveller, from London to Pekin or Montreal, was not under the -slightest necessity of leaving the train, unless he chose to do so, -from end to end of the journey. - -One more advantage of railway travelling in the twenty-first century -may be mentioned here. It was entirely free, both for passengers -and baggage. Easy and rapid transit being considered an absolute -necessity of a high state of civilisation, just as armies and navies -had once been thought to be, every self-supporting person paid a small -travelling tax, in return for which he or she was entitled to the -freedom of all the lines in the area of the Federation. - -In addition to this tax, the municipality of every city or town through -which the lines passed, set apart a portion of their rent-tax for the -maintenance of the railways, in return for the advantages they derived -from them. - -Under this reasonable condition of affairs, therefore, all that an -intending traveller had to do was to signify the date of his departure -and his destination to the superintendent of the nearest station, and -send his heavier baggage on in advance by one of the trains devoted to -the carriage of freight. A place was then allotted to him, and all he -had to do was to go and take possession of it. - -The Continental Station was comfortably full of passengers when Olga -and Serge reached it, about fifteen minutes before the departure of the -Eastern express; for people were leaving the Capital of the World in -thousands just then, to spend Christmas and New Year with friends in -the other cities of Europe, and especially to attend the great Winter -Festival that was held every year in St. Petersburg in celebration of -the anniversary of Russian freedom. - -Ten minutes before the express started, they ascended in one of the -lifts to the platform, and went to find their seats. As they walked -along the train, Olga suddenly stopped and said, almost with a gasp-- - -“Look, Serge! There are two Aerians, and one of them is”-- - -“Who?” said Serge, almost roughly. “I didn’t know you had any -acquaintances among the Masters of the World.” - -The son of the Romanoffs hated the very name of the Aerians, so -bitterly that even the mere suspicion that his idolised betrothed -should have so much as spoken to one of them was enough to rouse his -anger. - -“No, I haven’t,” she replied quietly, ignoring the sudden change in his -manner; “but both you and I have very good reason for wishing to make -their distinguished acquaintance. I recognise one of these because he -sat beside Alan Arnold, the President of the Council, in St. Paul’s, -when they were foolish enough to relinquish the throne of the world in -obedience to an old man’s whim. - -“The taller of the two standing there by the pillar is the younger -counterpart of the President, and if his looks don’t belie him, he can -be no one but the son of Alan Arnold, and therefore the future ruler -of Aeria, and the present or future possessor of the Great Secret. Do -you see now why it is necessary that we should--well, I will say, make -friends of those two handsome lads?” - -Olga spoke rapidly and in Russian, a tongue then scarcely ever heard -and very little understood even among educated people, who, whatever -their nationality, made English their language of general intercourse. -The words “handsome lads” had grated harshly upon Serge’s ears, but he -saw the force of Olga’s question at once, and strove hard to stifle the -waking demon of jealousy that had been roused more by her tone and the -quick bright flush on her cheek than by her words, as he answered-- - -“Forgive me, darling, for speaking roughly! Their hundred years of -peace have not tamed my Russian blood enough to let me look upon my -enemies without anger. Of course, you are right; and if they are going -by the express, as they seem to be, we should be friendly enough by the -time we reach Königsberg.” - -“I am glad you agree with me,” said Olga, “for the destinies of the -world may turn on the events of the next few hours. Ah, the Fates -are kind! Look! There is Alderman[2] Heatherstone talking to them. I -suppose he has come to see them off, for no doubt they have been the -guests of the City during the Festival. Come, he will very soon make us -known to each other.” - -A couple of minutes later the Alderman, who had been an old friend -of Paul Ivanitch, the famous sculptor, had cordially greeted them -and introduced them to the two Aerians, whose names he gave as Alan -Arnoldson, the son of the President of the late Supreme Council, and -Alexis Masarov, a descendant of the Alexis Mazanoff who had played such -a conspicuous part in the war of the Terror. They were just starting on -the tour of the world, and were bound for St. Petersburg to witness the -Winter Festival. - -Olga had been more than justified in speaking of them as she had done. -Both in face and form, they were the very ideal of youthful manhood. -Both of them stood over six feet in the long, soft, white leather boots -which rose above their knees, meeting their close-fitting, grey tunics -of silk-embroidered cloth, confined at the waist by belts curiously -fashioned of flat links of several different metals, and fastened in -front by heavy buckles of gold studded with great, flashing gems. - -From their broad shoulders hung travelling-cloaks of fine, blue cloth, -lined with silver fur and kept in place across the breast by silver -chains and clasps of a strange, blue metal, whose lustre seemed to come -from within like that of a diamond or a sapphire. - -On their heads they wore no other covering than their own thick, -curling hair, which they wore somewhat in the picturesque style of -the fourteenth century, and a plain, broad band of the gleaming blue -metal, from which rose above the temples a pair of marvellously-chased, -golden wings about four inches high--the insignia of the Empire of the -Air, and the sign which distinguished the Aerians from all the other -peoples of the earth. - -As Olga shook hands with Alan, she looked up into his dark-blue eyes, -with a glance such as he had never received from a woman before--a -glance in which he seemed instinctively to read at once love and hate, -frank admiration and equally undisguised defiance. Their eyes held each -other for a moment of mutual fascination which neither could resist, -and then the dark-fringed lids fell over hers, and a faint flush rose -to her cheeks as she replied to his words of salutation-- - -“Surely the pleasure will rather be on our side, with travelling -companions from the other world! For my own part, I seem to remind -myself somewhat of one of the daughters of men whom the Sons of the -Gods”-- - -She stopped short in the middle of her daring speech, and looked up at -him again as much as to say-- - -“So much for the present. Let the Fates finish it!” and then, appearing -to correct herself, she went on, with a half-saucy, half-deprecating -smile on her dangerously-mobile lips-- - -“You know what I mean; not exactly that, but something of the sort.” - -“More true, I fancy, of the daughter of men than of the supposed Sons -of the Gods,” retorted Alan, with a laugh, half startled by her words, -and wholly charmed by the indescribable fascination of the way in which -she said them; “for the daughters of men were so fair that the Sons of -the Gods lost heaven itself for their sakes.” - -“Even so!” said Olga, looking him full in the eyes, and at that moment -the signal sounded for them to take their places in the cars. - -A couple of minutes after they had taken their seats, the train drew -out of the station with an imperceptible, gliding motion, so smooth and -frictionless that it seemed rather as though the people standing on the -platform were sliding backwards than that the train was moving forward. -The speed increased rapidly, but so evenly that, almost before they -were well aware of it, the passengers were flying over the snow-covered -landscape, under the bright, heatless sun and pale, steel-blue sky of -a perfect winter’s morning, at a hundred miles an hour, the speed ever -increasing as they sped onward. - -The line followed the general direction of the present route to Dover, -which was reached in about half an hour. Without pausing for a moment -in its rapid flight, the express swept out from the land over the -Channel Bridge, which spanned the Straits from Dover to Calais at a -height of 200 feet above the water. - -Travelling at a speed of three miles a minute, seven minutes sufficed -for the express to leap, as it were, from land to land. As they swept -along in mid-air over the waves, Olga pointed down to them and said to -Alan, who was sitting in the armchair next her own-- - -“Imagine the time when people had to take a couple of hours getting -across here in a little, dirty, smoky steamboat, mingling their sorrows -and their sea-sickness in one common misery! I really think this -Channel Bridge is worthy even of your admiration. Come now, you have -not admired anything yet”-- - -“Pardon me,” said Alan, with a look and a laugh that set Serge’s teeth -gritting against each other, and brought the ready blood to Olga’s -cheeks; “on the contrary, I have been absorbed in admiration ever since -we started.” - -“But not apparently of our engineering triumphs,” replied Olga frankly, -taking the compliment to herself, and seeming in no way displeased with -it. “It would seem that the polite art of flattery is studied to some -purpose in Aeria.” - -“There you are quite wrong,” returned Alan, still speaking in the same -half-jocular, half-serious vein. “Before all things, we Aerians are -taught to tell the absolute truth under all circumstances, no matter -whether it pleases or offends; so, you see, what is usually known as -flattery could hardly be one of our arts, since, as often as not, it is -a lie told in the guise of truth, for the sake of serving some hidden -and perhaps dishonest end.” - -The blow so unconsciously delivered struck straight home, and the flush -died from Olga’s cheek, leaving her for the moment so white that her -companion anxiously asked if she was unwell. - -“No,” she said, recovering her self-possession under the impulse of -sudden anger at the weakness she had betrayed. “It is nothing. This is -the first time for a year or so that I have travelled by one of these -very fast trains, and the speed made me a little giddy just for the -instant. I am quite well, really, so please go on. - -“You know, that wonderful fairyland of yours is a subject of -everlasting interest and curiosity to us poor outsiders who are -denied a glimpse of its glories, and it is so very rarely that one of -us enjoys the privilege that is mine just now, that I hope you will -indulge my feminine curiosity as far as your good nature is able to -temper your reserve.” - -As she uttered her request, Alan’s smiling face suddenly became grave -almost to sternness. The laughing light died out of his eyes, and she -saw them darken in a fashion that at once convinced her that she had -begun by making a serious mistake. - -He looked up at her, with a shadow in his eyes and a slight frown on -his brow. He spoke slowly and steadily, but with a manifest reluctance -which he seemed to take little or no trouble to conceal. - -“I am sorry that you have asked me to talk on what is a forbidden -subject to every Aerian, save when he is speaking with one of his own -nation. I see you have been looking at these two golden wings on the -band round my head. I will tell you what they mean, and then you will -understand why I cannot say all that I know you would like me to say. - -“They are to us what the toga virilis was to the Romans of old, the -insignia of manhood and responsibility. When a youth of Aeria reaches -the age of twenty he is entitled to wear these wings as a sign that he -is invested with all the rights and duties of a citizen of the nation -which has conquered and commands the Empire of the Air. - -“One of these duties is, that in all the more serious relations of life -he shall remain apart from all the peoples of the world save his own, -and shall say nothing that will do anything to lift the veil which it -has pleased our forefathers in their wisdom to draw round the realm of -Aeria. Before we assume the citizenship of which these wings are the -symbol we never visit the outside world save to make air voyages, for -the purpose of learning the physical facts of the earth’s shape and the -geography of land and sea. - -“Immediately after we have assumed it we do as Alexis and I are now -doing--travel for a year or so through the different countries of the -outside world, in order to get our knowledge of men and things as they -exist beyond the limits of our own country. - -“The fact that we do so,--under a pledge solemnly and publicly given, -of never revealing anything which could lead even to a possibility of -other peoples of the earth overtaking us in the progress which we have -made in the arts and sciences,--is my excuse for refusing to tell you -what your very natural curiosity has asked.” - -Olga saw instantly that she had struck a false note, and was not slow -to make good her mistake. She laid her hand upon his arm, with that -pretty gesture which Serge knew so well, and watched now with much -bitter feelings, and said, in a tone that betrayed no trace of the -consuming passion within her-- - -“Forgive me! Of course, you will see that I did not know I was -trenching on forbidden grounds. I can well understand why such secrets -as yours must be, should be kept. You have been masters of the world -for more than a century, and even now, although you have formally -abdicated the throne of the world, it would be absurd to deny that you -still hold the destinies of humanity in your hands. - -“The secrets which guard so tremendous a power as that may well be -religiously kept and held more sacred than anything else on earth. -Still, you have mistaken me if you thought I asked for any of these. -All I really wanted was, that you should tell me something that would -give me just a glimpse of what human life is like in that enchanted -land of yours”-- - -Alan laid his hands upon hers, which was still resting upon his arm, -and interrupted her even more earnestly than before. - -“Even that I cannot tell you. With us, the man who gives a pledge -and breaks it, even in the spirit though not in the letter, is not -considered worthy to live, and therefore I must be silent.” - -Instead of answering with her lips, Olga turned her hand palm upwards, -and clasped his with a pressure which he returned before he very well -knew what he was doing; and while the magic of her clasp was still -stealing along his nerves, Serge broke in, with a harsh ring in his -voice-- - -“But pardon me for interrupting what seems a very pleasant conversation -with my--my sister, I should like to ask, with all due deference to the -infinitely superior wisdom of the rulers of Aeria, whether it is not -rather a risky thing for you to travel thus about the world, possessing -secrets which any man or woman would almost be willing to die even to -know for a few minutes, when, after all, you are but human even as the -rest of humanity are? - -“You, for instance, are only two among millions; how would you protect -yourselves against the superior force of numbers? Supposing you were -taken unawares under circumstances which make your superior knowledge -unavailing. You know, human nature is the same yesterday, to-day, and -to-morrow, despite the superficial varnish of civilisation. - -“The passions of men are only curbed, not dead. There may be men -on earth to-day who, to gain such knowledge as you possess, would -even resort to the tortures used by the Inquisition in the sixteenth -century. Suppose you found yourself in the power of such men as that, -what then? Would you still preserve your secret intact, do you think?” - -Alan heard him to the end without moving a muscle of his face, and -without even withdrawing his hand from Olga’s clasp. But at the last -sentence he snatched it suddenly away, half-turned in his seat, and -faced him. Then, looking him straight in the eyes, he said in a tone -as cold and measured as might have been used by a judge sentencing a -criminal to death-- - -“We do not fear anything of the sort, simply because each one of us -holds the power of life and death in his hands. If you laid a hand on -me now in anger, or with an intent to do me harm, you would be struck -dead before you could raise a finger in your own defence. - -“Do you think that we, who are as far in advance of you as you are -in advance of the men of a hundred years ago, would trust ourselves -amongst those who might be our enemies were we not amply protected -against you? Tell me, have you ever read a book, written nearly two -hundred years ago in the Victorian Age, called _The Coming Race_?” - -“Yes,” said Serge, thinking, as he spoke, of the possibilities -contained in the secret will of Paul Romanoff, “I have read it, and so -has Olga. What of it?” - -“Well,” said Alan quietly, without moving his eyes from those of Serge. -“I had better tell you at once that we have realised, to all intents -and purposes, the dream that Lytton dreamt when he wrote that book. -I can tell you so much without breaking the pledge of which I have -spoken. All that the Vril-Ya did in his dream we have accomplished in -reality, and more than that. - -“Our empire is not bounded by the roofs of subterranean caverns, but -only by the limits of the planet’s atmosphere. We can soar beyond the -clouds and dive beneath the seas. We have realised what he called the -Vril force as a sober, scientific fact; and if I thought that you, for -instance, were my enemy, I could strike you dead without so much as -laying a hand on you. And if a dozen like you tried to overcome me by -superior brute force, they would all meet with the same fate. - -“I’m afraid this sounds somewhat like boasting,” he continued in a -more gentle tone, and dropping his eyes to the floor of the car, “but -the turn the conversation has taken obliged me to say what I have -done. Suppose we give it another turn and change the subject. We have -unintentionally got upon rather uncomfortable ground.” - -Serge and Olga were not slow to take the pointed hint, and so the talk -drifted into general and more harmless channels. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[2] The good old word had now regained its ancient and uncorrupted -meaning. - - - - -CHAPTER V. A VISION FROM THE CLOUDS. - - -AT Königsberg, which was reached in nine hours after leaving London, -that is to say, soon after seven o’clock in the evening, the Eastern -express divided: five of the cars went northward to St. Petersburg, -carrying those passengers who were going to participate in the Winter -Festival, while the other five which made up the train went on to -Moscow and the East. - -During the twenty minutes’ stop at Berlin, Olga had found an -opportunity of having a few words in private with Serge, and had -succeeded in persuading him, much against his will, of the necessity of -postponing their marriage, and therefore their visit to Moscow, for the -execution of a daring and suddenly-conceived plan which she had thought -out, but which she had then no time to explain to him. - -Serge, though very loath to postpone even for a day or two the -consummation of his hopes and the hour which should make Olga -irrevocably his, so far as human laws could bind her to him, was so far -under the domination of her imperious will that, as soon as he saw that -she had determined to have her own way, he yielded with the best grace -he could. - -Olga chided him gently and yet earnestly for his outbreak of temper -towards Alan, and told him plainly that, where such tremendous -issues were concerned as those which were involved in the struggle -which sooner or later they must wage with the Aerians, no personal -considerations whatever could be permitted a moment’s serious thought. -If she could sacrifice her own feelings, and disguise her hatred of the -tyrants of the world under the mask of friendliness, for the sake of -the ends to which both their lives were devoted, surely he, if he were -at all worthy of her love, could so far trust her as to restrain the -unreasoning jealousy of which he had already been guilty. - -Either, she told him, he must trust to her absolutely for the present, -or he must take the management of affairs into his own hands; and, -as she said in conclusion, he must find some influence stronger than -hers in their dealings with him who would one day be the ruler of -Aeria, and, therefore, the real master of the world, should it ever be -possible to dispute the empire of Earth with the Aerians. - -From the influence which she exercised over himself, Serge knew only -too well that he could not hope to rival her in this regard where a man -was concerned, and so he perforce agreed to her proposal, and for the -present left the conduct of affairs in her hands. - -A telephonic message was therefore sent from Königsberg to the friends -who expected them at Vorobièvŏ, near Moscow, to tell them of the -change in their plans; and when the train once more glided out over the -frozen plains of the North, the four were once more seated together in -the brilliantly-lighted car, which flashed like a meteor through the -gathering darkness of the winter’s night. - -About half an hour after they had passed what had once been the -jealously-guarded Russian frontier, a dazzling gleam of light suddenly -blazed down from the black darkness overhead, and Olga, who was sitting -by one of the windows of the car, bent forward and said-- - -“Look there! What is that? There is a bright light shining down out of -the clouds on the train.” - -Alan saw the flash across the window, and, without even troubling to -look up at its source, said-- - -“Oh, I suppose that’ll be the air-ship that was ordered to meet us at -St. Petersburg. You know, we usually have one of them in attendance, -when we trust ourselves alone among our possible enemies of the outer -world.” - -The last sentence was spoken with a quiet irony, which brought home -both to Olga and Serge the not very pleasant conviction that their -previous conversation had by no means been forgotten. Serge, perhaps -fearing to give utterance to his thoughts, remained silent, but Olga -looked at Alan with a half-saucy smile, and said almost mockingly-- - -“Your Majesties of Aeria may well esteem yourselves impregnable, while -you have such a bodyguard as that at your beck and call. I suppose that -air-ship would not have the slightest difficulty in blowing this train, -and all it contains, off the face of the earth at a moment’s notice, if -it had orders to do so?” - -“Not the slightest,” said Alan quietly. “But in proof of the fact that -it has no such hostile intentions, you shall, if you please, take -a voyage beyond the clouds in it the day after to-morrow, from St. -Petersburg.” - -“What!” said Olga, her cheeks flushing and her eyes lighting up at the -very idea of such an experience. “Do you really mean to say that you -would permit a daughter of the earth, as I am told you call the women -who have not the good fortune to be born in Aeria, to go on board one -of those wonderful air-ships of yours, and taste the forbidden delights -of spurning the earth and sharing, even for an hour, your Empire of the -Air?” - -“Why not?” replied Alan, with a laugh. “What harm would be done by -taking you for a trip beyond the clouds? We are not so selfish as all -that; and if the novel experience would give you any pleasure, we have -a perfect right to ask you to enjoy it. Will you come?” - -“Surely there is scarcely any need for me to say ‘yes.’ Why, do you -know, I believe I would give five years of my life for as many hours on -board that air-ship of yours,” said Olga; “and if you will do as you -say, you will make me your debtor for ever. Indeed, how could a poor -earth-dweller such as I am repay a favour like that.” - -“Ah, if only you were an Aerian, I should not have much difficulty in -telling you how you could do that,” retorted Alan, with almost boyish -candour. “As it is, I am afraid I must be satisfied for my reward with -the pleasure of knowing that I have given you a pleasurable experience.” - -“Your Majesty has put that so prettily, that it almost atones for -the sense of hopeless inferiority which, I need hardly tell you, is -just a trifle bitter to my feminine pride,” said Olga, in the same -half-bantering tone she had used all along. - -Before a reply had risen to Alan’s lips, the conversation was -interrupted by the air-ship suddenly swooping down from the clouds to -the level of the windows of the train, which was now flying along over -a wide, treeless plain at a speed of fully two hundred miles an hour. - -As the search-lights of the aerial vessel flashed along the windows -of the cars, the blinds, which had been drawn down at nightfall, were -sprung up again by the passengers, who were all eager to get a glimpse -of one of the marvellous vessels which so rarely came within close view -of the dwellers upon earth. - -The air-ship, on which all eyes were now bent with such intense -curiosity, was a beautifully-proportioned vessel, built chiefly of some -unknown metal, which shone with a brilliant, pale-blue lustre. Her hull -was about two hundred feet from stem to stern, not counting a long, -ramlike projection which stretched some twenty-five feet in front of -the stem, with its point level with the keel, or rather, with the three -keels,--the centre one shallow and the two others very deep,--which -were obviously shaped so as to enable the craft either to stand upright -on land or to sail upon the water if desired. - -From each of her sides spread out two great wings, not unlike -palm-leaves in shape, measuring some hundred feet from point to point, -and about twice the width of the vessel’s deck, which was, as nearly as -could be judged, twenty feet amidships. - -These wings were made of some white, lustrous material, which shone -with a somewhat more metallic sheen than silk would have done, and -were divided into a vast number of sections by transverse ribs. These -sections vibrated and undulated rhythmically from front to rear with -enormous rapidity, and evidently not only sustained the vessel in the -air, but also aided in her propulsion. - -Three seemingly solid discs, which glittered brilliantly in the light -from the train, marked the positions of the air-ship’s propellers, of -which one revolved on a shaft in a straight line with the centre of -the deck, while the shafts of the other two were inclined outwards at -a slight angle from the middle line. From the deck rose three slender, -raking masts, apparently placed there for ornament rather than use, -unless indeed they were employed for signalling purposes. - -The whole deck was covered completely from end to end by a curved roof -of glass, and formed a spacious chamber pervaded by a soft, diffused -light, the origin of which was invisible, and which showed about half -a dozen figures clad in the graceful costume of the Aerians, and all -wearing the headdress with golden wings. From under the domed, crystal -roof projected ten long, slender guns,--two over the bows, two over the -stern, and three over each side, at equal intervals. - -Such was the wonderful craft which swept down from the darkness of the -wintry sky, in full view of the passengers in the cars, and lighted up -the snowy landscape for three or four miles ahead and astern with the -dazzling rays of her two search-lights. - -Although, as has been said, the express was moving at quite two -hundred miles an hour, the air-ship swept up alongside it with as -much apparent ease as though it had been stationary. Amid the murmurs -of irrepressible admiration which greeted it from the passengers, it -glided smoothly nearer and nearer, until the side of one of its wings -was within ten feet of the car windows. - -Alan and Alexis stood up and saluted their comrades on the deck, then -a few rapid, unintelligible signals made with the hand passed between -them, a parting salute was waved from the air-ship to the express; and -then, with a speed that seemed to rival that of the lightning-bolt, the -cruiser of the air darted forward and upward, and in ten seconds was -lost beyond the clouds. - -“Well, now that you have seen one of our aerial fleet at close -quarters,” said Alan, turning to Olga and Serge, “what do you think of -her?” - -“A miracle!” they both exclaimed in one breath; and then Olga went on, -her voice trembling with an irresistible agitation-- - -“I can hardly believe that such a marvel is the creation of merely -human genius. There is something appalling in the very idea of the -awful power lying in the hands of those who can create and command -such a vessel as that. You Aerians may well look down on us poor -earth-dwellers, for truly you have made yourselves as gods.” - -She spoke earnestly, and for once with absolute honesty, for the -vision of the air-ship had awed her completely for the time being. -Alan appeared for the moment as a god in her eyes, until she saw his -lips curve in a very human smile, and heard his voice say, without the -slightest assumption of superiority in its tone-- - -“No, not as gods; but only as men who have developed under the most -favourable circumstances possible, and who have known how to make the -best of their advantages.” - -“God or man,” said Olga in her soul, while her lips were smiling -acknowledgment of his modesty, “by this time to-morrow you shall be my -slave, and I will be mistress both of you and your air-ship!” - - - - -CHAPTER VI. DEED AND DREAM. - - -WHEN Olga went to her room that night in St. Petersburg, instead of -going to bed, she unpacked from her valise a series of articles which -seemed strange possessions for a young girl of not quite seventeen to -travel with on her wedding journey. - -First came a tiny spirit furnace from which, by the aid of an -arrangement something like the modern blow-pipe, an intense heat could -be obtained. Then a delicate pair of scales, a glass pestle and mortar, -and a couple of glass liquid-measures, and lastly, half a dozen little -phials filled with variously-coloured liquids, and as many little -packets of powders, that looked like herbs ground very finely. - -When she had placed these out on the table, after having carefully -locked the door of her room, and seen that the windows were completely -shuttered and curtained, she drew from the bosom of her dress a gold -chain, at the end of which was fastened, together with the key of -the secret recess in the wall of the turret chamber of the house at -Hampstead, a small bag of silk, out of which she took a little roll -of parchment,--the slip which she had abstracted from Paul Romanoff’s -secret will after she had persuaded Serge, with her false kisses, to -leave her alone for a while. - -She seated herself at the table, drew the electric reading-lamp which -stood on it close to her, laid the slip down in front of her, keeping -it unrolled by means of a couple of little weights, and studied it -intently for several minutes. Then she made a series of calculations -on another sheet of paper, and compared the result carefully with some -figures on the slip. - -She made them three times over before she was satisfied that they were -absolutely correct, and then, with all the care and deliberation of -a chemical analyst performing a delicate and important experiment, -she proceeded to weigh out tiny quantities of the powders, and to mix -them very carefully in the little glass mortar. This done, she emptied -the mixture into a little platinum crucible, which she placed on the -furnace, at the same time applying a gentle heat. - -Then she turned her attention to the phials, measuring off quantities -of their contents with the most scrupulous exactitude, mixing them two -and two, and adding this mixture to a third, and so on, in a certain -order which was evidently prearranged, as she constantly referred to -the slip of parchment and her own calculations as she was mixing them. - -By the time she finished this part of her work, she had obtained from -the various coloured liquids one perfectly colourless and odourless, of -a specific gravity apparently considerably in excess of that of water, -although, at the same time, it was extremely mobile and refractive. -She held it up to the light, looking at it with her eyelids somewhat -screwed up, and with a cruel smile on her pretty lips. - -“So far, so good,” she said in a voice little higher than a whisper. -“The lives of fifty strong men in that couple of ounces of harmless -looking fluid! If anyone could see me just now, I fancy they would take -me rather for a witch or a poisoner of the fifteenth century than for a -girl of the twenty-first. - -“Well, my friend Alan, your mysterious power may kill more quickly, -but not more surely than this; and this, too, will take a man out of -the world so easily that not even he himself will know that he is -going,--not even when he sinks into the sleep from which he will awake -on the other side of the shadows. - -“So much for the bodies of our enemies, and now for their souls! I -don’t want to kill wholesale, at least, not just yet; and as for you, -my Alan, you are far too splendid, too glorious a man to be killed, to -say nothing of your being so much more useful alive. No, I have a very -much pleasanter fate in store for you.” - -Just then a little cloud as of incense smoke began to rise from the -crucible in which were the mixed powders, and a faint, pleasant perfume -began to diffuse itself. She stopped her soliloquy, measured off -exactly half of the liquid, and patiently poured it, drop by drop, into -the crucible, at the same time gradually increasing the heat. - -The vapour gradually disappeared, and the perfume died away. When she -had poured in the last drop, she began slowly stirring the mixture -with a glass rod. It gradually assumed the consistency of thick syrup, -and after stirring it for three minutes by her watch, which lay on the -table beside her, she extinguished the electric lamp and waited. - -In a few seconds a pale, orange-coloured flame appeared hovering over -the crucible. As its ghostly light fell upon her anxious features, she -caught sight of herself in a mirror let into the wall on the opposite -side of the table. She started back in her chair with an irrepressible -shudder. For the first time in her life she saw herself as she really -was. - -The weird, unearthly light of the flame changed the clear, pale olive -of her skin into a sallow red, and cast what looked like a mist of -vapour tinged with blood across the dark lustre of her dusky eyes. It -seemed as though the light that she had called forth from the darkness -had melted the beautiful mask which hid her inner self from the eyes -of men, and revealed her naked soul incarnate in the evil shape that -should have belonged to it. - -Suddenly the flame vanished, she turned on the switch of the lamp, -placed a platinum cover over the crucible with a pair of light, curved -tongs, and, with a quick half-turn, screwed it hermetically down. Then -she turned the heat of the furnace on to the full, rose from her chair, -and stretched herself, with her linked hands above her head, till her -lithe, girlish form was drawn up to its full height in front of the -mirror. - -She looked dreamily from under her half-closed lids at the perfect -picture presented by the reflection, and then her tightly-closed lips -melted into a smile, and she said softly to herself-- - -“Ah, that is a different sort of picture. I wonder what Alan would -have thought if he could have seen _that_ one? I don’t think I should -have taken my trip in the air-ship to-morrow if he had done. Well, I -have seen myself as I am--what four generations of inherited hate and -longing for revenge have made me. - -“In the light of that horrible flame I might have sat for the portrait -of the lost soul of Lucrezia Borghia. Ah, well, if mine is lost, it -shall be lost for something worth the exchange. ‘Better to rule in Hell -than serve in Heaven,’ as old Milton said, and after all--who knows? - -“Bah! that is enough of dreaming, when the time for doing is so near. I -must get some sleep to-night, or my eyes will have lost some of their -brightness by to-morrow.” - -So saying, she busied herself putting away her phials, and powders, and -apparatus. The half of the colourless liquid she had left she carefully -decanted into a tiny flask, over the stopper of which she screwed a -silver cap that had a little ring on the top, and this she hung on -the chain round her neck. She replaced the slip of parchment in its -silken bag, and carefully burnt the paper on which she had made her -calculations. - -By this time the bottom of the crucible was glowing red hot. She noted -the time that had elapsed since she had screwed the cap down, waited -five minutes longer, and then extinguished the furnace, undressed, and -got into bed, and in half an hour was sleeping as quietly as a little -child. She had set the chime of her repeating watch to sound at six, -and hung the watch close above her head. - -Calm as her sleep was at first, it was by no means dreamless, and her -dreams were well fitted to be those of a guilty soul slumbering after a -work of death. - -She saw herself standing with Alan on the glass-domed deck of the -air-ship, beneath the light of a clear, white moon sailing high in the -heavens, and a host of brilliant stars glittering out of the deep-blue -depths beyond it. Far below them lay an unbroken cloud-sea of dazzling -whiteness, which stretched away into the infinite distance on all -sides, until it seemed to blend with the moonlight and melt into the -sky. - -Then the scene changed, and the air-ship swept downwards in a wide, -spiral curve, and plunged through the noiseless billows of the shadowy -sea. As she did so, a fearful chorus of sounds rose up from the earth -below. - -The moonlight and starlight were gone, and in their place the lurid -glare of burning cities and blazing forests cast a fearful radiance up -through the great eddying waves of smoke, and reflected itself on the -under surface of the clouds; now the air-ship swept hither and thither -with bewildering rapidity, like the incarnation of some fearful spirit -of destruction. Alan had vanished, and she was giving orders rapidly, -and men were working the long, slender guns in a grim silence that -contrasted weirdly with the horrible din that rose from the earth. - -She saw neither smoke nor flame from the guns, nor heard any sound as -they were discharged, but every time she raised her hand, the motion -was followed within a few seconds by a shaking of the atmosphere, a -dull roar from the earth, and the outburst of vast, dazzling masses of -flame, before which the blaze of the conflagration paled. - -She looked down with fierce exultation upon the scene of carnage and -destruction; and as she gazed upon it, the fires died away, the roar of -the explosions began to sound like echoes in the distance, and when the -landscape of her dreamland took definite shape again, the air-ship was -hovering over a vast, oval valley, walled in by mighty mountain masses, -surmounted by towering peaks, on some of which crests of everlasting -snow and ice shone undissolved in the rays of the tropical sun. - -[Illustration: AS SHE GAZED UPON IT, THE FIRES DIED AWAY. _Page 57._] - -The valley itself was of such incomparable and fairy-like beauty, that -it seemed to belong rather to the realm of imagination than to the -world of reality. A great lake lay in the centre, its emerald shores -lined with groves of palms and orange-trees, and fringed with verdant -islets spangled with many coloured flowers. - -On the northern shore of the lake lay a splendid city of marble -palaces, surrounded by shady gardens, and divided from each other by -broad, straight streets, smooth as ivory and spotless as snow, and -lined with double rows of wide-spreading trees, which cast a pleasant -shade along their sides. - -In the midst of a vast square, in the centre of the city, rose an -immense building of marble of perfect whiteness, surmounted by a great -golden dome, which in turn was crowned by the silver shape of a woman -with great spreading wings, which blazed and scintillated in the -sunlight as though they had been fashioned of sheets of crystal, pure -and translucent as diamonds. - -All over the valley, villas and palaces of marble were scattered in -cool ravines and on shaded, wooded slopes; and as far as her eye could -reach, vast expanses of garden land, emerald pastures, and golden corn -fields stretched away over hill and vale, until the most remote were -met by the cool, dark forests which clothed the middle slopes of the -all-encircling mountains, and themselves gave place higher up to dark, -frowning precipices, vast walls of living rock, rising thousands of -feet sheer upwards, and ending in the mighty peaks which stood like -eternal sentinels guarding this enchanted realm. - -If she had had her will, she would have gazed for ever upon this -delightful scene; but the spirit of the dream was not to be controlled, -and it faded from her sight just as the picture of death and desolation -had done. As it faded away, Alan, who had now come back to her side, -laid his hand upon her shoulder, and, looking at her with mournful -eyes, said wearily-- - -“That was your first and last glimpse of heaven. Now comes the -judgment!” - -As he spoke, the air-ship soared upwards again, and was instantly -enveloped in a cloud of impenetrable darkness. She sped on and on in -utter silence through the gloom, which was so dense that it seemed -to cast the rays of the ship’s electric lights back upon her as she -floated amidst it. Presently the deathlike silence was broken by a low, -weird sound, that seemed like a wail of universal agony rising up from -the earth beneath. - -Then, far ahead and high up in the sky, appeared a faint light, which -grew and brightened until the darkness melted away before it; and Olga -saw the air-ship floating near enough to the earth for her to see that -all its vegetation was withered and yellow, and the beds of its streams -almost dry, with only little, thin rivulets trickling sluggishly along -them. - -Millions of people seemed wandering listlessly and aimlessly about the -streets of the cities and the parched fields of the open country, ever -and anon stretching their hands as though in appeal up to the dark, -moonless sky, in which the fearful shape of light and fiery mist was -growing every moment brighter and vaster. - -It grew and grew until it arched half the horizon with its tremendous -curve; and then out of the midst of it came a huge, dazzling globe of -fire, from the rim of which shot forth great flames of every colour, -some of which seemed to descend to the surface of the earth like long -fiery tongues that licked up the seething lakes in wreathing clouds of -steam, which hissed and roared as they rose like ascending cataracts. - -She looked down between them at the earth. The myriads of figures were -there still, but now they lay prone and lifeless on the ground, as -though the last agony of mankind were past. The light of the blazing -globe grew more and more dazzling, and the heat more and more intense. -The speed of the air-ship slackened visibly, although the wings and -propellers were working at their utmost speed, and it was falling -rapidly, as though there was no longer any air to support it. - -She gasped for breath in the choking, burning atmosphere of the deck -chamber, and then a swift, vivid wave of light seemed to sweep through -her brain, and she woke with a choking gasp of terror, with the chimes -of her watch ringing sweetly in her ears, telling her that the vision -had been but a dream of a night that had passed. - -Wide awake in an instant, she got out of bed and turned on the electric -lamp. As the room had been perfectly warmed all night by the electric -conduction-stoves, which were then in almost universal use, she only -stopped to throw a fur-lined cloak round her shoulders before she went -to remove the cap of the crucible. - -She peered anxiously into the vessel, and saw about two fluid ounces of -a dark, glittering liquid, from the surface of which the light of the -lamp was reflected as though from a mirror. With hands that trembled -slightly, in spite of the great effort she made to keep her nerves in -check, she poured the precious fluid into one of the glass measures -that she had used the night before. - -Seen through the glass, its colour was a deep, brilliant blue, and, -like the white liquid first prepared, shone as though with an inherent, -light-giving power of its own. She held it up admiringly to the light, -and said to herself, with the same cruel smile that had curved her lips -when she had contemplated the other fluid-- - -“How beautiful it is! It might be made of sapphires dissolved in some -potent essence. In reality, it is an elixir capable of dissolving the -souls of men. Ah, my proud Masters of the World, we shall soon see how -much your boasted powers avail you against this and a woman’s wit and -hatred! - -“And you, my splendid Alan, before to-morrow night you shall be at my -feet! Two drops of this, and that proud, strong soul of yours shall -melt away like a snowflake under warm rain, and you shall be my slave -and do my bidding, and never know that you are not as free as you are -now. - -“The days have gone by when men sought the Elixir of Life, but Paul -Romanoff sought and found the Elixir of Death,--death of the body or -of the soul, as the possessor of it shall will; and he is gone, and I, -alone of all the children of men, possess it!”[3] - -She set the measure down on the table, and took out of her valise a -similar little flask to the one which held the white liquid. In this -she carefully poured the contents of the measure, screwed the cap on as -before, and hung it with the other on the chain round her neck. Then, -woman-like, she turned to the mirror, threw back her cloak a little, -and gazed at the reflection of the two flasks, which shone like two -great gems upon her white skin. - -“There is such a necklace as woman never wore before, since woman first -delighted in gems,--a necklace that all the jewels in the world could -not buy. How pretty they look!” - -So saying, she turned away from the mirror and carefully put away all -traces of the work she had been engaged in, then she threw off her -cloak and turned the lamp out and got into bed again, to wait until the -attendant called her at eight o’clock as she had directed. - -She did not go to sleep again, but lay with wide-open eyes looking at -the darkness, and conjuring out of it visions of love and war, and the -world-wide empire which she believed to be now almost within her grasp. -In all these visions, two figures stood out prominently--those of Serge -and Alan, her lover that had been and the lover that was to be,--if -only the elixir did its work as its discoverer had said it would. - -As such thoughts as these passed through her brain, a new and perhaps -a nobler conception of her mission of revenge took possession of her. -In the past, Natasha had won the love of the man whose genius had made -possible, nay, irresistible, the triumph of that revolution which had -subverted the throne of her ancestors, and sent the last of the Tsars -of Russia to die like a felon in chains amidst the snows of Siberia. - -What more magnificent vengeance could she, the last surviving daughter -of the Romanoffs, win than the enslavement of the man descended not -only from Natasha and Richard Arnold, but also from that Alan Tremayne -whose name he bore, and who, as first President of the Anglo-Saxon -Federation, had ensured the victory of the Western races over the -Eastern? - -The empire of freedom and peace, which Richard Arnold had won for -Natasha’s sake, this son of the line of Natas should convert, at her -bidding, into an empire such as she longed to rule over,--an empire in -which men should be her slaves and women her handmaidens. For her sake -the wave of Destiny should flow back again; she would be the Semiramis -of a new despotism. - -What was the freedom or the happiness of the mass of mankind to her? -If she could raise herself above them, and put her foot upon their -necks, why should she not do so? By force the leaders of the Terror had -overthrown the despotisms of the Old World; why should not she employ -the self-same force to seat herself, with the man she loved in spite of -all her hereditary hatred, upon the throne of the world, and reign with -him in that glorious land whose beauties had been revealed to her in -the vision which surely had been something more than a dream? - -Thus thinking and dreaming, and illumining the darkness with her own -visions of glories to come, she lay in a kind of ecstasy, until a knock -at the door warned her that the time for dreaming had passed and the -hour for action had arrived. - -A brief half-hour sufficed for her toilet, and she entered the room -of the hotel, in which Serge was awaiting her, dressed to perfection -in her plain, clinging robe of royal purple, and self-composed as -though she had passed the night in the most innocent and dreamless of -slumbers. She submitted to his greeting kiss with as good a grace as -possible, and yet with an inward shrinking which almost amounted to -loathing, born of the visions which were still floating in her mind. - -She shuddered almost invisibly as he released her from his embrace, and -then the bright blood rose to her cheeks, and a sudden light shone in -her eyes, as the thought possessed her, that not many hours would pass -before a far nobler lover would take her in his arms, and would press -sweeter kisses upon her lips,--the lips which had sworn fealty and -devotion to the enemies of his race. - -Serge, with the true egotism of the lover, took the blush to himself, -and said, with a laugh of boyish frankness-- - -“Travelling and Russian air seem to agree with your Majesty. Evidently -you have slept well your first night on Russian soil. I was half -afraid that what happened yesterday, and your conversation with that -golden-winged braggart from Aeria, would have sufficiently disturbed -you to give you a more or less sleepless night, but you look as fresh -and as lovely as though you had slept in the most perfect peace at -home.” - -The anger that these unthinking words awoke in her soul, brought back -the bright flush to Olga’s cheeks and the light into her eyes, and -again Serge mistook the sign, as indeed he might well have done; and -so he entirely mistook the meaning of her words when she replied, with -a laugh, of the true significance of which he had not the remotest -conception-- - -“On the contrary, how was it possible that I could have anything -but the sweetest sleep and the most pleasant dreams, after such a -delightful journey and the making of such pleasant acquaintances? -Do you not think the Fates have favoured us beyond our wildest -expectations, in thus bringing our enemies so unconsciously across our -path at the very outset of our campaign against them? - -“But really, these Aerians are delightful fellows. No, don’t frown at -me like that, because you know as well as I do, that in that chivalrous -good-nature of theirs lies our best hope of success.” - -As she spoke she went up to him, and laid her two hands upon his -shoulder, and went on looking up into his eyes with a seductive -softness in hers. - -“I am afraid I made you terribly jealous yesterday; but really, Serge, -you must remember that in diplomacy, and diplomacy alone, lies our only -chance of advantage in the circumstances which the kindly Fates appear -to have specially created for our benefit. - -“The time for you to act will come later on, and when it comes, I know -you will acquit yourself like the true Romanoff that you are; but for -the present--well, you know these Aerians are men, and where diplomacy -alone is in the question, it is better that a woman should deal with -them. You will trust me for the present,--won’t you, Serge?” - -For all answer, he took her face between his hands, put her head back, -and kissed her, saying as he released her-- - -“Yes, darling; I will trust you not only now, but for ever. You are -wiser than I am in these things. Do as you please; I will obey.” - -As he spoke, the door opened, and an attendant came in with two little -cups of coffee on a silver salver. He placed it on the table, told -them that breakfast would be ready for them in the morning-room in ten -minutes, and retired. As they sipped their coffee, Olga said to Serge-- - -“Now, we shall meet our enemies at breakfast, and I want you to be a -great deal more cordial and friendly than you were yesterday. Our own -feelings concern ourselves alone, but in our outward conduct we owe -something to the sacred cause which we both have at heart. You can -imagine how great a sacrifice I am making in my relations with those -whom I have been taught to hate from my cradle. - -“I can see as well as you do, perhaps better, that this future ruler of -Aeria admires me in his own boyish way. If I can bring myself to appear -complaisant, surely it is not too much to ask you to look upon it with -indifference, or even with interest,--a brotherly interest, you know; -for you must remember that he knows me only as your sister. - -“Now, I want you to ask them to come and have breakfast with us at -our table, and to exert yourself to appear agreeable to them, even as -I shall; and above all things, promise me that you will fall in with -any suggestions that I may make as regards our trip in this wonderful -air-ship which we are to make to-morrow. - -“There is no time now to explain to you what I mean, but I swear to -you, by the blood that flows in both our veins, that if I can only -carry through, without any let or hindrance, the plans that I have -already formed--that before forty-eight hours have passed that air-ship -shall no longer be under Alan Arnoldson’s command.” - -He looked at her for a moment with almost incredulous admiration. She -returned his inquiring glance with a steady, unwavering gaze, which -made suspicion impossible. All his life he had grown up to look upon -her as sharing with him the one hope that was left of restoring the -ancient fortunes of their family. More than this they had been lovers -ever since either of them knew the meaning of love. - -How then could he have dreamt that behind so fair an appearance lay -as dark and treacherous a design as the brain of an ambitious woman -had ever conceived? Intoxicated by her beauty and the memory of -his lifelong love, he took a couple of steps towards her, took her -unresisting into his arms again, and said passionately-- - -“Give me another kiss, darling, and on your lips I will swear to trust -you always and do your bidding even to the death.” - -She returned his kiss with a passion so admirably simulated that his -resolve was thrice strengthened by it, and then she released herself -gently from his embrace, saying-- - -“Even so, unto the death if needs be,--as I shall serve our sacred -cause to the end, cost what it may! Come, it is time that we went down -to breakfast.” - -FOOTNOTE: - -[3] Such a poison as this is no figment of the imagination. It has -been known to Oriental adepts in poisoning for many centuries, and the -Borghias were certainly familiar with it. A kindred drug was used by -the Russian agents who kidnapped the late Prince Alexander of Bulgaria, -though in his case the injury was permanent. It reduced him from one -of the most able and daring princes in Europe to a mental and moral -cripple, who was perfectly content to live in the obscurity to which -his enemies had consigned him. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. THE SPELL OF CIRCE - - -BREAKFAST passed off very pleasantly, and by the time it was over Serge -was upon much better terms with the two Aerians than he had been on the -previous day. He had taken Olga’s warning and appeal to heart, and he -had done so all the more easily for the reason that he felt somewhat -ashamed of himself for the ill-temper and bad manners of which he had -been guilty, and which their two new acquaintances had repaid with such -dignified courtesy and good humour. - -His frankly-expressed apology was accepted with such perfect good -nature, unmixed with even a suspicion of condescension, that he felt at -ease with them at once, and even began to regret that his destiny made -it impossible for him to be their friend instead of their enemy. - -The discussion of their plans for the day occupied the rest of -the meal. They had a whole twenty-four hours before them, for the -_Ithuriel_ would not be back from San Francisco, where she was going -when she passed the train, until ten o’clock on the following morning, -so it was arranged that they would begin the day with a sleigh drive--a -luxury which not even Aeria could afford,--then the two Aerians were to -see the sights of the city under the guidance of Olga and Serge, and -perform the chief of the duties that brought them to St. Petersburg. - -After luncheon they were to have a couple of hours on the ice in the -park, into which the Yusupoff Gardens of the nineteenth century had -been expanded, after which they would see the ice palaces illuminated -at dusk, then dine, and finish the day at the opera. When the air-ship -arrived, a rapid flight was to be taken across Europe over the Alps -and back to Moscow, across Italy, Greece, and the Black Sea, which -would enable Alan and Alexis to deposit their guests with their Moscow -friends soon after nightfall. - -The sleigh drive took the form of a race, on the plain stretching -towards Lake Ladoga, between the two troikas driven by Serge and Olga, -who had so managed matters that she had Alan for a companion, and who, -not a little to Serge’s disgust, won it, after a desperate struggle, -by a head. The race was a revelation to the two Aerians, and when Alan -handed Olga out of the sleigh after they had trotted quietly back to -the city, the interest which she had excited in him during the railway -journey had already begun to deepen into a sentiment much more pleasing -and dangerous. - -The rest of the morning was devoted to driving about the city, and to -paying a visit to the ancient fortress of Peter and Paul, which alone -of all the fortress prisons of Russia had been preserved intact as -a fitting monument of fallen despotism and a warning to all future -generations. Once at least in his life every man in Aeria visited this -fortress, as good Moslems visit Mecca, and this was the duty which Alan -and Alexis were now performing. - -In one of the horrible dungeons deep down in the foundations of the -fortress, under the waters of the Neva, they were shown a massive gold -plate riveted on to the rough, damp, stone wall. Its surface was kept -brightly polished, and it looked strangely incongruous with the gloom -and squalor of the cell. On it stood an inscription in platinum letters -let into the gold: - -“_In this cell Israel di Murska, afterwards known as Natas, the Master -of the Terror, was imprisoned in the year 1881, previous to his exile -to Siberia by order of Alexander Romanoff the last of the Tyrants of -Russia._” - -With feelings wide asunder as love and hate, or gratitude and revenge, -the descendant of Natas and the daughter of the Romanoffs stood in -front of this memorial plate, and read the simple and yet pregnant -words. Alan and Alexis both bent their heads as if in reverence for -a moment, but Olga and Serge gazed at it with heads erect and eyes -glowing with the fires of anger, in a silence that was broken by Alan -saying-- - -“Liberty surely never had a stranger temple than this, and yet this -dungeon is to us what the Tomb of the Prophet is to the Moslems. I -wonder what the Last of the Tsars would have thought if he could have -foreseen even a little part of all that sprang from the tragedy that -was begun in this dismal cell?” - -“He would have killed him,” said Olga, carried away for the moment by -an irrepressible burst of passion, “and then there would have been no -Natas, no Terror, and no Terrorist air-fleet, and Alexander Romanoff -would have died master of the world instead of a chained felon in -Siberia! Your ancestor, Richard Arnold, would have starved in his -garret, or killed himself in despair, as many other geniuses did before -him, and”-- - -“And the world would have remained the slave-market of tyrants and the -shambles of murderous men. Let us thank God that Natas lived to do his -work!” said Alan in a tone of solemn reverence, wondering not a little -at Olga’s strange outburst, and yet not having the remotest idea of its -true cause. - -Neither Olga nor Serge could reply to this speech. They would have -bitten their tongues through rather than say “Amen” to it, and -anything else they dare not have said. After a moment more of somewhat -constrained silence, Olga turned towards the door and said-- - -“Come! Let us go, the air of this place poisons me!” - -When they got on the ice after lunch, Olga was not a little astonished -to find that, perfect as she and Serge were in skating, the two Aerians -were little inferior to them, despite the fact that they had just left -their tropical home for the first time. - -“How is this?” said Olga to Alan, as, hand in hand, they went sweeping -over the ice in long, easy curves. “I suppose you manufacture your ice -for skating purposes in Aeria?” - -“No,” he said. “Some of our mountains rise above the snow-line, and in -their upper valleys they have little lakes, so, when we want a skating -surface, we just pump the water up and flood them and let it freeze. -Besides this--I don’t think there is any harm in my telling you that we -have a sort of wheel-skate which runs quite as easily as steel does on -ice.” - -“Ah,” said Olga, possessed by a sudden thought. “Then I suppose that -is why the streets of your splendid city are so broad, and white, and -smooth?” - -Quietly as the words were spoken, Alan’s hand tightened upon hers as he -heard them with a grip that almost made her cry out with pain. It was -some moments before he recovered from his astonishment sufficiently to -ask her the meaning of her unexpected and amazing question. She greeted -his question with a saucy smile and a mocking, upward glance, and said -quietly-- - -“Simply because I have seen them!” - -It was a bow drawn at a venture. She had suddenly determined to test -the truth of her vision and hazard a description from it of the unknown -land. - -“You have seen them?” cried Alan, now more amazed than ever. “But, -pardon me, even at the risk of contradicting you I must tell you that -that is impossible. No one not a born Aerian has set eyes on Aeria for -more than a hundred years.” - -“So you think perhaps,” she said in the same quiet, half-mocking tone. -“Well now, listen and tell me whether this description is entirely -incorrect. If it is correct you need say nothing, if it is not you can -tell me so.” - -And then she began, while he listened in a silence of utter -stupefaction, and described the valley and city of Aeria as she had -seen them in her dream-vision. When she had finished he was silent for -several moments, and then said in a voice that told her that she had -really seen it as though with the eyes of flesh-- - -“What are you? A sorceress, or--No, you cannot be an Aerian girl in -disguise, for none ever leaves the country till she is married.” - -“Then as I cannot be the latter,” said Olga, “you must, I suppose, -consider me the former. Now I shall take my revenge for your reticence -in the train yesterday, and tell you no more. We are quits to that -extent at least, and now we will go back to my brother, if you please.” - -With this Alan was forced to be content. Indeed, he could not have -pursued the subject without breaking his oath, and so a few minutes -later it came about that Olga and Serge were skating together in an -unfrequented part of the lake, and here Olga took an opportunity that -she might not have again of telling him as much as she thought fit for -him to know of her plans for capturing the air-ship on the following -day. - -“I needn’t tell you,” said she, “that this air-ship is worth everything -to us, and that therefore we must be ready to go to any extremities to -get possession of it. It is the first step to the command of the world, -for you heard Alan say to-day that she is the swiftest vessel in the -whole Aerian fleet.” - -“But to do that we must first overcome the crew,” said Serge, looking -anxiously about to see if there was anyone within earshot. “How are we -going to do that--two of us against ten or a dozen, armed with powers -we know nothing about?” - -“We must find means to drug them--to poison them, if necessary, during -to-morrow’s voyage,” came the reply, in a whisper that made his heart -stand still for the moment with utter horror. - -“Good God! is that really necessary? It seems a horrible thing to do, -when they are trusting us and taking us as their guests,” he said in a -low, trembling tone. - -“Yes,” she replied, with a well simulated shudder; “it is horrible, I -know, but it is necessary. Remember that we have solemnly sworn war to -the knife against this people, and that, armed as they are, all open -assault is impossible; therefore they must be struck in secret, or not -at all. - -“Now listen. I have brought with me a flask which my grandfather gave -me a day or two before he died. It contains enough of a tasteless, -powerful narcotic to send twenty people to sleep so that nothing will -wake them for several hours. I will give you half of this to-night and -keep half myself, and one of us must find an opportunity to get the -crew to take it in their wine, or whatever they may drink, for they are -sure to have one or two meals while we are on board. - -“To-night I will send instructions in cypher to the Lossenskis in -Vorobièvŏ to tell them that as many as possible of the Friends must be -ready for action by eight to-morrow night, and must wait, if necessary, -night after night till we come. If all goes well we shall select the -new crew of the _Ithuriel_ from them before we see two more sunrises. -In fact, by the time we return from our voyage we must have absolute -control of the vessel. - -“Such an opportunity as this will never offer itself again, and I, for -my part, am determined to risk anything, not excepting life itself, -to take the best advantage of it. It would be madness to allow any -scruples to stand in our way when the Empire of the Air is almost -within our grasp.” - -“And none shall, so far as I am concerned,” replied Serge in a low, -steady voice that showed that his horror at the deed they contemplated -had succumbed, at least for the moment, to the tremendous temptation -offered by the prospect of success. - -“Spoken like a true Romanoff!” said Olga, looking up at him with a -sweet smile of approval. “As the deed is so shall the reward be. Now -we must get back to our friends. We will find a means to get an hour -together before to-night to arrange matters further, and we will have -Alan and Alexis to supper with us after the opera, and then I will -begin my share of the work. Once the air-ship is ours, we can hide -her in one of the ravines of the Caucasus, hold a council of war in -the villa at Vorobièvŏ, and set about the work of the Revolution in -regular fashion.” - -The rest of the day was spent in accordance with the plans already -agreed on. Olga and Serge had tea together in their private room before -going to the theatre, and put the finishing touches to their plans for -the momentous venture of the following day; and Alan and Alexis, all -unsuspecting, accepted their invitation to supper after their return -from the opera-house. - -The seemingly innocent and pleasant little supper, which passed off so -merrily in the private sitting-room occupied by Olga and Serge, had -but one incident which calls for description here, and even that was -unnoticed not only by the two guests, but by Serge himself. - -Just before midnight, Olga proposed that, in accordance with the -ancient custom of Russia, they should drink a glass of punch, brewed -in the Russian style; and as she volunteered to brew it herself, it is -needless to say that the invitation was at once accepted. - -The apparatus stood upon a little table in one corner of the room. For -a single minute her back was turned to the three sitting at the table -in the centre; her share in the conversation was not interrupted for -an instant, and no one saw a couple of drops of sparkling, blue liquid -fall into each of three of the glasses from the little flask that she -held concealed in the palm of her hand, and when she turned round -with the little silver tray on which the glasses stood, the flask was -resting at the bottom of her dress-pocket. - -She handed a glass to each of them, and then took her own up from the -side-table where she had left it. She went to her place, and, holding -her glass up, said simply-- - -“Here’s to that which each of us has nearest at heart!” and drank. - -All followed suit, and as the clock chimed twelve a few minutes later, -the two Aerians took their leave, and left Olga and Serge alone. - -“You said you would begin your share of the work to-night,” said he, as -soon as they were alone. “Have you done so?” - -“If you do your work to-morrow as successfully as I have done mine -to-night,” replied Olga, looking steadily into his eyes as she spoke, -“the Empire of the Air will no longer be theirs.” - -Serge returned her glance in silence. He wanted to speak, but some -superior power seemed to have laid a spell upon his will, and as long -as Olga’s burning eyes were fixed on his, his tongue was paralysed, -nay, more than this, his mind even refused to shape the sentences that -he would have liked to speak. Olga held him mute before her for several -minutes, and then she said quietly, still keeping her eyes fixed on -his-- - -“Now speak, and tell me what you would do if I told you that I -preferred Alan as a lover to you, and that I would rather a thousand -times be his slave and plaything than your wife.” - -“I should say that you are the mistress of my destiny, that I have no -law but your will, and that it is for you to give me joy or pain, as -seems good to you.” - -Serge spoke the unnatural words in a calm, passionless tone, rather -as though he were speaking in a sort of hypnotic trance than in full -command of his senses. A strange, subtle influence had been stealing -through his veins and over his nerves ever since he had drunk the -liquor which Olga had prepared. - -He seemed perfectly incapable of resisting any suggestion that -might have been made to him. His will was paralysed, but even the -consciousness of this fact was fading from his mind. All his passions -were absolutely in abeyance. Even his love for Olga failed to inspire -him with any jealous resentment of words which half an hour before -would have goaded him to frenzy. He heard them as though they concerned -someone else. - -The ruin of his life’s hopes, which they implied so distinctly, had -no meaning for him; so far as his volition was concerned he was an -automaton, ready to obey without question the dictates of her imperious -will. - -“That will do,” said Olga, in the tone of a mistress addressing a -servant. “Now go to bed and sleep well, and remember the work that lies -before you to-morrow.” - -“I will,” said Serge, and without another word, without attempting to -take his customary good-night kiss, he walked out of the room, leaving -her to the enjoyment of her victory and the contemplation of triumphs -that now seemed almost certain to her. - -Punctual to its appointed time, the air-ship appeared in mid-air over -the city a few minutes before ten the next morning. It sank slowly and -gracefully to within a hundred feet of the ground over the garden of -the hotel in which the two Aerians and their new friends were staying. - -Signals were rapidly exchanged as before between Alan and one of the -crew standing on the afterpart of the deck. Then it sank down on to one -of the snow-covered lawns of the garden, a door opened in the glass -covering of the deck, a short, light, folding ladder with hand-rails -dropped out of it to the ground, and Alan, springing up three or four -of the steps, held out his hand to Olga, saying-- - -“Come along! we shall have a crowd round us in another minute.” - -This was true, for the appearance of the air-ship had already attracted -hundreds of people in the streets, and many of them had already made -their way into the gardens of the hotel in order to get a closer view -of her. - -Olga, feeling not a little like a queen ascending a throne, ran lightly -up the steps, followed by Serge and Alexis. The moment they got on to -the deck the ladder was drawn up, the glass door slid noiselessly to, -and Alan at once presented them to his friends on deck. - -While the introductions were taking place, the wings of the air-ship -began to vibrate and undulate with a wavy motion from forward aft, at -first slowly, and then more and more swiftly, her propeller whirled -round, and the wonderful craft rose without a jar or a tremor from the -earth. Then the propellers began to revolve faster and faster, and -she shot forward and upward over the trees amid the admiring murmurs -of the crowds in the streets about the hotel. But little did those -light-hearted sightseers dream, any more than did the captain and -crew of the _Ithuriel_, that this aerial pleasure-cruise was destined -to mark the beginning of a tragedy that would involve the whole of -civilised humanity in a catastrophe so colossal that the like of it had -never been seen or even dreamt of on earth before. From the wit of a -woman and the weakness of a man were now to be evolved the elements of -destruction that ere long should lay the world in ruins. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. THE NEW TERROR. - - -FIVE years had passed since the _Ithuriel_ had vanished like a cloud -from the sky, leaving, so far as the air-ship itself was concerned, no -more trace than if she had soared into space beyond the sphere of the -earth’s attraction and departed to another planet. - -All the rest of the winter of 2030-1, tidings had been sought most -anxiously, but in vain, by the kindred and friends of those who -had formed her crew during the ill-fated voyage on which she had -disappeared into the unknown. The earth had been ransacked east and -west, north and south, by the aerial fleet in search of the missing -_Ithuriel_, but without result. - -She had been traced to St. Petersburg and Vorobièvŏ, but there, like -the phantom craft of the Flying Dutchman, she had melted into thin -air so far as any result of the search could show. But when the snows -thawed on the mountains of Norway, and the bodies of eight Aerians -who had formed her crew on her last fatal voyage were discovered by a -couple of foresters in a melting snowdrift on the very spot on which -Vladimir Romanoff had been killed with his companions by order of the -Supreme Council, a thrill both of horror and excitement ran through the -whole civilised world. - -That their death was intimately connected with the disappearance of the -air-ship was instantly plain to everyone, and the only inference which -could be drawn from such a conclusion was that at last some power, -silent, mysterious, and intangible, had come into existence prepared to -dispute the empire of the world with the Aerians, and, more than this, -had already struck them a deadly blow which it was utterly beyond their -power to return. - -The effects of this discovery were exactly what Olga had anticipated. -From the first time since their ancestors had conquered the earth and -made war impossible, the supreme authority of the Aerians was called -into question. It was quite beyond their power to conceal the fact -that their flagship had either deserted or been captured, incredible -as either alternative seemed. The Central Council therefore wisely -accepted the situation, and immediately after the discovery of the -bodies the President published a full account of her last voyage, as -far as was known, in the columns of _The European Review_, the leading -newspaper of the day in the Old World. - -The only clue to the fate of the air-ship seemed to lie in the fact -that at St. Petersburg a youth and young girl with whom Alan and Alexis -had made friends on their journey from London had gone on board the -_Ithuriel_ for a trip to the clouds. But this led to nothing. Who was -to recognise the daughter of the Tsar and the last male scion of the -House of Romanoff in Olga and Serge Ivanitch, who had never been known -as anything but the orphan grandchildren of Paul Ivanitch, the sculptor. - -More than this, even to entertain for a moment the supposition that -this boy and girl--for they were known to be little more--could by any -possible means have overcome the ten Aerians, armed as they were with -their terrible death-power, and then have vanished into space with the -air-ship would have been to shatter the supremacy of the Aerians at a -blow. - -Even as it was, the wildest and most dangerous rumours began to fly -from lip to lip and nation to nation all round the world, and for the -first time since the days of the Terror the “Earth Folk” began to think -of the Aerians rather as men like themselves than as the superior race -which they had hitherto regarded them. - -The President of Aeria at once issued a proclamation asking, in the -interests of peace and public security, for the assistance of all the -civilised peoples of the earth in his efforts to discover the lost -air-ship, and also conditionally declaring a war of extermination on -any Power or nation which either concealed the whereabouts of the -_Ithuriel_ or gave any assistance to those who might be in possession -of her. This proclamation was published simultaneously in all the -newspapers of the world, and produced a most profound sensation -wherever it was read. - -The terrible magic of the ominous word “war” roused at once the -deathless spirit of combativeness that had lain dormant for all these -years. It was impossible not to recognise the fact that this mysterious -power, which had come unseen into existence and had snatched the finest -vessel in the Aerian navy from the possession of the Council with such -daring and skill that not a trace of her was to be found, could have -but one object in view, and that was to dispute the Empire of the Air -with the descendants of the Terrorists. - -This could mean nothing else than the outbreak, sooner or later, of -a strife that would be a veritable battle of the gods, a struggle -which would shake the world and convulse human society throughout its -whole extent. The general sense of peace and security in which men had -lived for four generations was shattered at a stroke by the universal -apprehension of the blow that all men felt to be inevitable, but which -would be struck no man knew when or how. - -A year passed, and nothing happened. The world went on its way in -peace, the Aerian patrols circled the earth with a moving girdle of -aerial cruisers, ready to give instantaneous warning of the first -reappearance of the lost _Ithuriel_; but nothing was discovered. If -she still existed, she was so skilfully concealed as to be practically -beyond the reach of human search. - -Then without the slightest warning, while Anglo-Saxondom was in -the midst of the hundred and thirtieth celebration of the Festival -of Deliverance, the civilised world was started out of the sense of -security into which it had once more begun to fall by the publication, -in _The European Review_, of the following piece of intelligence:-- - - A MYSTERY OF THE SEA. - - DISAPPEARANCE OF THREE TRANSPORTS. - - It is our duty to chronicle the astounding and disquieting fact that - the three transports, _Massilia_, _Ceres_, and _Astræa_, belonging - respectively to the Eastern, Southern, and Western Services, have - disappeared. - - The first left New York for Southampton four days ago, and should - have arrived yesterday. The Central Atlantic signalling station - reported her “All well” at midday on Tuesday, and this is the last - news that has been heard of her. The second was reported from Cape - Verd Station on her voyage from Cape Town to Marseilles, and there - all trace of her is lost, as she never reached the Canary Station. - The third was last heard of from Station No. 2 in the Indian Ocean, - which is situated at the intersection of the 80th meridian of east - longitude with the 20th parallel of south latitude; she was on her - way from Melbourne to Alexandria, and should have touched at Aden two - days ago. - - The disappearance of these three magnificent vessels, filled as - they were with passengers and loaded with cargoes of enormous value - both in money and material, can only be described as a calamity of - world-wide importance. Unhappily, too, the mystery which surrounds - their fate invests it with a sinister aspect which it is impossible - to ignore. - - That their loss is the result of accident or shipwreck it is almost - impossible to believe. They represented the latest triumphs of modern - shipbuilding. All were over forty thousand tons in measurement, and - had engines capable of driving them at a speed of fifty nautical - miles an hour through the water. - - For fifty years no ocean transport has suffered shipwreck or even - serious injury, so completely has modern engineering skill triumphed - over the now conquered elements. Added to this, no storms of even - ordinary violence have occurred along their routes. After passing the - stations at which they were last reported, they vanished, and that is - all that is known about them. - - The President of Aeria has desired us to state that he has ordered - his submarine squadrons stationed at Zanzibar, Ascension, and Fayal, - to explore the ocean beds along the routes pursued by the transports. - Until we receive news of the result of their investigation it will be - well to refrain from further comment on this mysterious misfortune - which has suddenly and unexpectedly fallen upon the world, and in - doing so we shall only express the fervent desire of all civilised - men and women when we express the hope that this calamity, grievous - as it is, may not be the precursor of even greater misfortunes to - come. - -It would be almost impossible for us of the present day to form any -adequate estimate of the thrill of horror and consternation which this -brief and temperately-worded narration of the mysterious loss of the -three transports sent through the world of the twenty-first century. -Not only was it the first event of the kind that had occurred within -the memory of living men, but, saving the loss of the _Ithuriel_, it -was the first dark cloud that had appeared in the clear heaven of peace -and prosperity for more than a hundred and twenty years. - -But terrible as was the state of excitement and anxiety into which it -threw the nations of the world, it gave place to a still deeper horror -and bewilderment when day after day passed and no tidings were received -of the three submarine squadrons, consisting of three vessels each, -which had been sent to inquire into the fate of the transports. They -dived beneath the waves of the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic, and that -was the last that was ever seen of them. - -Month after month went by, every week bringing news of some fresh -calamity at sea--of the disappearance of transport after transport -along the great routes of ocean travel, of squadron after squadron -of submarine cruisers which plunged into the abysses of the sea to -discover and attack the mysterious enemy of mankind that lay hidden in -the depths, and which never reappeared on the surface. Whether they -were captured or destroyed it was impossible to say, simply because no -member of their crews ever returned to tell the tale. - -Whatever doubt there had been as to the existence or hostile nature -of this ocean terror that was paralysing the trade of the world was -speedily set at rest by a discovery made in the spring of the year 2032 -by a party of divers who descended to repair a fault in one of the -Atlantic cables about two hundred miles west of Ireland. - -There, lying in the Atlantic ooze, they found the shattered fragments -of the _Sirius_, a transport which had disappeared about a month -before. The great hull of the splendid vessel had been torn asunder by -some explosive of tremendous power, and, more than this, her hold had -been rifled of all its treasure and the most valuable portions of its -cargo. After this there no longer remained any doubt that the depths -of the ocean were the hunting-ground of some foe of society, one at -least of whose objects was plunder. - -The President and Council of Aeria found themselves at last confronted -and baffled by an enemy who could neither be seen nor reached in his -hiding-place, wherever it might be, beneath the surface of the waters. -Thousands of lives had been sacrificed, and treasure in millions had -been lost by the end of the first year of what men had now come to call -the New Terror. - -New fleets of submarine cruisers were built and held in readiness -in all the great ports of the world, and these scoured the ocean -depths in all directions with no further result than the swift and -silent annihilation of vessel after vessel by some power which struck -irresistibly out of the darkness and then vanished the moment that the -blow had been delivered. - -As yet, however, no enemy appeared on land or in the air, nor were any -tidings heard of the lost _Ithuriel_, or her captain and lieutenant. -The Aerians had replaced her with ten almost identical vessels and had -raised the strength of their navy to two hundred and fifty vessels, -one hundred of which were kept in readiness in Aeria, while the other -hundred and fifty were distributed in small squadrons at twenty-four -stations, half of which were in the Western hemisphere and half in the -Eastern. - -The submarine warfare had now practically ceased. Nearly two hundred -vessels belonging to Aeria, Britain, and America, had been captured or -destroyed by an enemy which at the period at which this portion of the -narrative opens was as supreme throughout the realm of the waters as -the Aerians were in the air. To the menace of the air-ships this hidden -foe replied by severing all the oceanic cables and paralysing the -communication of the world save overland and through the air. - -Thus, at the end of six years after the capture of the _Ithuriel_ by -Olga Romanoff more than half the work of those who had brought peace on -earth after the Armageddon of 1904 had been undone. All over the world, -not even excepting in Aeria, men lived in a state of constant anxiety -and apprehension, not knowing where or how their invisible enemy would -strike them next. - -The Masters of the World were supreme no longer, for a new power had -arisen which, within the limits of the seas, had proved itself stronger -than they were. Communication between continent and continent had -almost ceased, save where the Aerian air-ships were employed. In six -short years the peace of the world had been destroyed and the stability -of society shaken. - -Among the nations of Anglo-Saxondom the change had manifested itself by -a swift decadence into the worst forms of unbridled democracy. Men’s -minds were unhinged, and the most extravagant opinions found acceptance. - -Parliaments had already been made annual and were fast sinking into -machines for registering the ever-changing opinions of rival factions -and their leaders. Sovereigns and presidents were little better than -popular puppets existing on sufferance. In short, all that Paul -Romanoff had prophesied was coming to pass more rapidly than even he -had expected so far as the area of the Anglo-Saxon Federation was -concerned. - -In the Moslem Empire affairs were different, but no less threatening. -The Sultan Khalid the Magnificent, as he was justly styled by his -admirers, saw clearly that the time must come when this mysterious -enemy would emerge from the waters and attempt the conquest of the -land, and for three years past he had been manufacturing weapons -and forming armies against the day of battle which he considered -inevitable, and which he longed for rather than dreaded. - -Thus, while Anglo-Saxondom was lapsing into the anarchy of unrestrained -democracy, the Moslem monarch was preparing to take advantage of the -issue of events which, skilfully turned to account, might one day make -him master of the world. - -Such was the condition of affairs throughout the world on the 1st of -May 2036, and then the long-expected came in strange and terrible -shape. At midnight a blaze of light was seen far up in the sky over -the city of Aeria. A moment later something that must have been a -small block of metal fell from a tremendous height in the square in the -centre of the city, and was shivered to fragments by the force of its -fall. - -On the splintered pavement where it fell was found a little roll of -parchment addressed to the President. It was taken to him, and he -opened it and read these words:-- - - To Alan Arnold, President of Aeria. - - If you want your son Alan and his friend Alexis, go and look for them - on an island which you will find near the intersection of the 40th - parallel of south latitude and the 120th meridian of west longitude - in the South Pacific. They have served my turn, and I have done with - them. Perhaps they will be able to tell you how I have conquered the - Empire of the Sea. Before long I shall have wrested the Empire of the - Air from you as well. - - OLGA ROMANOFF. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. THE FLIGHT OF THE “REVENGE.” - - -ASTOUNDING, almost stupefying, as were the tidings conveyed by this -letter, which had dropped like a veritable bolt from the blue, the -challenge contained in the last sentence and the ominous name with -which it was signed were matters of infinitely greater and more instant -importance. - -Alan Arnold was the responsible President of Aeria first and a father -afterwards. He lost not a moment in speculating upon the strange fate -of his son and first-born. The safety not only of Aeria, but of the -world, demanded his first attention, and he gave it. - -Crushing the missive in his hand he took two swift strides to a -telephone in the wall of the room in which he had received the message -from the skies and delivered several rapid orders through it. If they -had been the words of a demi-god instead of those of a man their -effects could scarcely have been more instantaneous or marvellous. - -On a hundred mountain-peaks all round the great valley of Aeria -enormous lights blazed out simultaneously, flinging long streams -of radiance, dazzling and intense, for miles into the sky towards -all points of the compass, and at the same moment fifty air-ships -soared up from their stations all round the mountains, flashing their -search-lights ahead and astern in all directions. - -[Illustration: FLINGING LONG STREAMS OF RADIANCE FOR MILES INTO THE -SKY. _Page 83._] - -It was a scene of unearthly wonder and magnificence, a scene such as -could only have been made possible by the triumphant genius of a race -of men, heirs of all the best that earth could give them, who had -turned the favour of circumstance to the utmost advantage. - -Three minutes sufficed for the aerial cruisers to clear the mountains, -and as they did so the wide-sweeping rays of fifty search-lights, -assisted by the blazing orbs which crowned every mountain-peak, -illuminated the darkness for many miles outside the valley. In the -midst of the sea of light thus projected through the semi-darkness -of the starlit heavens the flying shape of an air-ship was detected -speeding away to the south-eastward. - -Instantly the prows of the whole squadron were turned towards her, -and the first aerial race in the history of the world began. The -pursuing air-ships spread themselves out in a huge semicircle, at the -extremities of which were the two swiftest vessels in the fleet, almost -exact counterparts of the lost _Ithuriel_. One of these bore the same -name as the stolen flag-ship, and the other had been named the _Ariel_, -after the first vessel built by Richard Arnold, the conqueror of the -air, a hundred and thirty-two years before. - -These two vessels carried ten guns each, and were capable of a maximum -speed of five hundred miles an hour, the highest velocity that it had -so far been found possible to attain. The others were somewhat smaller -craft, mounting eight guns each, and capable of a speed of about four -hundred miles an hour. The chase, either because she could not travel -faster or for some hidden reason, allowed the pursuing squadron to gain -upon her until she was only some five miles ahead of its two foremost -vessels, which were travelling at the highest speed attainable by the -whole flotilla. - -She showed no lights, and so in order to keep her in view it was -necessary for her pursuers to keep their search-lights constantly -sweeping the skies ahead of them, lest they should lose sight of her in -the semi-darkness. - -This placed the Aerian fleet at a serious disadvantage, which very -soon became apparent, for before the pursuit had lasted an hour the -chase opened fire with her stern guns and shell after shell charged -with some terrific explosive began bursting along the line of the -pursuing squadron, producing fearful concussions in the atmosphere, and -causing the pursuers to rock and toss in the shaken air like ships on a -stormy sea. - -The _Ithuriel_ and the _Ariel_, at the two extremities of the -semicircle, replied with a rapid converging fire from their bow guns -in the hope of reaching the now invisible chase. All the projectiles -were, of course, time-shells, but the speed at which the vessels were -travelling not only made the aim hopeless, but caused such an in-rush -of air into the muzzles of the guns that the projectiles, checked in -their course through the barrels, flew wild and exploded at random, -often in dangerous proximity to the vessels themselves. - -Hence, after about a dozen shots had been fired, the commanders of the -two vessels found themselves compelled to cease firing, and to trust to -speed alone to overtake the enemy. On the other hand, this disadvantage -to them was all in favour of the chase, which was able to work her -two stern guns without the slightest impediment. Before long she got -the range of her pursuers, and at last a shell burst fairly under -one of the smaller vessels. A brilliant flash of light, blue as the -lightning-bolt, illuminated her for an instant, and in that instant her -companions saw her stop and shiver like a stricken bird in mid-air, and -then plunge downwards like a stone to the earth. - -Olga Romanoff, standing on the deck of what had once been the -_Ithuriel_, flag-ship of the Aerian fleet, and now renamed the -_Revenge_, saw this catastrophe, as the others had done, through her -night-glasses. She lowered them from her eyes, and said to a dark-eyed, -black-haired young fellow, who was commanding the gun that had done the -execution-- - -“Bravo, Boris Lossenski! Did you sight that gun?” - -Boris drew himself up and saluted, saying-- - -“Yes, Majesty, I did.” - -“Then for that you shall be a Prince henceforth, and if you can bring -another down you shall command an air-ship of your own when this fight -is over.” - -Boris saluted again, and ordered the gun to be reloaded. Before -it could be discharged a shell from the port gun, which had been -fired as Olga spoke, struck another of the Aerian vessels square on -the fore-quarter. The flash of the exploding projectile was almost -instantaneously followed by the outburst of a vast dazzling mass of -flame which illumined for the instant the whole scene of the aerial -battle. - -The air-ship with all its cargo of explosives blew up like one huge -shell, and the frightful concussion of the atmosphere induced by the -explosion hurled the two vessels that were close on either side of her -like feathers into space, turning them completely over and flinging -them to the earth six thousand feet below. A few moments later they -struck the ground simultaneously, two great spouts of flame shot up -from the spots where they struck, and when the darkness closed over -them again four of the pursuing squadron had been annihilated. - -“Better still, Levin Ostroff!” cried Olga, as she saw the awful effects -of this last shot. “For that you too shall be a Prince of the Empire -and command an air-ship on our next expedition. Now, Boris, let us see -if you can beat that!” - -“Yes, Majesty,” said Boris again, knitting his brows and clenching -his teeth in anger at his rival’s superior success. He glanced along -the line of the pursuers and saw four of the Aerian squadron flying -close together. He brought the gun to bear upon the two inner ones, -took careful aim, and despatched the projectile on its errand of -destruction. The moment he had released it he said to the two men who -were working under him-- - -“Load again, quickly!” - -The command was instantly obeyed, and scarcely had the explosion of -the first blazed out than a second shell was sent after it. The very -firmament seemed split in twain by the frightful results of the two -well-aimed shots, each of which had found its mark on the two inner -vessels with fatal accuracy. - -Great sheets of flame leapt out in all directions from the focus of the -explosion, and in the midst of their dazzling radiance those on board -the _Revenge_ saw the two outside air-ships of the four roll over and -dive head foremost into the dark abyss below them. They struck the -earth as the others had done, and vanished into annihilation in the -midst of the momentary mist of fire. - -This last catastrophe made it plain to the commanders of the _Ithuriel_ -and the _Ariel_ that to continue the chase under such conditions meant -the destruction in detail of all the smaller ships of the squadron. -Those on board the _Revenge_ saw signals rapidly flash from one end of -the line, and instantaneously answered from the other end. - -“Ah!” said Olga. “My Lords of the Air seem to have had enough of it for -the present. Look, the small fry are falling to the rear; our reception -has been a little too hot for them. I wonder what they are going to do -now. Cease firing, and let us watch them. You two gunners have done -gloriously and earned quite enough laurels for your first battle.” - -It soon became evident that the Aerians had decided to send their -smaller craft back. From the speed of the _Revenge_, and the terrible -accuracy and destructiveness of her guns, the commanders of the -squadron were now convinced that she was either the lost _Ithuriel_, or -some vessel even superior to her, built upon the same plan. - -This being so, to have continued the pursuit under such conditions with -the smaller craft would simply have been to court destruction for them -in detail. It was impossible for them to use their guns effectively at -the speed at which they were travelling, while, as had been so terribly -proved, the chase could use hers with perfect ease. - -The flying fight could thus only result under present conditions in the -ignominious defeat of the squadron by the single vessel as long as she -was able to keep ahead. The only hope of success lay, therefore, in a -trial of speed and manœuvring skill between her and the _Ithuriel_ and -_Ariel_, so orders were flashed to the smaller vessels to return to -Aeria with the mournful tidings of the destruction of eight of their -number. - -As they vanished into the darkness behind, Olga divined instantly the -tactics that were to be adopted. She saw the converging search-lights -of the two remaining air-ships begin to glow brighter and brighter in -the rear of the _Revenge_, proving that they had increased their speed. - -“So, it is going to be a race, is it!” she said, half to herself. -“Well, we will see if we can lead them into the trap. How fast are we -going, Boris?” - -He went to the engine-room, and returned saying-- - -“Four hundred miles an hour, Majesty.” - -“Make it five,” replied Olga. - -He saluted, and transmitted the order to the engineer. The lights of -the pursuers immediately began to recede again, then they seemed to -stop. - -“That will do!” said Olga. “They have reached the limit of their speed. -Keep to the southward, and see that they come no nearer.” - -The three air-ships were, in fact, now travelling at their utmost -speed. If anything, the advantage was slightly in favour of the -_Revenge_, thanks to the high efficiency of the motive-power which had -been applied to her in accordance with the directions left by Olga’s -father, and transmitted in the will of Paul Romanoff. - -So all the rest of the night and on into the next day pursuers and -pursued sped on with fearful velocity through the air. They passed over -Africa and out above the ocean, and still on and on they swept until -the Southern Sea was crossed and the mighty ice-barrier that fences in -the South Pole gleamed out white upon the horizon. - -This was passed, and still they rushed on over the dreary wastes of -Antarctica. The pole was crossed along the 40th meridian, and then they -swept northward until the smoke-cloud that crowned the crest of Mount -Erebus rose above the snow-clouds that hid the earth. The _Revenge_ -headed straight towards this and swept over it, followed at a distance -of about ten miles by her pursuers. - -Then with a mighty upward sweep she leapt two thousand feet higher -still, came to equilibrium, and discharged a shell downwards on to -the ice. The explosion was answered by the rising of a flotilla of -air-ships, which seemed to have sprung out of the bowels of the earth. - -Thirty vessels as large as herself rose simultaneously through the -clouds and spread themselves out in a wide circle round the two Aerian -vessels, which thus found themselves surrounded by an overwhelming -force and dominated by the _Revenge_ floating far above them with her -ten guns pointed down upon them. - -To an observer so placed as to be able to command a view of the -situation it would have seemed that nothing short of the surrender or -annihilation of the _Ithuriel_ and the _Ariel_ could have been the -outcome of it. - -So evidently thought Olga and those in command of the Russian aerial -fleet, for, although for one brief instant the two Aerian vessels lay -at their mercy, they failed to take advantage of it, and in losing -this one precious moment they reckoned without the superior skill and -perfect control of their air-ships possessed by those of whom they -thought to make an easy prey. - -What really happened took place with such stupefying suddenness that -they were taken completely off their guard. The _Ithuriel_ and the -_Ariel_ lay end on to each other in the midst of the circle of their -enemies. Each mounted ten guns, and of these every one was available. -The crews of both vessels, trained by constant practice to the highest -point of efficiency, knew exactly what to do without so much as an -order being given. - -Automatically the twenty guns were trained in the twinkling of an eye, -each on a Russian vessel, and discharged simultaneously. A moment later -the two vessels sank like stones through the thick clouds below them; -and while the heavens above were shaken with the combined explosions -of the twenty projectiles, each of which had found its mark with -unerring accuracy, they had regained their equilibrium a thousand feet -from the surface of the ice, and darted away full speed northward. - -To such a fearful pitch of efficiency had their guns and projectiles -been brought that, while the aim was unerring if once a fair sight was -obtained, nothing shaped by human hands could withstand the impact of -their shells without destruction. Twenty out of the thirty vessels of -the Russian fleet collapsed, and, as it were, shrivelled up under the -frightful energy of the Aerian projectiles. Twenty masses of flame -blazed out over the grey surface of the cloud-sea, and in another -moment the fragments of the vessels it had taken so many months of -labour and such wondrous skill to construct were lying scattered far -and wide over the snow and ice of the Antarctic desert. - -The awful suddenness with which this destruction had been accomplished -deprived Olga and her subordinates of all power of thought for the -moment. They heard the roar of the explosions, and saw a mist of flame -burst out round them as though all the fires of Mount Erebus had broken -loose at once, and then came the silence of speechless horror and -stupefaction. It was more like the work of omnipotent fiends than of -men. The bolts of heaven themselves could have done nothing like it. - -Then the moment of the shock passed, and those who survived remembered -what they ought never to have forgotten--that, armed as they were -with weapons which under favourable circumstances were absolutely -irresistible, the first shot meant victory for those who fired it, and -destruction for their enemies. Odds of mere numbers went for nothing, -for each air-ship was equal to ten others provided she could send her -ten projectiles home first, and this is just what had happened. - -All this had passed in a twentieth of the time that it has taken to -describe it, and by the time Olga and her subordinates grasped the -extent of the calamity that had overtaken them the two Aerian vessels, -darting through the air at five hundred miles an hour, had swept -far out of range of their guns, and were moreover so hidden by the -cloud-sea, that they had no idea which course they had taken. - -Olga stamped her foot upon the deck, and, in a paroxysm of unrestrained -passion, literally screamed with rage as she ordered the _Revenge_ to -sink below the clouds. Less than two minutes sufficed for the remains -of the fleet, that had been thirty-one strong five minutes before and -now only numbered eleven vessels, to sink through the clouds. - -A rapid glance round showed them the _Ithuriel_ and the _Ariel_, tiny -specks far out over the waste of snow and ice, speeding away to the -northward. To give chase was out of the question, for scarcely had they -sighted them than they vanished as completely as though they had melted -into the atmosphere; and so Olga signalled for her remaining vessels -to proceed to their secret haven in the snowy solitudes of the South, -while the _Ithuriel_ and her consort sped onward on their homeward -voyage, to carry the news of the terrible vengeance that they had taken -for the destruction of the eight air-ships which had been annihilated -by the guns of the _Revenge_. - -Twenty hours sufficed for the two Aerian vessels to pass over a quarter -of the earth’s circumference, and carry their tidings of vengeance -and victory to Aeria, and shortly after noon on the day but one after -Olga had dropped her challenge from the skies, a meeting of the Ruling -Council was held at the President’s house in order to consider the -startling and pregnant events which had taken place, and to determine -the plan of the war which, after a hundred and thirty years of -unquestioned supremacy, they were now called upon to wage not only for -the mastery of the world, but for the very lives and liberties of the -citizens of Aeria. - -It had of course been impossible to conceal from the inhabitants of the -valley the gravity of the startling events which had taken place in -such rapid succession, nor did the President and Council consider any -such concealment desirable. There were no demagogues and no politics -in Aeria, and therefore there was no need for any State secrets save -those which contained the essentials of aerial navigation. - -There was also no fear of panic in a community which contained no -ignorant or criminal classes, and so, while the Council was sitting, -the strange tidings were promulgated throughout the length and breadth -of the valley. Marvellous and disquieting as they were they yet gave -rise to very few external signs of excitement. They were gravely, -earnestly, and even anxiously discussed, for they brought with them a -prophecy of calamities to come, the probability of whose realisation -was too plain to be ignored. - -But ever since the days of the Terror each generation of Aerians had -been carefully trained to recognise the fact that the progress of -science and the restlessness of human invention in the world outside -their borders must, sooner or later, produce some challenge to their -supremacy and some attempt to dispute with them the Empire of the Air. -Now, after four generations--in spite of all the elaborate precautions -that had been taken, the stringent laws that had been enacted and more -than once mercilessly enforced--the crisis had come. - -It was now impossible to doubt that by some means, which so far seemed -almost superhuman, the flag-ship of their fleet had been stolen, and -the son of the President kidnapped with his greatest friend. More than -this, the news brought back by the _Ithuriel_ and the _Ariel_ proved -beyond all doubt that means had been found to build a large fleet of -aerial warships without even arousing the suspicions of the Council. -And, worst and most sinister sign of all, there was also the fact, -proved by Olga’s letter to the President, that the moving spirit in -this defiant revolt against the supremacy of Aeria was one who bore the -ill-omened and still hated name of Romanoff. - -As has been said, there was no panic that night in Aeria, but still -many a man and woman anxiously asked, either aloud or in his or her -own soul, whether in the mysterious revolution of human affairs it -might not be about to come to pass that she who had wrought this -apparent miracle might not yet be able to avenge the terrible fate -of her ancestor, the Last of the Tsars. Then, with this thought -came a universal revulsion of horror at the prospect of such a crime -against humanity and a deep resolve to exact the penalty for it to the -uttermost. - -If war was to be brought once more upon the earth, those who brought -it would find Aeria worthy of its splendid traditions and ready, if -necessary, to reconquer the earth as the founders of its empire had -done in the Armageddon of 1904. Fierce as that mighty struggle had -been, its horrors would pale before those of a conflict in which -conquest would mean extermination, for if Aeria was forced once more -to draw the sword it would not be sheathed until there was peace again -on earth, even if that peace were to be but the silence of universal -desolation. - - - - -CHAPTER X. STRANGE TIDINGS TO AERIA. - - -THE sitting of the Council lasted until nightfall, and just as the -western mountains were throwing their huge shadows over the lovely -valley, two more air-ships passed between two of the southward peaks -and alighted in the great square in the centre of the city. They were -the two vessels which had been sent to the island indicated in Olga’s -letter to bring back the long-lost Alan and Alexis. - -It would be vain to attempt to describe the feelings with which the -President and the father of Alexis went, as they thought, to receive -their sons, but the air-ships had returned without them, and in -their stead they brought a written message which conveyed tidings no -less strange and startling than those brought from Antarctica by the -_Ithuriel_ and her consort. - -It was a letter from Alan to his father, and as soon as he received it -from the captain of one of the air-ships, who had found it nailed to a -tree on the island, he took his friend into his library, and there the -two fathers read it together. - -After briefly but circumstantially recounting the capture of the -flag-ship by Olga by means of her subtle drugs, and showing how, by -using the power they gave her, she had kept them in mental slavery -for years, forcing them to employ their skill and knowledge in aiding -her to build her aerial and submarine fleets out of the spoils of -the destroyed ocean transports, from which the latter had taken an -incalculable amount of treasure, Alan’s letter concluded thus:-- - - I will now tell you the reason why Alexis and myself have not waited - for the air-ship which we knew you would send for us as soon as you - received the message which Olga Romanoff told us she would despatch - to you. We consider that by our weakness and folly--or, in truth, I - should rather say mine, for it was I who invited these treacherous - guests on board the _Ithuriel_--we have not only brought endless - calamities upon the world, but we have also forfeited our right to - the citizenship of Aeria. - - What the judgment of the Council would be upon us I don’t know, but - we are resolved that, whatever it might have been, you and Alexis’s - father shall be spared the sorrow of pronouncing sentence upon your - own sons. Some day perhaps we may win at least the right to plead our - cause before you. At present we have none, and until we have won it - you shall not see us again unless you capture us by force. - - We were sent here in the _Narwhal_, the swiftest and most powerful - vessel of the Russian submarine fleet. Only a few days ago an - accident revealed to Alexis for the first time during our long mental - slavery the means which this woman, who is as beautiful as an angel - and as merciless as a fiend, had used to keep us in subjection. We - took the utmost care to give her no suspicion of his discovery, and - although we drank no more of her poison we acted exactly as though we - were still under its influence. - - In what could only have been mockery she gave us back our belts and - coronets, bidding us wear them “when we returned to our kingdom,” as - she put it. We shall never wear the winged circlets again till we - have regained the right to do so, but the belts and a couple of brace - of magazine pistols which we took before we left her stronghold in - Antarctica stood us in good stead. - - We have killed the crew of the _Narwhal_, and taken possession of - her. She is far swifter and more powerful than any vessel in our - submarine navy, for she can be driven at a hundred and fifty miles an - hour through the water, and can destroy anything that floats in or - on the sea with a blow of her ram, and, more than this, she carries - a torpedo battery which has an effective range of two miles, and can - strike and destroy anything within that distance without giving the - slightest warning of her presence. - - There are fifty vessels of this type in the Russian fleet, but the - _Narwhal_ is at least thirty miles an hour faster than any of them. - An attack will probably be made by the Russians on our station at - Kerguelen Island within a week by submarine vessels and a small - squadron of air-ships, and there we shall begin our operations - against the enemy. If you have any reply to make to this letter we - will wait for it at sea off Kerguelen, and then begin the campaign we - have planned. We shall never rest until we have either destroyed the - Russian fleet in detail or have died in the attempt to do so. - - If we ever return it will be to restore to you the supremacy of the - sea, and then, and not till then, we will ask you to pardon our fault - and will willingly submit to such further conditions as you may see - fit to impose upon us before you give us back--if ever you do--the - rights which we have lost. - - With all love and duty to yourself, and loving remembrances to the - dear ones in Aeria, your son - - ALAN. - -At the foot of the letter was a postscript signed by Alexis, indorsing -all that Alan had said, save with regard to his sole responsibility for -the calamity that had ensued from the admission of Olga and Serge on -board the _Ithuriel_. - -The two fathers discussed the strange, and, to them, most affecting -communication for nearly an hour in private, and then another meeting -of the Council was called to consider it and pronounce authoritatively -upon it. The President read the letter aloud in a voice which betrayed -no trace of the deep emotion that moved his inmost being, and then left -the Council chamber with Maurice Masarov, so that their presence might -not embarrass their colleagues. - -The simple, manly straightforwardness of Alan’s letter appealed far -more eloquently to the Council than excuses or prayers for forgiveness -would have done. It was plain, too, that after the first indiscretion -of taking the strangers on board the air-ship, no moral responsibility -or blame could be laid on Alan and Alexis for what they had done under -the influence of a drug which had paralysed their moral sense. - -The Council, therefore, not only accepted the conditions of the letter, -but without a dissentient voice, agreed to confer the first and second -commands of the Aerian submarine fleets and stations for the time being -upon Alan and Alexis, with permission to call in the aid of the nearest -aerial squadron when necessary. This decision was despatched forthwith -by an air-ship to Kerguelen, and within an hour all Aeria was talking -of nothing else than the strange fate of the two youths who for five -years had been mourned as dead. - -Later on that evening, when the twin snow-clad peaks which towered -high above the city of Aeria had lost the pink afterglow of the -departed sunlight, and were beginning to gleam with a whiter radiance -in the level beams of the newly-risen moon, a girl was standing on -the spacious terrace of a marble villa which stood on the summit of a -rounded eminence a couple of miles from the western verge of the city. - -She had just crossed the threshold of womanhood. The next sun that -would rise would be that of her twentieth birthday. Yet for two years -she had worn the silver circle and crystal wings, for in Aeria a girl -became of legal age at eighteen, though she took no share in the civil -life of the community until she was married, an event which, as a -rule, took place not long after she was invested with the symbol of -citizenship. - -It was an exceedingly rare event for an Aerian girl to reach the eve -of her twentieth year unmarried, for the sexes in the Central-African -paradise were very evenly balanced, and, as was natural in a very high -state of civilisation, where families seldom exceeded three or four -children, celibacy in either sex was looked upon as a public misfortune -and a private reproach. - -But Alma Tremayne, the girl who was standing on the terrace of her -father’s house on this most eventful evening, had become an exception -to the rule through circumstances so sad and strange that her -loneliness was an honour rather than a reproach. There were many of the -wearers of the golden wings who had sought long and ardently to win her -from the allegiance which forbade her to look with favouring eyes upon -any of them. - -She was beautiful in a land where all women were fair, a land where, -under the most favourable conditions that could be conceived, a race -of almost more than human strength and beauty had been evolved, and -she came of a family scarcely second in honour even to that of the -President, for she was the direct descendant in the fifth generation of -Alan Tremayne, first President of the Anglo-Saxon Federation, through -his son Cyril born two years after the daughter who had married the -first-born son of Natasha and Richard Arnold. - -More than five years before she and Alan had plighted their -boy-and-girl troth on the eve of his departure on the fateful voyage -from which he had never returned, and of which no tidings had reached -Aeria until a few hours before. To the simple vow which her girlish -lips had then spoken she had remained steadfast even when, as the years -went by and still no tidings came of her lost lover, she, in common -with her own kindred, had begun to mourn him as dead. - -It is true that she was in love rather with a memory than with a man, -yet with some natures such a love as this is stronger than any other, -more ideal and more lasting, and exempt from the danger of growing cold -in fruition. So strong was the hold that this ideal love had taken upon -her being that the idea of even accepting the love and homage of any -other man appeared as sacrilegious to her as the embrace of an earthly -lover would have seemed to a nun of the Middle Ages. - -And so, with a single companion in her solitary state, she stood aside -and watched with patient, unregretful eyes the wedded happiness of her -more fortunate friends. This companion was Isma Arnold, Alan’s sister, -who had a double reason for doing as Alma had done. - -Not only had she resolved never to marry while her brother’s fate -remained uncertain, but she, too, had also made her choice among the -youths of Aeria, and in such matters an Aerian girl seldom chose twice. -So she waited for Alexis as Alma did for Alan, hoping even against her -convictions, and keeping his memory undefiled in the sacred shrine of -her maiden soul. - -No artist could have dreamed of a fairer picture than Alma standing -there on the terrace overlooking the stately city and the dark shining -lake at her feet. She was clad in soft, clinging garments of whitest -linen and finest silk of shimmering, pearly grey, edged with a dainty -embroidery of gold and silver thread. - -Her dress, confined at the waist with a girdle of interlinked azurine -and gold, clothed without concealing the beauties of her perfect -form, and her hair, crowned by her crystal-winged coronet, flowed -unrestrained, after the custom of the maidens of Aeria, over her -shoulders in long and lustrous waves of dusky brown. There was a shadow -in the great deep grey eyes which looked up as though in mute appeal to -the starlight, the shadow of a sorrow which can never come to a woman -more than once. - -All these years she had loved in cheerful patience and perfect faith -the man for whose memory she had lived in maiden widowhood--and now, -who could measure the depth of the darkness, darker than the shadow of -death itself, that had fallen across her life, severing the past from -the present with a chasm that seemed impassable, and leaving the future -but a barren, loveless waste to be trodden by her in weariness and -loneliness until the end! - -All these years she had loved an ideal man, one of her own splendid -race, the very chosen of the earth, as pure in his unblemished manhood -as she was in the stainless maidenhood that she had held so sacred -for his sake even while she thought him dead--and, lo! the years had -passed, and he had come back to life, but how? Hers was not the false -innocence of ignorance. She knew the evil and the good, and because she -knew both shrank from contamination with the horror born of knowledge. - -She had seen both Olga’s letter and Alan’s, and those two terrible -sentences, “They have served my turn, and I have done with them,” and -“She is as beautiful as an angel and as merciless as a fiend,” kept -ringing their fatal changes through her brain in pitiless succession, -forcing all the revolting possibilities of their meaning into her -tortured soul till her reason seemed to reel under their insupportable -stress. - -Mocking voices spoke to her out of the night, and told her of the -unholy love that such a woman would, in the plenitude of her unnatural -power, have for such a man; how she would subdue him, and make him -not only her lover but her slave; how she would humble his splendid -manhood, and play with him until her evil fancy was sated, and then -cast him aside--as she had done--like a toy of which she had tired. - -Better a thousand times that he had died as his murdered comrades had -died--in the northern snowdrift into which this Syren of the Skies had -cast them, to sleep the sleep that knew neither dreams nor waking! -Better for him and her that he had gone before her into the shadows, -and had remained her ideal love until, hand in hand, they could begin -their lives anew upon a higher plane of existence. - -As these thoughts passed and repassed through her mind with pitiless -persistence, her lovely face grew rigid and white under the starlight, -and, but for the nervous twining and untwining of her fingers as her -hands clasped and unclasped behind her, her motionless form might have -been carved out of stone. For the first time since peace had been -proclaimed on earth, a hundred and thirty-two years ago, the flames of -war had burst forth again, and for the first time in the story of her -race the snake had entered the now no longer enchanted Eden of Aeria. - -It was hers to suffer the first real agony of soul that any woman of -her people had passed through since Natasha, in the palm-grove down -yonder by the lake, had told Richard Arnold of her love on the night -that he had received the Master’s command to take her to another man to -be his wife. - -There were no tears in the fixed, wide-open eyes that stared almost -sightlessly up to the skies, in which the stars were now paling in the -growing light of the moon. The torment of her torturing thoughts was -too great for that. - -She was growing blind and dizzy under the merciless stress of them, -when--it might have been just in time to save her from the madness that -seemed the only outcome of her misery--the sweet, silvery tones of a -girl’s voice floated through the still, scented air uttering her name-- - -“Alma!” - -The sound mercifully recalled her wandering senses in an instant. It -was the voice of her friend, of the sister of her now doubly-lost -lover, and it reproved the selfishness of her great sorrow by reminding -her that she was not suffering alone. As the sound of her name reached -her ear the rigidity of her form relaxed, the light came back to her -eyes, and turning her head she looked in the direction whence it came. - -There was a soft whirring of wings in the still air of the tropic -night, and out of the half-darkness floated a shape that looked like a -realisation of one of the Old-World fairy-tales. It was a vessel some -twenty-five feet long by five wide, built of white, polished metal, and -shaped something like an old Norse galley, with its high, arching prow -fashioned like the breast and neck of a swan. - -From the sides projected a pair of wide, rapidly-undulating wings, and -in the open space between these stood on the floor of the boat the -figure of a girl whose loose, golden hair floated out behind her with -the rapid motion of her fairy craft. - -There was no need for words of greeting between the two girl friends. -Alma knew the kindly errand on which Isma had come, and as she stepped -out she went towards her with hands outstretched in silent welcome. - -As their hands met, and the two girls stood face to face, motionless -for a moment, they made an exquisite contrast of opposite types of -womanly beauty--Alma tall and stately, with a proudly-carried head, -clear, pale skin, grey eyes, and perfectly regular features, and Isma, -a year younger and a good inch shorter, slender of form yet strong and -lithe of limb, with golden, silky hair and sunny-blue eyes, fresh, rosy -skin, and mobile features which scarcely ever seemed to wear the same -expression for a couple of minutes together--as sweet a daughter of -delight as ever man could look upon with eyes of love and longing. - -But she was grave enough now, for her friend’s sorrow was hers too, and -its shadow lay with equal darkness upon her. The ready tears welled -up under her dark lashes as she looked upon Alma’s white, drawn face -and dry, burning eyes, and her low, sweet voice was broken by a sob -as, passing her arm round her waist, she drew her towards the boat and -said-- - -“Come, dear, this sorrow belongs to me as well as you and we must help -each other to bear it. I have brought my new boat so that we can take -a flight round the valley and talk about it quietly. If two heads are -better than one, so are two hearts.” - -Alma’s only reply to the invitation was a sad, sweet smile, and a -gentle caress, but the welcome, loving sympathy had come when it was -most sorely needed, and so she got into the aerial boat with Isma, and -a few moments later the beautiful craft was bearing them at an easy -speed southward down the valley. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. THE SNAKE IN EDEN. - - -NO more perfect place could have been imagined for an exchange of -confidences and sympathy between two girls situated as Alma and Isma -were than the oval, daintily-cushioned interior of the _Cygna_, as Isma -had called her swan-prowed craft. - -Skirting the mountains, at a distance of about five hundred yards from -them, and at a height of about as many feet from the summits of the -undulating foothills below, the _Cygna_ sped quietly along at a speed -of some twenty-five miles an hour. The temperature of the tropic night -was so soft and warm, and the air was so dry that it was not even -necessary for them to make use of the light wraps that lay in the stern -of the boat. - -Isma reclined in the after part of the broad, low seat which ran round -the inside, with one hand resting lightly upon a little silver lever -which could be used for working the rudder-fan, in addition to the -tiller-ropes, which she held in her hands while standing up. Alma sat -almost upright amidships, with one hand clasped on the rail of polished -satin-wood which ran round the well of the boat, her head turned away -from Isma and her eyes fixed upon two dim points of light far away to -the southward, which marked the position of the two moonlit, snowy -peaks which guarded the southern confines of the valley. - -For several minutes they proceeded thus in silence, which neither -seemed inclined to break. At length Isma looked up at a planet that -was shining redly over the northern mountains, and, possessed by a -sudden inspiration, said-- - -“Look, Alma, there is Mars returning to our skies!” - -“Yes,” said Alma, turning round and gazing from beneath her -slightly-frowning brows at the ruddy planet; “it is a fitting time -for him to come back now that, after all these years of peace and -happiness, human wickedness and ambition have brought the curse of war -back again on earth.” - -“Yes,” said Isma. “If there were anything in what the old astrologers -used to say we could look upon his rising as an omen. And yet we have -very little reason surely for taking as an emblem of war a world in -which wars have been unheard of for thousands of years.” - -“I wonder when that time will come on earth?” said Alma bitterly. “If -ever it does! We terrestrials seem to be too hopelessly wicked and -foolish for such wisdom as that. - -“Mankind will never have a fairer opportunity of working out its -redemption than it had after the Terror, and yet here, after four -generations of peaceful happiness and prosperity, the wickedness of one -woman is able to set the world ablaze again. Our forefathers were wise, -but they would have been wiser still if they had stamped that vile -brood out utterly. Their evil blood has been the one drop of venom that -has poisoned the whole world’s cup of happiness!” - -As Alma spoke these last words her grey eyes grew dark with sudden -passion under her straight-drawn brows. Her breast heaved with a sudden -wave of emotion, and the sentences came quickly and fiercely from the -lips which Isma had never heard speak in anger before. - -“Yes,” she replied, rather sadly than angrily, “perhaps it would have -been better for the world if they had done so, or, at anyrate, if they -had shut them up for life, as they did the criminals and the insane in -the middle of the last century. But we must remember, even in our own -sorrow and anger, that this Olga Romanoff is in her way not altogether -unlike our own Angel was in hers.” - -“Surely you’re speaking sacrilege now!” interrupted Alma. “How can the -evil be like the good under any circumstances?” - -“No, I am not,” said Isma, with a smile. “Remember how Natasha was -trained up by the Master in undying hate of Russian tyranny, and how -she inherited the legacy of revenge from her mother and him. No doubt -this Olga has done the same, and she has been taught to look upon us as -the Terrorists looked upon the Tsar and his family. - -“We are the descendants of those who flung her ancestor from his -throne, extinguished his dynasty, and sent him to die in Siberia. I -would kill her with my own hand if I could, and believe that I was -ridding the world of a curse, but surely we two daughters of Aeria are -wise enough to be just even to such an enemy as she is.” - -“But she has done worse than kill us,” Alma almost hissed between her -clenched teeth. “If she had a thousand lives and we took them one by -one they would not expiate her crime against us, or equal the hopeless -misery that she has brought upon us. - -“What is mere death, the swift transition from one stage of existence -to another, compared with the hopeless death-in-life to which her -wanton wickedness has condemned you and me, or to the calamities which -she has brought upon the world?” - -“It is nothing, I grant you,” said Isma. “But still I do not agree with -you about that hopeless death-in-life, as you call it. Our present -sorrow is great and heavy enough, God knows, but for me at least it is -not hopeless, nor will it be for you when the first stress of the storm -is over.” - -“What do you mean?” cried Alma, almost as fiercely as before, and -leaning forward and looking through the dusk into her face as though -she hardly credited her ears. “Do you mean to say that either you or I -could ever”-- - -“Yes,” said Isma, interrupting her, and speaking now with eager -animation. “Yes, I mean just what you were going to say. And some day, -I believe, you will think as I do.” - -Alma shook her head in mournful incredulity, and Isma noticing the -gesture went on-- - -“Yes, you will! The reason that you do not agree with me now is that -yours is a deeper and stronger nature than mine. You are like the sea, -and I am like the lake. Your grief and anger struck you dumb at first. - -“You were in a stupor when I found you on the terrace, and now the -depths of your nature are broken up and the storm is raging, and until -it is over you will see nothing but your own sorrow and anger. - -“But with me the storm broke out at once, and I ran to my room and -threw myself upon my bed and sobbed and wailed until my mother thought -I was going mad. You have not wept yet, and it will be well for you -when you do. Your nature is prouder than mine, and it will take longer -to melt, but it must melt some time, for we are both women, after all, -and then you will see hope through your tears, as I did.” - -Alma shook her head again, and said in a low, sad, steady voice-- - -“I can never see hope until I can see Alan as he was when he left me, -and you know that is impossible.” - -“You will never see him again as he was,” replied Isma gently. “But -that is no reason why you should not see him better than he was.” - -“Better?” exclaimed Alma, with an involuntary note of scorn in her -voice, which brought a quick flush to Isma’s cheek, and a flash into -her eyes for her brother’s sake. “Better! How can that be?” - -“Just as the man who has fallen and risen again of his own native -strength, is better and stronger than the man who has never been -tempted,” replied Isma almost hotly. - -“Remember the lessons we have learnt from the people of Mars since we -learnt to communicate with them. You know how they have gone through -civilisation after civilisation until they have refined everything out -of human nature that makes it human except their animal existence and -their intellectual faculties. - -“They have no passions and they make no mistakes. What we call love -they call sexual suitability, the mechanical arrangement into which -they have refined our ruling passion. Do you remember how almost -impossible Vassilis, after he had perfected the code of signals, found -it to make even their brightest and most advanced intellects understand -the meaning of jealousy?” - -The skilfully-aimed shot struck home instantly. A bright wave of colour -swept from Alma’s throat up to her brow. Her eyes shone like two pale -fires in the dusk, and her hand grasped the rail on which it was -resting till the bones and sinews stood out distinct in it. She seemed -to gasp for breath a moment before she found her voice, but when she -spoke her tone seemed to ring and vibrate like a bell in the sudden -strength of her unloosed passion. - -“Yes,” she said. “Yes, you innocent-looking little Isma! You are wiser -than I am after all. I did not know the meaning of that word till -Olga’s letter fell from the sky, but I know it now. My God, how I hate -that woman!” - -“She is not a woman,” replied Isma, speaking in the unconscious pride -of her pure descent. “She is a baseborn animal, for she has used her -beauty for the vilest ends, yet I am glad to hear you say that you hate -her for Alan’s sake, as I do, and--and for Alexis’s. While you can hate -you can love, and some day you will love Alan--the real Alan, not your -ideal lover--all the better because you have hated Olga for his sake.” - -“What?” almost wailed Alma, in the intensity of her anger and misery. -“After he has held her in his arms--after his lips have kissed -hers--after”-- - -“Yes, even after that. When your first bitterness has passed, as mine -has, you will be more just, and remember the influence under which he -did so--if he did. Do you hold yourself responsible for what you think -or do in your dreams, or do you not believe what Alan said in his -letter about the drug? You know too much about chemistry not to know -that such horrible poisons have existed for centuries.” - -“Yes, yes, I know that, and I know that he has no share in the moral -guilt; but how can I ever forget he has been what those cruel words -of Olga’s told us she had made of him?” replied Alma, her face growing -cold and hard again as she spoke. - -“Alma,” said Isma, with gentle dignity, yet with a note of keen -reproach in her voice, “surely you are forgetting that you are speaking -of my brother as well as of your lover. No, I am not angry, for I -am too sad myself not to understand your sorrow. But I want you to -remember that I who have lost both a lover and a brother am asking you -to be patient and to hope with me. - -“We have never seen Alan and Alexis as they are. We only remember them -as two handsome boys who had never seen or known evil. When we meet -them again, as I firmly believe we shall, they will be men who have -passed through the fire; for if they do not pass through it and come -out stronger and better than they were, rest assured we shall never -meet on earth again. - -“Alan would no more come to you now than you would go to him. When he -believes himself worthy of you he will come for you as Alexis will come -for me, and then”-- - -She stopped short in her eloquent pleading, for Alma, at last melted -and overcome by her sweet unselfishness and loving logic, had felt the -springs of her own woman’s nature unloosed, and with a low, wailing cry -had sunk down upon the cushions towards her, and was sobbing out her -sorrow on her lap. Isma said nothing more, for her end was achieved. -She laid her left hand caressingly on Alma’s hair, and with her right -she pulled the steering-lever back and swung the _Cygna_ round until -her prow pointed towards home again. - -When they reached the villa they found the President’s private yacht -resting on the terrace, for Alan’s father and mother had come over -after the Council meeting to discuss with Alma’s parents the more -intimate family aspect of the strange events which had cleared up in -such terrible fashion the mystery which had so long shrouded the fate -of the sons of the two chief families in Aeria. - -So revolting was the idea of their mental servitude to such an enemy -of the human race as they could not but believe Olga Romanoff to be, -and so frightful were the consequences that must infallibly befall -humanity in consequence of it, that their parents would rather have -known them dead than living under such degrading circumstances. To the -Aerians, far advanced as they were beyond the standards of the present -day, both in religion and philosophy, the conception of death was one -which included no terrors and no more regret than was natural and -common to all humanity at parting with a kinsman or a friend. - -As they were destined to prove, when face to face with a crisis -unparalleled in the history of humanity, they regarded death merely -as a natural and necessary transition from one state of existence to -another, which would be higher or lower according to the preponderance -of good or evil done in this life. - -If, therefore, the parents and kinsmen of those who were now exiles -and wanderers upon the ocean wastes could have chosen, they would -infinitely rather have known that Alan and Alexis had shared the fate -of their companions in the Norwegian snowdrift than they would have -learnt that for six years they had been the slaves and playthings of a -woman who, as they guessed from Alan’s letter, combined the ambition -of a Semiramis with the vices of a Messalina, and who had used the -skill and knowledge which they had acquired and inherited as Princes of -the Air with the avowed purpose of subverting the dominion of Aeria, -undoing all that their ancestors had done, and bringing back the evil -era of strife, bloodshed, and political slavery. - -So, too, with Alma. As she had told Isma, she would a thousand times -rather have seen her lover dead than degraded to such base uses. -Although she, like everyone else in Aeria, admitted that the strange -circumstances absolved both Alan and Alexis from all moral blame and -responsibility, she, in common with her own father and mother, and -perhaps, also, with others not less intimately concerned, found it -impossible to forget or ignore the taint of such an association, and to -look upon it as a stain that might never be washed away. - -Indeed, the only member of the family council who openly proclaimed -her belief that the two exiles would, if ever they returned, come back -to Aeria better and stronger men than those who had known no evil was -Isma, who repeated, with all the winning eloquence at her command, all -the arguments that she had used to Alma during their cruise together. -Whether Alma and the others would ever come round to her view could of -course only be proved by time, but it is nevertheless certain that when -the family council at last separated the hearts of its members were -less sore than they would have been had Alan and Alexis not possessed -such an advocate as the girl who had so good a double reason for -pleading their causes. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. THE BATTLE OF KERGUELEN. - - -THE Council of Aeria possessed, as has already been said, -four-and-twenty stations, scattered over the oceans of the world, which -it used as depôts for the submarine fleets, by means of which, acting -in co-operation with its aerial squadrons, it had made any attempt at -naval warfare hopeless until the disasters described at the beginning -of this book proved that an enemy, in this respect at least, more -powerful than itself, had successfully challenged its empire of the sea. - -Of these stations the most important in the Southern hemisphere -was that on Kerguelen Island, or Desolation Land, situated at the -intersection of the 49th parallel of south latitude with the 69th -meridian of east longitude. This lonely fragment of land in the midst -of the ocean, barren of surface, and swept by the almost constant -storms of long winters, had been chosen, first, because of its -situation on the southern limits of the Indian Ocean, equidistant -between Africa and Australia, and, secondarily, because of its numerous -and sheltered deep-water harbours, so admirably adapted for vessels -which were perfectly independent of storm. - -Added to this, the island contained large supplies of coal, from which -the motive-power of both the submarine vessels and the air-ships was -now derived by direct conversion of its solar energy into electrical -force through the secret processes known only to the President and two -members of the Council. - -So far the Russians had not ventured to make any attack upon this -stronghold, so strongly was it defended, not only by its submarine -squadrons and systems of mines, guarding the entrances to all the -harbours, but also by the large force of air-ships which had been -stationed there since the new naval warfare had broken out. - -The warning which Alan had conveyed in his letter to his father was -based on the knowledge that a general attack was soon to be made upon -it both by air and sea, with the object of crippling the power of the -Aerians in the Southern Ocean. No time had been lost in acting upon -this warning. The aerial squadron was increased to forty, with the -_Ariel_ as flagship, and twenty new submarine vessels, the largest and -best possessed by the Aerians, had been despatched from Port Natal to -reinforce the fleet of thirty-five already at Kerguelen Island. With -these must of course be counted the _Narwhal_, under the command of -Alan and Alexis. - -The strength of the attacking force could only be guessed at, as even -Alan did not know it, but it was not expected that, however strong a -force the Russians might bring up by sea, they would be able, after the -disaster of Antarctica, to muster more than a dozen air-ships. - -The Aerian headquarters was at Christmas Harbour, on the northern shore -of the island. This is an admirably-sheltered inlet running westward -into the land between Cape François and Arch Point, and its upper and -narrower half forms an oval basin nearly a mile long by a quarter of -a mile broad, walled in by high perpendicular basaltic cliffs, and -containing a depth of water varying from two to sixteen fathoms, as -compared with twenty-five to thirty fathoms in its outer half. - -North of the harbour, Table Mount rises to a height of thirteen hundred -feet, and to the south is a huge mass of basalt over eleven hundred -feet high. On both of these elevations were mounted batteries of guns -capable of throwing projectiles of great size and enormous explosive -energy to a distance of several miles. There were altogether twelve of -these batteries placed on various heights about the island, and the -guns composing them were mounted on swivels, which enabled them to be -trained so as to throw the projectile either into the sea or high up -into the air. - -Soon after daybreak on the fourth day after Alan’s letter had been -received the outlook on Cape François, a bold mass of basalt to -the north of the outer bay, telephoned “_Narwhal_ in sight” to the -settlement at the head of the harbour. Immediately on this message -being received the commander of the station, named Max Ernstein, a -man of about thirty-four, and the most daring and skilful submarine -navigator and engineer in the service of the Council, went on board his -own vessel, the _Cachalot_, and set out to welcome the long-lost son of -the President and convey to him the commission which had been sent out -by air-ship from Aeria. - -The _Cachalot_, which may as well be described here as elsewhere as -a type of the submarine warship of the time, was a double-pointed -cylinder, built of plates of nickelised aluminium steel, not riveted, -but electrically fused at the joints, so that they formed a continuous -mass equally impervious all over, and presenting no seams or overlaps. - -The cylinder was a hundred and fifty feet from point to point, with -a midship’s diameter of forty feet. The forward end was armed with a -sheathing of azurine, the metal peculiar to the mines of Aeria, which -would cut and pierce steel as a diamond cuts glass. This sheathing -formed a ram, which was by no means the least formidable portion of the -warship’s armament. - -The upper part of the cylinder was flattened so as to form an oval deck -forty feet long by fifteen wide. A centre section of this deck, three -feet wide, could be opened by means of a lateral slide which allowed -of the elevation of a gun twenty-five feet long, which could be used -either for discharging torpedoes by water or for throwing projectiles -through the air. - -It could be aimed and fired from below the deck without the -artillerists even seeing the objects aimed at, save in an arrangement -of mirrors, so adjusted that when the object appeared in the centre of -the lowest of them, the gun could be fired with the certainty of the -projectile reaching its mark. Four underwater torpedo tubes, two ahead -and two astern, completed the armament of the submarine warship. - -When under water the deck could be hermetically closed, and sliding -plates could be drawn over the opening of the torpedo tubes, so that -from stem to stern of the cylinder there were no excrescences to impede -the progress of the vessel through the water with the sole exception -of a dome of thick forged glass just forward of the deck, under which -stood the helmsman, who gave place to the commander of the vessel when -she went into action. Her powerful four-bladed screw, driven by engines -almost precisely similar to those of the air-ships, gave her a maximum -speed of a hundred miles an hour. - -The _Cachalot_ ran at twenty-five miles an hour down the harbour, and -as soon as he got abreast of Cape François Captain Ernstein, who was -standing on deck, saw a small red flag apparently rising from the waves -about a mile to seaward. A similar flag was soon flying from a movable -flagstaff on the _Cachalot_, and a few minutes later she was lying -alongside the _Narwhal_. - -This vessel was a very leviathan of the deep, and as she lay three -parts submerged in the water Captain Ernstein calculated that she -could hardly be less than two hundred feet in length and forty-five in -diameter amidships. She appeared to be built on very much the same plan -as the _Cachalot_ and of the same materials, saving only, of course, -the ram of azurine, which was replaced by one of nickel steel. - -As the _Cachalot_ got alongside, a slide was drawn back in the -deck of the _Narwhal_ and the head and shoulders of a man dressed -in close-fitting seal-fur appeared. It was Alan, little changed in -physical appearance since the fatal day that he invited Olga Romanoff -on board the _Ithuriel_, save that he had grown a moustache and beard, -which he wore trimmed somewhat in the Elizabethan style, and that the -frank, open expression of the boy had given place to a grave, almost -sad, sternness, which marked the man who had lived and suffered. - -Max Ernstein recognised him at once and saluted as though greeting -a superior officer, for, although all the Aerians were friends and -comrades, the etiquette of rank and discipline was scrupulously -observed amongst them when on active service. - -“What do you salute me for?” said Alan gravely, as he reached the deck -and came to the side on which the _Cachalot_ lay. “Do you not see that -I am no longer wearing the golden wings? Are you the officer in command -of the station?” - -“Yes, Admiral Arnold,” returned the other, in the same formal tone and -at the same time presenting the letter from the Council. “I suppose you -have forgotten me. I am Max Ernstein, in command of the naval fleet at -Kerguelen. That letter will explain why I saluted and why I have come -to hand over my command to you.” - -Before he replied Alan ran his eye rapidly over the letter. As he did -so the pale bronze of his face flushed crimson for a moment, and he -turned his head away from Ernstein, brushed his hand quickly across his -eyes, and then read the letter again more deliberately. Then he turned -and said in a voice that he vainly strove to keep steady-- - -“This is more than I have deserved or could expect, but obedience is -the first duty, so I accept the command. Come on board, Ernstein; of -course I recognised you, but until I knew how I stood with the Council -I looked upon myself as an outlaw, and therefore no friend or comrade -for you.” - -The captain of the _Cachalot_ had a gangway-plank brought up and passed -from one vessel to the other, and in another moment he was standing -beside Alan on the deck of the _Narwhal_, and their hands were joined -in a firm clasp. - -“That’s the first honest hand that I have grasped for six years, except -Alexis’,” said Alan, as he returned the clasp with a grip that showed -his physical forces had been by no means impaired by his long mental -servitude. “Come down into the cabin, we shall find him there.” - -He led the way below, and as soon as Alexis had been told the -unexpected good news, which seemed to affect him even more deeply than -it had Alan, the three sat down at the table in the saloon of the -_Narwhal_, a plain but comfortably furnished room, about twenty-five -feet long by fifteen broad and ten high, to discuss a plan of -operations in view of the expected attack on the station. - -Alan at once assumed the authority with which he had been invested by -the Council, and made minute inquiries into the nature and extent of -the defending force at his disposal. - -“I think that ought to be quite sufficient, not only to defeat, but -pretty well destroy any force that the Russians can bring against us,” -said Alan, as soon as Ernstein had finished his description. “We have -much more to fear from the air-ships than from the submarine boats, -because the _Narwhal_ would give a very good account of them, even by -herself. Have any more vessels of the type of the _Ithuriel_ been built -since the old _Ithuriel_ was lost?” - -“Yes,” replied Ernstein; “but only ten, I am sorry to say. One of them -is here, as I told you just now, but we have forty of the others, and I -don’t suppose the Russians can bring more than a dozen against us.” - -“What do you mean?” said Alan. “They have fifty, every one of them -as fast and as powerful as the old _Ithuriel_. I ought to know,” he -continued grimly, “for they were every one of them built under my own -eyes.” - -“I beg your pardon,” said Ernstein. “I ought to have told you before -now that we have already won our first victory, and that though we lost -eight vessels we destroyed twenty of the Russians’.” And then he went -on to give Alan and Alexis a rapid description of the pursuit of the -_Revenge_, and the havoc wrought at the end of it by the _Ithuriel_ and -the _Ariel_. - -“That is glorious news!” said Alan. “But they have thirty ships at -their disposal still, and I expect they will bring at least twenty of -these against us, and they are all swifter than ours saving only the -_Ariel_. Of course my command ends with the shore, but I think it will -be as well if the captain of the _Ariel_ were to come on board the -_Narwhal_ so that we could arrange our plans of defence together--I for -the sea, and he for the air.” - -“But why not come ashore and see him?” said Ernstein. “He and all of us -will be delighted to see you on the island.” - -“No,” said Alan, shaking his head. “Alexis and I have promised each -other never to leave the _Narwhal_ until the Russian sea power is -crippled. The day that we set foot on dry land again will be the day -that we give back the supremacy of the sea to the Council, so if we two -Admirals of the Sea and Air are to meet, the commander of the _Ariel_ -must come here.” - -“Very well,” said Ernstein. “I understand you. Write a note and I will -send the _Cachalot_ back with it. She will bring him back in under half -an hour, for he was up at the settlement when I left.” - -Alan wrote the letter forthwith, and the _Cachalot_ departed, -returning, as her captain had said, in less than half an hour, with -Edward Forrest, the commander of the _Ariel_. He was a lean, wiry, -active man of about forty-five, of mixed English, Scotch, and Aerian -descent, with short, crisp, curly black hair and smooth-shaven face, -rather sharp, regular features, and a pair of keen grey eyes which -seemed to look into the very brain of the person he was talking to--a -man of prompt decisions and few words, and one of the most able aerial -navigators that Aeria could boast of. - -He held the rank of admiral, and was responsible for the station of -Kerguelen, and the command of the southern seas. He greeted Alan and -Alexis courteously, but a trifle stiffly, as though he thought that -their indiscretion had been somewhat lightly dealt with by the Council. -This, however, was no business of his, for the first law of Aeria -was that the decisions of the President and Council were not open to -criticism by any private or official citizen whatever his rank or -experience. - -Therefore, after reading, as a matter of form, the commission sent to -Alan and Alexis, he addressed himself at once to the business of the -moment, and before they had been discussing the plan of defence for -many minutes he was forced to admit to himself that the President’s -son, young as he was, was more than his master both in aerial and naval -tactics. - -For the greater part of the morning plan after plan was suggested, -thrashed out, and either accepted or thrown aside, and when he took his -leave he shook hands with both Alan and Alexis far more cordially than -he had done in greeting, and said with brief, blunt candour-- - -“This is not the first time that a woman has used a man to upset the -peace of the world, and I tell you honestly that I once thought you -had both turned traitors. I don’t think so now, and I am heartily glad -you are back. If you could only have returned three years ago a lot of -trouble might have been saved, but I must confess that you have both -learnt more in five years than I have in twenty. I will follow your -instructions to the letter.” - -“What is done is done,” said Alan, smiling, and yet with a grave -dignity that showed Admiral Forrest that, despite all that had -happened, he was standing in the presence of his master. “The work in -hand now is to regain what we have lost, and if every man does his duty -we shall do so. I think everything is arranged now, and as we have no -time to lose I will say good-morning.” - -He held out his hand as he spoke, and Admiral Forrest took his -dismissal and his leave at the same time. - -Captain Ernstein took six men out of the _Cachalot_ and placed them at -the disposal of Alan and Alexis, for the working of the _Narwhal_, and -then took his leave to execute his part of the plan of defence. - -It was a bitterly cold day, for the southern winter had already -set in in all its severity. The sea to the north of the island was -comparatively smooth, but swept every now and then with violent gusts -of wind from the southward. The sky was entirely covered by thick -masses of cold grey cloud, every now and then torn up into great -rolling masses by the sudden blasts of icy wind from the pole, which -drove fierce storms of hard frozen snow across the bare and desolate -island. - -But the roughness of the elements was a matter of small concern to -the crews of the air-ships and the submarine cruisers, for both were -independent alike of sea and storm. The former could literally ride -upon the wings of the fiercest gale that ever blew. Their interiors -were warm and wind-proof, and their machinery was powerful enough to -drive them four and five times as fast as the air-currents in which -they floated, while the latter had only to sink a few feet below the -level of the waves to find perfect calm. - -The days, in short, were past when men had been at the mercy of the -elements, and so the atmospheric conditions which would have made a -modern naval attack upon a rocky and exposed coast almost impossible -were not even taken into account in preparing to meet the threatened -assault on Kerguelen Island. - -No one knew when or how the first assault would be delivered. All that -was known was that, unless Olga and her advisers had completely altered -their plans, the attack would take place either that day or the next, -and consequently ceaseless vigilance was necessary on sea and land and -in the air. - -In accordance with the plan arranged on board the _Narwhal_, ten -air-ships rose above the clouds to an altitude of five thousand -feet, and from each of these an electric thread hung down to as many -signal-stations on the island, all of which were connected with the -headquarters at the top of Christmas Harbour. - -Twenty cruisers patrolled the coast at a distance of a mile from the -land, and two miles outside these the _Narwhal_ ran to and fro along -the northern shore. All the more important inlets which had sufficient -depth of water for submarine attack were guarded with mines and chains -of torpedoes, so disposed that no vessel could possibly enter without -firing them, and so giving warning of the locality of the attack. - -The afternoon passed without any alarm, and at nightfall the clouds -sent down a blinding storm of snow, which, added to the intense -darkness, made vision impossible both on land and sea, although high -above the clouds the ten air-ships floated in a calm, clear atmosphere, -under the brilliant constellations of the southern hemisphere. - -No attack seemed possible without warning, either by sea or above the -clouds, for the hostile air-ships could not approach without being seen -from a great distance through the clear, starlit sky, and without their -lights, which would instantly betray their presence, it was impossible -for the submarine vessels even to find the coast. - -Hour after hour passed, and still no hostile sign rewarded the -vigilance of the defenders. No one of the present day could have -guessed that all the preparations had been made for such a battle as -had never been fought before on sea or land, or in the air. - -Nothing was visible but the snow-covered earth and the storm-swept sea, -for the sentinel ships, floating far above the clouds, were beyond -the reach of vision. And yet, if the combined fleets of the modern -world had attacked Kerguelen that night, not a ship would have escaped -to tell the tale of annihilation, so terrible were the engines of -destruction which waited but the signal of battle to strike their swift -and irresistible blows. - -It was about half-past six o’clock the next morning when Alexis, who -was on watch in the conning-tower of the _Narwhal_, saw a faint beam of -light illuminating the water a long way ahead. He instantly signalled -to Alan--“Enemy in sight. Back. I am going to ram.” - -Alan, unwilling to leave the new crew, who were not yet perfectly -acquainted with the working of the machinery, had taken command of the -engine-room alternately with Alexis, who was now taking his four hours’ -watch in the conning-tower, and to whom the fortune of war had given -the honour of striking the first blow. The _Narwhal_ backed rapidly, -and as she did so Alexis turned a small wheel in the side of the -conning-tower, and the whole chamber sank into the hull of the vessel. - -As soon as it stopped he pulled a lever and a heavy steel sheet slid -over the opening where the glass dome had been. In front of him as he -stood at the steering-wheel was a long, very slender needle hung with -extreme delicacy on a pivot, up which an electric current constantly -passed. - -This needle was terrestrially insulated by a magnet which always swung -opposite to the magnetic pole, and when acted upon only by the steel of -the vessel’s fabric, swung indifferently as long as there was no other -vessel within a thousand yards of the _Narwhal_. But the moment one -came within that distance the needle pointed towards it with unerring -accuracy, as it was doing at the present moment. - -Alexis allowed the vessel to back until he saw the needle begin to -waver. Then he knew that the thousand-yard limit had been reached, and -signalled-- - -“Full speed ahead.” - -The next moment the engines were reversed and the _Narwhal_ bore down -on her invisible prey. The needle became rigid again. Alexis kept it -pointing dead ahead as the _Narwhal_ gathered way and rushed silently -but with irresistible force upon her victim. - -She passed over the thousand yards in forty seconds. Then came a dull, -rending crash, a slight shiver of the mighty fabric, and then she -swept on her way as though she had passed through a couple of inches -of planking instead of the steel hull of a submarine warship more than -two-thirds her own size. - -And so in silence and darkness, without the discharge of a gun or the -flash of a shot or an audible cry of human pain, the work of death and -destruction began and ended. In the passing of an instant a warship -had been destroyed which could have annihilated a fleet of modern -battleships in detail without once appearing above the surface of the -water. - -The moment that the shock told Alexis that the ram of the _Narwhal_ -had done its work, he signalled “Stop,” and as the vessel slowed down -he watched the momentous fluctuations of the needle in front of him. -It oscillated for an instant and then became still again, pointing to -another victim hidden away somewhere under the dark waters. He brought -the vessel round until it pointed ahead again, and then once more the -leviathan plunged forward at full speed on her errand of destruction. - -Thirty seconds later a rasping tearing sound, told him that he had -ripped the side out of a second Russian vessel; and again he stopped, -and again the fatal tell-tale needle pointed to a mark on which he -hurled his irresistible ram. So the work went on, and vessel after -vessel was torn to pieces and sunk in the midst of the darkness and -silence of the wintry sea, without even a warning having been given -either to the consorts of the destroyed vessels or to those nearer in -shore, all of which were, of course, outside the range of the needle’s -indication. But for this fact Alexis would have been unable to do his -work, for he would not have known whether he was ramming friend or foe. - -When the ram had found its mark for the twelfth time, the needle -oscillated vaguely to and fro, showing that within a thousand-yards -radius at least there were no more victims to be found. Then the -_Narwhal_ rose to the surface of the water, and Alexis resumed his -watch as the vessel patrolled the coast again at a speed of fifty miles -an hour. - -Alan now came and relieved Alexis from his watch. As he entered the -conning-tower he said-- - -“How many is that you’ve settled? A dozen, isn’t it?” - -“Yes,” said Alexis, “but I can hardly think they can have been anything -but scouts, and so we shall have the main fleet to tackle yet.” - -“Do you think any of them have got through?” said Alan. “You know they -may have approached from east and west as well, and if so they are -lying inside of us.” - -“No,” replied Alexis, “I don’t think they would do that. You see we -have the advantage of them in this way. They can’t see ten yards in -front of them unless there is bright sunshine on the water, or unless -they turn their lights on to the full, in which case they would betray -their presence at once. - -“Then they don’t know what has become of the _Narwhal_, and probably -think that she has been attacked by an overwhelming force, or blown up -by some lucky torpedo. They daren’t go inshore in force for fear of -springing a mine, and so you may depend upon it the twelve we have -destroyed were scouts, prowling about very slowly and waiting for -daylight to examine the coast and find a way into Christmas Harbour. - -“They must have been in single line, and we had the luck to catch one -of the end ones first, and so we sank the lot in the order in which -they were floating. I don’t think we can do anything more till daylight -except run up and down the coast and keep a sharp look-out to seaward -and on the needle.” - -“I suppose you’re right,” said Alan. “You’d better go and get an hour’s -sleep if you can.” - -“There won’t be much sleep for any of us till to-night,” said Alexis -quickly, pointing to the clouds over the island. “Look! the row has -begun in the air already.” - -Alan glanced up and saw a series of intensely bright flashes stream -downwards through the clouds, which at the same moment were rent and -rolled up into vast shadowy billows by some tremendous concussion of -the atmosphere above them. There could be only one explanation of this. -The attack on the island had begun from the air, and the flashes were -those of the first shots of the aerial bombardment. - -[Illustration: THE CLOUDS WERE RENT AND ROLLED UP INTO VAST SHADOWY -BILLOWS. _Page 122._] - -What had really happened was this. - -A fleet of fifty submarine warships, under the command of Michael -Lossenski, the eldest son of Orloff Lossenski, who was now Olga -Romanoff’s chief adviser in the conduct of the war that she had -commenced with the Aerians, had reached the northern coast of Kerguelen -Island about four o’clock in the morning in order to co-operate with -an aerial squadron of fifteen vessels led by the _Revenge_, under the -command, nominally, of Lossenski’s second son Boris, but really of Olga -herself. - -As Alexis had surmised, the twelve vessels destroyed by the _Narwhal_ -were scouts sent out to, if possible, feel their way to the entrance -of Christmas Harbour, which was known to be the headquarters of the -station. - -These were to have returned to the fleet with all the intelligence they -could get as to bearings and soundings, and the position of mines -and the defending fleet. Then at daybreak, that is to say about eight -o’clock, the whole squadron was to have advanced to the entrance to the -harbour, ramming any of the defenders who barred their way, and then, -after sending a swarm of torpedoes into the mouth of the bay to explode -the mines and blow up any submarine defences that might exist, to have -made a rush for the inner bay at the same time that the air-ships -engaged the land defences. - -The naval portion of the programme was completely frustrated by the -destruction of the scouts, while the aerial attack was foiled by the -look-outs stationed above the clouds. Soon after seven it became light -enough at their altitude for the powerful glasses of their commanders -to make out the fifteen Russian air-ships coming up from the southward -at a distance of about twenty miles. - -A few minutes later they were themselves discovered by the Russians, -and Olga, to her intense chagrin, saw at a glance that all hope of a -surprise was gone. By some means or other the Aerians had received -intelligence of the attack, and were ready for it. - -The terrible experience taught by the disaster of Antarctica warned her -and her lieutenants that any approach, now that they were seen, must be -made with the utmost caution, for they had no precise knowledge as to -the range of the Aerian guns. All they knew was that it was very great, -and that where one of their projectiles found its mark destruction -followed instantly. - -Added to this, there was another difficulty. The dense masses of cloud -completely hid both sea and land from their view, and made accurate -shooting at the land defences impossible. Consequently there was -nothing for it but to fight the battle out in the upper regions of the -air, against a force of whose actual strength they were ignorant. They -dare not attempt to surround the ten air-ships, which hung stationary -over the island, for this meant bringing all their guns into play, -while they could only use half of their own. - -While they were debating on a plan of operations, two new factors in -the coming struggle were swiftly and unexpectedly brought into play. As -soon as the news of their arrival had been telegraphed to headquarters, -the _Ariel_ took the air and passed under the clouds to the rear of -the Russian squadron. Ten miles behind them, she swept round sharply, -and with her wings inclined to the utmost, and her engines working at -the fullest capacity, she took a mighty upward swoop, passed through -the clouds like a flash of light, and before the Russians knew what -had happened, she was floating three thousand feet above them, out of -reach of their guns, and hurling projectile after projectile into their -midst. Three of their ships, struck almost simultaneously, were torn -into a thousand fragments, and vanished through the clouds. - -It was the glare and shock of this explosion that Alexis had seen -from the conning-tower of the _Narwhal_. The remaining Russian ships -instantly scattered and sank through the clouds to seek a refuge from -the foe whose deadly blows they were completely unable to return. - -But the moment they appeared on the under-side of the cloud-sea, all -the guns of the land batteries opened fire in all directions with -time-shells, and so rapid were the discharges, and so terrible the -energy of the explosives, that the whole firmament above the island -seemed ablaze with them, while the concussions of the nether atmosphere -were so tremendous and continuous, that it would have been madness for -the Russian air-ships to have approached within the zone of fire with -which the Aerians had covered and encircled their positions. - -The clouds were torn and broken up into vast whirling masses, which -completely obscured the view of the Russians, and rendered anything -like accurate shooting in the direction of the island impossible. Worse -than this, the range of the great land guns, fired at an elevation -of forty-five degrees, was so enormous that they were forced by the -incessantly exploding projectiles, which were hurled up into the air in -all directions, to retire to a distance which, beyond the most random -shooting, the results of which were spent upon the rocks of the island -and the sea, rendered their own guns useless. - -Rise up through the clouds they dare not, for they knew the _Ariel_ was -still there, and that the first ship that showed herself would be an -almost helpless mark for one of the ten guns which, for the time being, -commanded the heavens. There seemed nothing for it but an ignominious -retreat, for, as Boris Lossenski said to Olga when, furious with rage -and mortification, she reproached him with a lack both of skill and -courage, an attack upon a volcano in full eruption would have been -child’s play to an assault at close quarters on Kerguelen Island. - -Their one hope of success had lain in a surprise, and that, by some -unaccountable means, had been made impossible. They had reckoned only -on the air-ships and the submarine defences, and even these they had -expected to take unawares. The terrible power of the battery guns, -which were able to spread their seas of fire through the air and to -shake the very firmament itself with their projectiles, had been a -revelation to them. - -They could not train their own guns without seeing their mark, and -neither flame nor smoke betrayed the position of the batteries, while -on the other hand the artillerists on the island had simply to surround -the station with a zone of fire and a continuous series of atmospheric -convulsions through which no air-ship could have passed without the -risk of overturning or completely collapsing. - -So Olga was at last convinced that her choice lay between abandonment -of the attack or running the gauntlet of fire in the almost forlorn -hope of engaging the land batteries and an aerial fleet of unknown -strength at close quarters. - -Baffled and defeated, and yet convinced that to continue the unequal -contest under its present conditions would be merely to court still -more disastrous defeat, and even probable destruction, Olga at last -allowed Lossenski to give the signal for retreat, and the Russian -squadron withdrew to a position twelve miles northward of the island. -Its departure was seen both from the air and the land, and the -cannonade immediately stopped. - -Meanwhile Alan had run the _Narwhal_ into the mouth of Christmas -Harbour flying his red flag. He was met by the _Cachalot_, and, -after telling Captain Ernstein what he had done, and learning of the -repulse of the Russians in the aerial battle, he directed forty of the -submarine vessels to follow him out to sea to look for the Russian -flotilla. - -All the craft were furnished with tell-tale needles similar to the -one on board the _Narwhal_, for it is impossible to see a sufficient -distance under water to effectively attack an enemy as agile as the -submarine warships were, and this fact had led to the universal -employment of the needles. - -As it was now quite light, the whole Aerian squadron, with the -exception of five vessels whose duty it was to act as scouts under -water, proceeded seaward on the surface of the waves, keeping a -sharp look-out for the remains of the Russian fleet, which they soon -discovered lying about five miles off the island. They could make out -thirty-five of the long, black, half-submerged hulls lying together -like a school of whales with the waves breaking over them as over -sunken rocks. - -Alan immediately signalled from his conning-tower in the manual -sign-language, used by the Aerians to communicate between their -air-ships, to his consorts, and ordered them to scatter and form a wide -circle round the Russian squadron at a distance of a mile, and a depth -of two fathoms, but on no account to approach within a thousand yards -of them. When they had reached their positions they were to rise to the -surface and each was to discharge a couple of torpedoes towards the -centre of the circle. After that they were to retire and leave the rest -to him. - -The moment the order had been passed through the fleet, everyone of the -vessels disappeared and proceeded to her station. The _Narwhal_ sank -at the same time until nothing but the glass dome of her conning-tower -remained above the water. - -By carefully noting the course steered by the compass, and accurately -measuring the distance travelled by the number of revolutions of the -propeller, each captain was able to place his craft in the desired -position. - -So perfectly, indeed, was the manœuvre performed that when the vessels -rose to the surface they formed a circle two miles in diameter, in the -centre of which lay, within a space of about two hundred yards square, -the Russian flotilla, the commanders of which, afraid to advance nearer -to the shore without the intelligence which they still awaited from -their scouts, and confounded by the awful spectacle presented by the -aerial battle, of the issue of which they were utterly ignorant, were -waiting in bewilderment and indecision the issue of the events which -had taken such a marvellous and unexpected turn. - -The manœuvre ordered by Alan had been executed so promptly and secretly -that the Russians were not even aware that they were surrounded until -torpedo after torpedo, coming in from all points of the compass, began -exploding in their midst, hurling vast masses of water and foam up -into the air, tearing their plates and crippling their propellers, and -disabling half their number before they had time to recover from the -confusion into which the sudden attack had thrown them. - -To communicate signals from one vessel to another under such -circumstances was impossible, and so united action was out of the -question. All that the captains of the vessels could see was that -there were enemies upon all sides of them. The explosion of the eighty -torpedoes had churned the water up into a mass of seething foam, in the -midst of which fifteen vessels were lying crippled and helpless on the -surface, while six more had been sent to the bottom. - -This was bad enough, but while the captains of those which had escaped -were recovering from the stupefaction into which this sudden disaster -had thrown them Alan saw his chance, and as soon as the last torpedo -had exploded headed the _Narwhal_ full speed into the midst of them. -Then followed a scene which would have beggared all description. - -The great ship, moving at a speed of nearly three miles a minute, tore -her way through the half-crippled squadron, hurling everything she -struck to the bottom of the sea. Every Russian vessel that was able to -do so after the first assault sank out of the way of the terrible ram -of the _Narwhal_ and headed off at full speed into the open sea. - -But for those that were partially or wholly disabled there was no -escape. Alan standing in his conning-tower, his teeth clenched and his -blue eyes almost black with the fierce passion of battle and revenge, -whirled his steering-wheel this way and that, and as the steel monster -swung round in rapid curves in obedience to the rudder, he hurled her -again and again upon his practically helpless victims, piercing them -through and through as though their plates had been cardboard instead -of steel. - -When the last one had gone down he left the conning-tower, hoisted his -flagstaff, and flew a signal to his consorts to return to harbour. What -had become of the Russian vessels that had escaped he neither knew nor, -for the present, cared. - -The victory of the Aerians both at sea and in the air was complete, and -he was certain that the Russians had received such a lesson as would -convince them that Kerguelen Island was impregnable to any assault that -they could make upon it, unless they were able to take its defenders by -surprise--a contingency which was justly considered impossible. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. THE SYREN’S STRONGHOLD. - - -AS soon as the first pitched battle in the world-war was over, a -lengthy and detailed report of the attack on Kerguelen and its repulse -was drawn up by Alan, Captain Ernstein, and Admiral Forrest for -presentation to the Council. To this report Alan added a supplement, -which is here reproduced in his own words. - -“From what I know of the designs of Olga Romanoff and her advisers I -am convinced that the defeats which have been inflicted upon them will -merely have the effect of checking, and not putting a stop to, their -operations against the peace and freedom of the world. - -“I have seen and heard enough during the last five years to feel -satisfied that there exists a very widespread conspiracy, the object -of which is the restoration of the Romanoff dynasty, in the person -of Olga, the breaking up of the Anglo-Saxon Federation, and the -inauguration of an era of personal despotism and popular slavery. - -“As far as we have been able to learn, this conspiracy embraces -practically all the descendants of those families who lost their -rank, official position, or property during the reconstitution of -Russia after the fall of the Romanoffs. These people have, of course, -everything to gain and not much to lose by the destruction of the -present order of things, and Olga has promised them, no doubt quite -sincerely, that in the event of her triumph they shall be restored to -all that their ancestors lost. - -“As a matter of fact, the greater part of Russia will be divided -amongst them should she ever accomplish her designs. The old order -of things, as it existed before the days of Alexander II., is to be -completely reinstated. The lower orders of the people are to be reduced -once more to serfdom, and the trading classes to a condition very -little better. - -“If they resist they are to be terrorised into submission by the -air-ships, and all who raise their voices for freedom are to be -banished to Siberia, which is once more to be the prison-land of the -Russian Empire. A large standing army is to be kept constantly on the -war-footing, while the sea navy and the aerial fleet are to be kept up -to such a strength as to be able to hold the rest of the Continent in -practical subjection. - -“In short, Olga aspires to nothing less than the throne of an empire -which shall stretch from the Yellow Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. I am -afraid, too, that there can be no doubt but that this conspiracy is -not only favoured, but actually assisted, by large numbers of people -throughout the Federation area. - -“In fact, during the latter part of our stay at Mount Terror, the -stronghold was visited by men of all nations, who, of course, came -and went away in the submarine vessels, and who openly promised to do -everything they could to further what they called the cause of the -New Revolution in their own countries, on the understanding that the -old evils of capitalism and private ownership of land by which their -ancestors had grown wealthy are to be restored. - -“This will, I trust, be enough to show you that the triumph of Olga -Romanoff means nothing less than the complete undoing of all the work -that was done in the days of the Terror. - -“We have proved so far that Kerguelen, and, therefore, Aeria, is -impregnable to attack save by surprise, which will now, of course, -be impossible. But, on the other hand, the force at the disposal of -Olga and her allies is still so strong that all our present resources -will have to be kept constantly employed to protect ourselves, and -this leaves the world at the mercy of any Power which can obtain -the assistance of the Russians’ aerial navy, which still numbers -twenty-seven vessels, all equal to our best ships. - -“In addition to these they possess a submarine navy of at least forty -vessels, all of which are swifter and more powerful than ours, with the -exception of the _Narwhal_. I therefore suggest that the whole of the -resources at the command of the Council shall at once be devoted to the -building of at least fifty air-ships of the _Ithuriel_ type, and the -same number of submarine battleships like the _Narwhal_, complete plans -of which I enclose. - -“Until this additional force is at our command, I think it would -be useless to attempt the destruction of the Russian stronghold in -Antarctica, and until this is destroyed there can be no hope of -peace. This stronghold, which I will now attempt to describe for the -information of the Council, is one of the most marvellous places on -earth. - -“It lies in and about Mount Terror and the Parry Mountains, which run -from it towards the pole behind the ice-barrier of Antarctica. Nearly -ten years ago a Russian explorer named Kishenov reached the ice-barrier -and made the discoveries which have enabled the Russian revolutionists -to create their stronghold. In addition to his ship, he took with him -three aerostats, which were chiefly constructed during his voyage, and -also a small submarine vessel, which he took out in sections and put -together at sea. - -“He skirted the coast of Victoria Land, and was stopped by the ice in -latitude 78°, as all other Antarctic explorers by sea have been since -the voyage of Sir James Ross. The season was a singularly fine and open -one, and two days after his arrival he inflated one of his aerostats -and crossed the great barrier, to make a thorough exploration of the -unknown land. Kishenov was the first man, not an Aerian, who had ever -seen what there was on the other side of the Antarctic ice-wall. - -“But he discovered far more than our explorers did, for while he was -in the neighbourhood of Mount Terror an earthquake, accompanying a -violent eruption of Mount Erebus, made a huge fissure in the south -side of Mount Terror. After waiting three days to make sure that -the earthquake had subsided, he and two of his officers entered the -crevice, which they found to be over two hundred feet wide at the level -of the land ice. - -“Furnished with storage batteries and electric lights, they penetrated -into the interior of the mountain and found that it was pierced in -all directions with great galleries and enormous chambers, hollowed -out by volcanic forces during the period of Mount Terror’s activity. -Four days were spent altogether in exploring this subterranean region, -the existence of which was kept a profound secret by Kishenov and his -officers. - -“Not the least strange and, as it has proved, one of the most valuable -portions of his discovery was the finding of a subterranean lake in the -heart of Mount Terror, the temperature of which was kept far above the -freezing point by the heat which the interior of the mountain derived -from the neighbouring fires of Mount Erebus. Finding the lake to be -salt water, he concluded that it must have some connection with the -open sea, and so the next day he and the same two officers entered the -submarine boat and penetrated underneath the ice-barrier. - -“After a search of five hours, the search-lights of the boat revealed -a huge tunnel leading south-west into the land, that is to say, direct -for Mount Terror. They followed this tunnel up for a distance of nearly -five miles, and then struck the end. They now rose, and finally found -themselves floating on the surface of the lake in the interior of the -mountain. - -“One of Kishenov’s officers, a man named Louis Khemski, was a member -of the Russian Revolutionary Society, whose existence only became -known five years ago. After the capture of the _Ithuriel_ the heads -of this society met, and to them this man communicated the secret -of Mount Terror. Kishenov and the other officer refused to join the -revolutionists, and were assassinated. - -“Khemski was at once taken on board the _Ithuriel_, now renamed the -_Revenge_, and guided her to the fissure leading into Mount Terror. Its -outer portion was of course filled and covered with ice and snow, but -as soon as Khemski had found its position by his landmarks, a couple -of shells speedily reopened it, and it was here that the _Revenge_ lay -hidden while you were ransacking the world for her. - -“Olga inherited from her grandfather, the father of the Vladimir -Romanoff who was executed for disobeying the order of the Council, all -the plans and directions necessary for the building both of air-ships -and submarine vessels, and as soon as this perfect stronghold and -hiding-place was discovered, her accomplices in the conspiracy for the -restoration of the Russian monarchy at once devoted their fortunes to -the supply of money and materials. The _Revenge_ made one more voyage -to Russia, and by travelling at full speed at a great elevation managed -to make it unobserved. - -“The services of the cleverest engineers and most skilful craftsmen -among the revolutionists were secured. Transports were chartered and -sent out to Antarctica loaded with materials. On the shores of the -subterranean lake the first squadron of submarine vessels was built, -and then began the system of ocean terrorism which soon paralysed the -trade of the world. - -“Piracy was carried on with utter ruthlessness. Transports were sunk by -the vessels, and then plundered by divers of the treasure which they -carried, and which was employed to purchase new materials and to repay -those who had furnished the first funds. - -“Alexis and myself were kept by Olga, as I said in my first letter, -under the influence of a drug which completely paralysed our volitional -power, and were compelled to reveal all we knew concerning our own -air-ships, submarine vessels, guns, and explosives. And in this manner -was created and equipped the force which will be employed to dispute -with us the empire of the world unless we are able to extirpate it -utterly.” - -While the despatch to the Council was being drawn up, the _Narwhal_ -had been lying in the inner basin of Christmas Harbour, renewing her -store of motive power from the generating station ashore. As soon -as the engineer in charge reported that her power-reservoirs were -full, and Alan had delivered the despatch for conveyance to Aeria by -air-ship, Alexis, who had been apparently buried in a brown study for -the last two hours or so, asked Alan to come with him into his private -cabin, and as soon as the two friends were alone together he said to -him-- - -“Look here, old man! While you fellows have been drawing up that -despatch, and talking about the impossibility of attacking the -stronghold at Mount Terror, I’ve been doing some thinking, and I’ve -come to the conclusion that as far as an under-sea attack is concerned, -it isn’t quite so hopeless as you’ve made out.” - -“I shall be only too delighted to hear you prove us wrong,” replied -Alan, his eyes brightening at the prospect, for he knew Alexis too -well not to be sure that he would not have spoken in this way unless -he had pretty solid reasons for doing so. “Say on, my friend; I am all -attention.” - -“Get out to sea, then, as fast as ever you can,” said Alexis, “for -there’s not an hour to be lost if you adopt my plan, and if you don’t -we can just come back.” - -“Very well,” said Alan. “What’s the course?” - -“Clear the islands and head away southward as hard as you can go,” -replied Alexis briefly. - -The excitement of the battle in which he had played such a terrible -part had left Alan in just the frame of mind to listen to the project -of a desperate adventure, such as he instinctively knew was now in his -friend’s mind. Without hesitating further he went into the saloon, -summoned the crew of the _Narwhal_, and said to them-- - -“Alexis and I have decided upon an enterprise which will end either in -very great injury to our enemies or our own destruction. You have seen -enough to-day to know that in the warfare we are engaged in there are -only two choices: victory or destruction. We don’t want to take anyone -against his will to what may be certain death. Those who care to go -ashore may do so.” - -Not a man moved. An athletic sailor named George Cosmo, who held the -post of chief engineer, saluted, and said briefly-- - -“We shall all go, sir. What are the orders?” - -“Get out of the harbour as fast as you can, and as soon as you are -clear of the islands sink two fathoms, steer a straight course due -south-east, and put her through the water as hard as she’ll go,” -replied Alan. - -Cosmo saluted again, and left the room with his comrades to execute the -order. - -“Now, my friend,” said Alan, turning to Alexis as soon as they were -alone again, “what is your plan?” - -“Simply this,” replied Alexis. “Mount Terror, or at any rate the -mouth of the submarine tunnel, is in round numbers three thousand -geographical miles from here. Our speed is thirty miles an hour faster -than that of Olga’s squadron. That means that even if they go back at -once and at full speed we shall be there four or five hours before them. - -“They, I think, have had quite enough fighting for to-day, and I don’t -believe they’ll attack the island again--first, because they know that -they can’t take our sea defences by surprise, and, second, because they -think the _Narwhal_ will remain on guard. - -“Either they will go off on a raiding expedition somewhere else with -the air-ships--in which case we can’t follow them, for we don’t know -where they’re going--or they will return to Mount Terror at an easy -speed of fifty or sixty miles an hour. They will never dream that -you and I will venture to attack the stronghold single-handed, and, -therefore, that is just what I propose to do.” - -“That will be odds of about forty to one against the _Narwhal_,” -replied Alan, somewhat gravely. “Unless we can destroy it completely -before they get back. But go on. Let’s hear the rest. I don’t think you -can propose anything too desperate for me now that I have really tasted -the blood of the enemy.” - -“Well, what I propose is not to destroy the stronghold, simply because -it would be impossible to do that by sea. I merely propose to get -quietly into the tunnel, go to that narrow part about two miles from -the entrance, fix a dozen torpedoes with time-fuses up against the roof -of the tunnel, and then clear out into the open water. - -“When those twelve torpedoes go off if they don’t bring a few thousand -tons of rock down into the tunnel and block it pretty securely I’ll -grant I know very little about explosives.” - -“Good so far, very good!” said Alan. “I confess I envy you that idea. -What next?” - -“Well, after that,” replied Alexis. “You see we shall have shut in the -vessels that are inside and shut out those that are outside. The ones -inside will be no use for some time, for it will take the divers a good -many days to open the tunnel again, even if they ever do. - -“As for those outside, we can lie in wait for them if they return, and -trust to the _Narwhal’s_ speed and strength to sink as many of them as -we can, or else, if they don’t put in an appearance, we can come home -with the consciousness that we have done about all the damage in our -power. Now, what do you think?” - -Alan was silent for a few moments, weighing the pros and cons of the -desperate venture--for desperate it was, in spite of the incomparable -speed and strength of the splendid vessel he commanded. - -It was easy enough, always supposing that it could be accomplished -without interruption; but to be caught in the tunnel, as was quite -possible, between a force inside and one outside meant almost certain -destruction, for if the _Narwhal_ was not rammed and sunk in a space -too narrow for her to turn she would be certain to be blown up by the -torpedoes which would be launched against her. - -In the end, the very character of the desperate venture, combined with -the magnitude of the injury it would do to the enemy, overcame the -scruples of his prudence. He put his hand on Alexis’ shoulder, and -giving him a gentle shake, said with a laugh-- - -“Bravo, old philosopher! You’ve done more with your thinking than we -have with our talking and writing. We’ll do it, if there isn’t a square -foot of the _Narwhal_ left when the business is over.” - -“I knew you’d say that,” said Alexis. “Now let’s have some dinner and -go to sleep, for we shall want it.” - -It was then very nearly midday, and the _Narwhal_ had cleared the -islands, and, with her prow pointed direct for the north-eastern -extremity of Wilkes’s Land, was rushing at full speed through the -water about twelve feet below the surface of the sea. For twenty hours -she sped silently and swiftly and unseen on her way, swept round the -ice-barrier that fences the northern promontory of Victoria Land and -into the bay dominated by the fiery crest of Mount Erebus. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. FROM THE SEA TO THE AIR. - - -TWENTY-FOUR hours after she had reached Mount Terror the _Narwhal_ came -into the inner basin of Christmas Harbour, running easily along the -surface, with the red flag flying at her flagstaff. The news spread -rapidly through the little settlement, the dwellers in which had been -wondering greatly at her sudden disappearance, and there was quite a -crowd on the jetty as she ran alongside. Max Ernstein was among it, and -as the battleship came to a standstill he saw to his amazement Alan -spring ashore and come towards him with outstretched hands. - -“Why, what does this mean?” he said, as he grasped his hand. “I thought -you told me you were never going to leave the _Narwhal_ until”-- - -“Until we had done what we have done,” said Alan with a laugh, as he -returned his hand-clasp with a grip that made the bones crack. “We have -destroyed a good half of what remained of the Russian sea navy, and, -what’s more, we’ve blown up the entrance to their submarine dockyard, -and completely crippled them as far as building or equipping new -vessels is concerned until they can find a new harbour.” - -“Magnificent!” exclaimed Ernstein. “Glorious! You’ll be wearing the -golden wings again in forty-eight hours.” - -“If I am,” said Alan, flushing with pleasure at the thought, “the -credit will be due to Alexis, and not to me. It was his idea entirely. -But never mind that now. We’ve suffered rather badly, and only just -escaped with our lives. Five out of six of the _Narwhal’s_ crew are -disabled, and I want you to get them out and send them away to Aeria as -soon as possible. Meanwhile Alexis and I will write our despatch to the -Council.” - -His instructions were obeyed at once, and the invalids were transferred -to the _Vega_, the air-ship that was to convey them to Aeria, and in -her luxurious state-rooms their hurts were attended to by the best -skill on the island while the despatch was being drawn up. - -It was brief, plain, almost formal in language, and confined entirely -to statement of bare fact, and in little more than an hour after the -arrival of the _Narwhal_ at Christmas Harbour the _Vega_ had risen into -the air, and was speeding on her way towards Aeria. - -Meanwhile the news of the daring venture and brilliant exploits of Alan -and Alexis and their comrades spread like wildfire through the island, -and everyone who was not engaged on duties that could not be left came -to the settlement to see and congratulate the two heroes of the hour, -whose strange and romantic fate, so well known to every Aerian, had -thus suddenly been glorified by the triumph of the genius and daring -which had proved capable of wresting victory from defeat and glory from -misfortune. - -Although some were more demonstrative, none were heartier or more -sincere in their congratulations than Edward Forrest, the admiral of -the station, and, unknown to Alan and Alexis, he and Ernstein had -sent a joint despatch by the _Vega_, strongly urging both the justice -and the policy of at once restoring to the full rights of citizenship -the two men who had proved themselves possessed of such extraordinary -ability. - -If the battle for the empire of the world was to be fought over again, -the command of the forces of Aeria could not be entrusted to any hands -so able and so daring as those of the President’s son and his friend -and companion in misfortune and victory. The triumphs at Kerguelen and -Antarctica had really been due to them alone. They had given warning -of the attack on the station, and it was due to the skill and boldness -of their strategy that it had been foiled with such disaster to the -enemy. - -This of itself was much, but it had not satisfied either their ambition -or their devotion, for, after it had been accomplished, they had -carried the war almost single-handed in the Russian stronghold, and -there, under circumstances of unparalleled danger to themselves, they -had struck a blow which could not fail to cripple the sea-power of the -enemy, and so influence to an incalculable extent the ultimate issue of -the war which, ere long, might be raging over the whole world. - -That night, while the almost constant storms of the southern winter -were sweeping over the barren surface of Desolation Land, a feast was -held in the central hall of the headquarters at Christmas Harbour in -honour of the double victory and the return of the two chief heroes -of it from their long captivity. The next day was spent in a rigorous -inspection of all the defences of the island and the machinery and -ammunition of the air-ships and submarine vessels. At six o’clock -in the evening, twenty-six hours after she had started, the _Vega_ -returned from Aeria, bringing the reply of the Council to the -despatches which she had taken. - - The Council has heard with great satisfaction of the repulse of the - attack on the station at Kerguelen and of the distinguished services - rendered by Alan Arnold and Alexis Mazarov, both at Kerguelen and - Mount Terror. - - In recognition of the great skill and devotion they have displayed, - the Council invites them to assume the command of the air-ship - _Ithuriel_, and to make use of that vessel to execute such plans and - purposes as in their discretion will best serve the interests of the - State of Aeria for a period of one year from the present date. They - will be supplied with motive power and all stores and materials of - war at any of the oceanic stations. - - The Council accepts the recommendation contained in the supplement to - the first despatch, and has given orders for the immediate building - of a hundred air-ships of the _Ithuriel_ class and the same number - of submarine battleships of the _Narwhal_ type. These are expected - to be ready for service at the end of the year, by which time the - Council hopes to be able to call upon Alan Arnold and Alexis Mazarov - to assume the duties of admiral and vice-admiral of the aerial - navies, and at the same time to restore to them full privileges of - citizenship in Aeria. - - The admiral and officers of Kerguelen will give all assistance in - the carrying out of these directions, and will make and transmit all - necessary reports in connection with them. No further hostilities - are to be undertaken for the present by the aerial or sea forces, but - they will maintain a strict watch against all possible surprises on - the part of the enemy, and be ready to repel any assault which may be - made. This order does not apply to the air-ship _Ithuriel_. - - Given in the Council Hall of Aeria on the Eleventh day of May in the - hundred and thirty-second year of the Deliverance. - - ALAN ARNOLD, President. - FRANCIS TREMAYNE, Vice-President. - - To Edward Forrest, - Admiral in Command at the Station of Kerguelen. - -Such was the reply of the Council to the news of the daring foray -made by the _Narwhal_ upon the stronghold of Mount Terror, and the -suggestions of Admiral Forrest and Captain Ernstein. Although it did -not precisely adopt the latter, which, indeed, the Council was well -justified in looking upon as inspired rather by enthusiasm than the -judicial spirit proper to the occasion, it was even more satisfactory -both to Alan and Alexis than an immediate recall would have been. - -True, they had done great and brilliant service in the first few days -of their return to freedom. They had virtually crippled the Russian -sea-power by the blows which they had so skilfully, so swiftly, and so -daringly struck, but neither of them felt that this was a sufficient -achievement to warrant their full restoration to all that they had lost -through the fatal error that they had made on board the old _Ithuriel_. - -Both, indeed, longed ardently for just such further opportunity of -devoting themselves to the service of their race and country as this -order offered them. In command of the new _Ithuriel_, one of the -swiftest and most formidable aerial warships in existence, there was no -telling the damage that they might do to the enemy or what service they -might render to their friends. - -They knew that, as regarded the Russian force, the odds against them -were about twenty-four to one, and they also knew that Olga and her -lieutenants would lose no time in increasing their navy to the utmost -extent in their power in preparation for the war of extermination that -was now inevitable. - -They had a year before them during which they would have an absolutely -free hand, and all the supplies that the resources of Aeria could give -them. True, it was a year of exile and probation, but they gladly -welcomed the test of fidelity and devotion which it offered, and which, -worthily passed through, would mean restoration of all they had lost, -and a return to their friends and kindred in their beloved valley of -Aeria armed with powers and responsibilities which would make them -practically the arbiters of the destinies of their people, and perhaps -of the whole human race. - -But the _Vega_ had brought something more to the two friends and exiles -than the reply of the Council to their despatches, for immediately he -landed her captain handed to Alan a small sealed packet addressed to -him in the handwriting of his sister Isma. When he opened it, as he -did at the first opportunity that found him alone, he found that it -contained two letters and two chromatic photographs. - -The letters were from his parents and sister. His father’s was, as may -well be imagined, very different from the cold and formal despatch that -he had signed as President of the Council. It was full of tender and -loving sympathy for him in the strange fate that had overtaken him, -and, while it entirely absolved them of all moral blame for the loss of -the flagship and the lives of his companions, it exhorted him earnestly -to apply himself without useless regrets to the work of the year of -probation which the Council had seen fit to impose upon him, and it -ended with an assurance that the happiest day that had been known in -Aeria within the memory of its citizens would be that on which the -golden wings would be replaced on their foreheads in the Council Hall -of the city. - -To this letter was added another, written by Alan’s mother, and written -as only a mother can write to her son. Strong and well tried as he was, -there were tears in Alan’s eyes when he had finished reading these two -letters, but they did not remain there long after he had begun the one -from his sister. - -Isma, proud beyond measure of the exploits of her brother and the man -she still looked upon as her lover, and absolutely assured that when -the time came both would return covered with honour, wrote in the -highest spirits. As it was an invariable rule of life among the Aerians -to be perfectly frank with one another, and to take every precaution to -avoid those misunderstandings which in a less perfect state of society -had produced so much personal and social suffering, she told him in -plain yet tender language exactly what had passed between her and Alma -on the night that his first letter had been received. - -Yet she said nothing that in any way committed either Alma or himself -to a renewal of the troth which had been broken by the designs of Olga -Romanoff, and though she sent her remembrances to Alexis, she sent them -as though to a friend, tacitly giving both to understand that no words -of love must pass between the two exiles and their former sweethearts -until they met again upon equal terms. - -But there was another message not contained in the letter, or written -in any words, which said more than all that she had written, and this -was conveyed by the photographs, which she sent without a word of -allusion to them. As Alan looked upon them the six years of mental -slavery and degrading servitude to the daughter of the enemies of his -race passed away for the moment, and he saw himself standing with Alma -in one of the groves of Aeria plighting his boyish troth on the night -before he started on his fatal voyage in the _Ithuriel_. - -The face that looked at him with such marvellous lifelikeness, with all -its perfection of form and exquisite colouring, reproduced with the -most absolute fidelity, was the same face that had been upturned to his -to receive his kisses on that never-to-be-forgotten night. And yet, in -another sense, it was not the same. - -That had been the sunny, smiling face of a girl to whom sorrow and evil -were as absolutely unknown as they would be to an angel in heaven, but -this was the face of a woman who had lived and thought and suffered. - -And when he remembered that whatever of sorrow or suffering she had -known had been on his account, the last lingering traces of the vile -spells of the evilly beautiful Syren of the Skies, who had so fatally -bewitched him, vanished from his soul, and the old love revived within -him pure and strong, and intensified tenfold by the knowledge of the -great reparation that he owed to the girl upon whose life he had -brought the only shadow it had ever known. - -He knew that their hands would never meet again until all that had been -lost was regained, at whatever cost of labour or devotion that might -be necessary on his part, but he also knew that in all these years no -other man had been found worthy to fill the place that he had once -occupied, and which he was resolved to win back or die in the attempt, -and this knowledge made him look forward to the mighty struggle which -lay before him with an eagerness that augured well for its issue. - -He had gone into his own cabin on board the _Ithuriel_, which was being -rapidly prepared for her roving commission, to read his letters in -solitude. He put Alma’s photograph on the table, and sat before it with -his eyes fixed upon it until every line of form and tint of colour was -indelibly impressed anew upon his memory. - -Then he kissed it as reverently as a devotee of old might have kissed -a sacred relic, and then he attached the oval miniature to a chain of -alternate links of azurine and gold, and hung it round his neck inside -his tunic, registering a mental vow that if death came before he once -more wore the golden wings, it should find it lying nearest his heart. - -“This,” he said, speaking to himself, as he took Isma’s photograph up -from the table, and looked fondly upon the radiantly lovely face that -looked out from its frame, “is evidently not intended for me. Isma -doesn’t say who it’s for, but I fancy that there is some one on board -the _Ithuriel_ who has a very much better right to it than I have. I -wonder if Alexis is in his room?” - -So saying, he left his cabin and found his friend still deep in the -perusal of two lengthy letters from his father and mother. - -“So you have had letters from home as well, old man? I hope they’ve -been as pleasant reading as mine have,” he said, going to the couch on -which Alexis was sitting, and holding one hand behind his back. - -“Yes, they’re from my father and mother, and so they can scarcely be -anything else, so far as what they do say. It’s what they don’t say -that gives me the only cause to find fault with them. But still that, I -suppose, would be expecting too much under the circumstances.” - -He ended with something very like a sigh, and Alan replied as gravely -as he could-- - -“And what might that be, my knight of the rueful countenance? Don’t you -think the Council have treated us splendidly, and given us a glorious -opportunity of winning back all that the daughter of the Tsar has -robbed us of?” - -“Of course, I do,” replied Alexis, looking up at him with a flush on -his cheeks. “But for all that there is one thing still, something that -I am not ashamed to say I value above everything else that I have lost -or can regain.” - -“And that is--?” - -“Well, to put it plainly,” replied Alexis, the flush deepening as he -spoke, “these two letters don’t contain one single word about Isma. -Now you know what I mean. Of course, I am ready to do everything that -the Council may call upon us to do, and the moment that I know I have -won back the right to wear the golden wings will be the proudest of my -life, but it will be far from the happiest if I only go back to Aeria -to find Isma another man’s wife, and what else can I think when they -don’t so much as mention her name?” - -“Be of good cheer, my friend,” replied Alan with a laugh, putting one -hand on his shoulder, and taking the other from behind his back. “You -will never find that, I can promise you. I am the bringer of good -tidings. There, take those and feast your eyes and your heart on them -in solitude as I have just been doing on something else.” - -So saying he put Isma’s letter and photograph into Alexis’ hand, and -without another word left him to gather courage and comfort from them -as he had himself done. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. OLGA IN COUNCIL. - - -THE remains of the Russian submarine squadron, numbering now only -seventeen vessels, headed out northward into the open sea, after -leaving their disabled consorts to their fate. In the brief space -occupied by her first rush they had recognised the _Narwhal_ both -by her size and speed, and one of the captains avowed that he had -recognised Alan Arnold, Olga’s late captive, standing under the -glass dome of the conning-tower, steering the great vessel upon her -devastating course. - -Twenty miles out from the island they rose to the surface and made -out the aerial fleet some five miles to the southward, hovering at an -elevation of about a thousand feet, and evidently on the look-out for -them. Michael Lossenski, who had escaped the ram of the _Narwhal_, ran -up his flagstaff, and flew a signal which soon brought the air-ships -bearing down upon them. The _Revenge_ sank down to the surface of the -water, and took Lossenski off his ship in order that he might report -himself. - -Olga and his father received the first news of the defeat of their -naval forces with cold displeasure; but when Michael told them that -more than half the fleet had been destroyed by the _Narwhal_, and that -it was believed that Alan was in command of her, Olga’s anger blazed -out into fury, and she cried passionately-- - -“You fools and cowards to have fled like that from one ship and one -man! Could not seventeen of you have overcome that one vessel? Had you -no rams, no torpedoes, that you fled before this single foe?” - -He took the bitter rebuke in silence. He knew that he had failed both -in duty and courage, and that a reply would only make matters worse. -Olga looked at him for a moment, with eyes burning with scorn and -anger. Then she rose from her seat, and, pointing to the door of the -saloon, said-- - -“Go! You have disgraced yourself and us. Take your ships back to Mount -Terror, and await our further commands.” - -With bowed head and face flushed with shame, the disgraced man walked -in silence out of the saloon and left Olga alone with his father. As -soon as he had gone Olga began striding up and down the saloon, her -hands clenched and her eyes, black with passion, glittering fiercely -under her straight-drawn brows. - -Orloff Lossenski knew her too well not to let her anger take its course -uninterrupted, so he sat and watched her, and waited for her to speak -first. At last she stopped in front of him, and said in a low fierce -voice, that was almost hoarse with the strength of her passion-- - -“So! you were right, my friend. I was a fool, an idiot, to let those -two escape. I ought to have killed them, as you advised. They were of -no further use to us, and we could have done without them. Yes, truly I -was a fool, such a fool as love makes of every woman!” - -“Not of every woman, Majesty,” replied Lossenski in a low soothing -tone, that was not without a trace of irony. “If I may say it without -disrespect, your ancestress, the great Catherine, knew how to combine -love and wisdom. When she wearied of a lover, or had no further use for -a man, she never left him the power of revenging his dismissal.” - -“Yes, yes,” she replied. “I know that; but I did not weary of this man, -this king among men, for whose love I would have sold my soul. I only -wearied of my own attempts to win it. You know what I mean, Lossenski, -and you can understand me, for you have confessed that he was well -worthy of the sacrifice. - -“You know that when he seemed my lover he was only my slave--that I -could not compel the man to love me, but only the passive machine that -I had made of him, and you know, too, that the moment I had let him -regain his freedom of will he would have loathed and cursed me, as no -doubt he is doing now. - -“Why did I not kill him? How could I, when I loved him better than my -own life, and all my dreams of empire? Why, I could not even kill the -other one because he was Alan’s friend, and because he would have hated -me still more for doing so. - -“But, after all,” she continued, speaking somewhat more calmly, “it is -not setting them free that has done the mischief. It is the treason -or the miracle that enabled them to capture the _Narwhal_. I would -give a good deal to know how that was done. They cannot have done it -themselves, for I had given them enough of the drug to deprive them of -all will-power for at least twenty-four hours, and I told that traitor, -Turgenieff, who must have betrayed the attack on Kerguelen, to give -them more when he landed them on the island.” - -“But is your Majesty sure that they took the drug?” said Lossenski, -interrupting her for the first time. “Did you give it with your own -hand, or see them take it with your own eyes?” - -“No!” said Olga, with a start. “I did not. I sent it to them by my -maid, Anna, but she swore that she put it in their wine, and when they -had finished their last meal the decanter was empty.” - -“That was a grave mistake, Majesty,” said Lossenski, in a tone of -respectful reproof, “and one which may yet cost you the empire of the -world. It is such trifles as that which destroy the grandest schemes.” - -“I know! I know!” said Olga impatiently. “You may think me a fool and -a weakling, but I could not bring myself to see or speak to Alan again -after I had at last resolved to give up the hopeless task of winning -him, and send him away. - -“But for that mistake the _Narwhal_ would still have been ours, and we -should have taken Kerguelen unawares. He could have told his people -nothing else that would have harmed us, for the more he tells them -about Mount Terror the more impossible they will see any attack upon -it to be. No, no, it was all that one fatal mistake! But there, it -tortures me to talk about it! Tell me, my old friend and counsellor, -what we are to do to repair the damage?” - -Exhausted by her fierce and sudden outburst of passion, and the -bitterness of her regret, Olga threw herself into a chair and sat -waiting for Lossenski to speak. He remained silent for several moments, -buried in thought, and then he began speaking in the low, deliberate -tone of a man who has weighty counsels to impart. - -“We cannot deny, Majesty, that we have been worsted in our two first -encounters with these Aerians, but we must learn wisdom and patience -from defeat. It seems plain to me that the Aerians are too strong for -us as we are. - -“When we attacked them we forgot that, while we are children in -warfare, they are perfect masters of it. They have preserved the -traditions of their fathers, and for four generations they have been -trained in the use of the weapons which we have only just learnt to -use. Therefore my advice is that we do not attack them again for the -present.” - -“But,” interrupted Olga, “in any case, they will attack us, and we -shall still have to fight.” - -“Not of necessity, your Highness,” replied Lossenski. “You see they -have not pursued us, and the reason for this is that they know that -both our air-ships and our submarine vessels are swifter and more -powerful than theirs, with two or three exceptions. - -“They will not attack us till they can do so on equal terms, and we -must take care that they never do that. You have plenty of treasure and -plenty of men at your command. Let us retire to our stronghold again -and devote ourselves to increasing our strength both by sea and in the -air, until we have made ourselves invulnerable. - -“And remember, too, Majesty,” he continued with an added meaning -in his tone, “Aeria is not the world. There are vast possibilities -before you in other directions. I am convinced now that we have made a -mistake in attacking the Aerians first. Russia is ripe for revolt, and -great quantities of arms have already been manufactured. The tribes -of Western Asia need only a leader to take the field, and the Sultan -Khalid could put an army millions strong into the field within a few -months. - -“On the other hand, Anglo-Saxondom is a babel of conflicting opinions, -and the mob rules throughout its length and breadth. Where everyone is -master there can be no leaders, and those who are without leaders are -the natural prey of the strong hand. - -“They are wealthy and weak, and divided among themselves. The Aerians -have given them over to their own devices. Why should you not, when we -have repaired the damage we have suffered, take your aerial squadron to -Moscow, proclaim the new revolution, and crown yourself Tsarina in the -Kremlin?” - -In speaking thus Orloff Lossenski was really only putting into formal -shape the project which it had all along been the aim of Olga and her -adherents to carry out. There was nothing new in the suggestion save -the proposition that the revolution should be proclaimed in Russia, and -that Olga should crown herself Tsarina before, instead of after, the -attempted subjugation of Aeria. - -Up to the present it had been believed that nothing could possibly be -done until the power of the Aerians was either crushed or crippled, -but the battle of Kerguelen had clearly shown that this was a task far -beyond their present resources. Even the mastery of the sea was now no -longer theirs, thanks to the two fatal mistakes which Olga had made, -first in setting Alan and Alexis free, and second in sending them away -from Mount Terror in the swiftest and most powerful vessel in their -sea-navy. - -Why she had been guilty of this last imprudence she could not even -explain to herself. It was one of those mistakes, made in pure -thoughtlessness, which again and again have marred the greatest schemes -of conquest. Another vessel would have done just as well, save that she -would not have performed the errand quite so quickly; but the _Narwhal_ -happened to be in readiness at the moment, and as Peter Turgenieff, her -commander, was one of Olga’s most trusted sea-captains, she had given -him the order to convey Alan and Alexis to the island, and so the fatal -error had been committed. - -It must, however, be remembered that when she made it, it was -impossible for her to foresee its disastrous outcome. She implicitly -believed that the two Aerians were completely under the influence of -the will-poison, and so utterly unable to think or act independently, -or to form and execute the daring design which they had so successfully -accomplished. - -But now that the mistake had been made, Orloff Lossenski saw that -the course he suggested to his mistress offered the only hope of -counteracting it. His advice pointed out the shortest road to the -attainment of the designs of Olga and her followers; and he gave it -in all sincerity, for he was absolutely devoted to Olga’s person and -fortune, and the realisation of her ambition was the dearest dream of -his own life. - -It meant, too, the restoration of his own order to all its ancient -rights and privileges with the added wealth and dignity that would be -won by conquest. It meant the establishment of a Russian empire far -greater and more powerful than that of the last of the Tsars, for its -power would extend from the Pacific coast of Asia to the Atlantic coast -of Europe. - -Olga heard him with flushed cheeks and shining eyes, and, when he had -done speaking, she rose to her feet again and faced him, looking every -inch a queen, in the ripe beauty of her perfect womanhood, and said, -in tones from which every trace of her former anger and sorrow had -vanished-- - -“Well spoken, Orloff Lossenski! That is worthy counsel for you to give -and for me to hear. I will follow it, for it is wise as well as bold, -and the day that I crown myself in the Kremlin you shall be the first -noble in Russia. But, stop--what of the Sultan? Surely he and his -armies will have to be reckoned with?” - -“True,” said Lossenski. “But if he will not listen to reason, cannot -your air-ships destroy his armies like swarms of locusts, lay his -cities in ruins, and sweep him and his dynasty from the face of the -earth?” - -“Yes, that is true again,” replied Olga. “Provided that the Aerians did -not come to his aid.” - -“They would not do that, I think,” he replied. - -“But to make that impossible why should you not make an alliance with -him and offer to help him with your air-ships and submarine navy to -the conquest of the world, on the condition of the restoration of the -Russian Empire and the division of the world between you? Remember that -as long as you kept the command of your navies of the air and the sea -you could always keep him to the terms when once made.” - -As the old man ceased speaking Olga laid her hand upon his shoulder, -and said in a low, clear, steady voice that spoke of a great resolution -finally taken-- - -“My friend, you are the wisest of counsellors, and when I regain my -throne you shall be the first Minister of the Empire. I will pardon -your son for his failure to-day for the sake of his father’s wisdom, -and we will say no more about disaster and defeat. We will look forward -only to victory and the empire that it will bring us!” - -But when the defeated squadrons arrived at Mount Terror Olga was rudely -awakened from her dreams of empire by the tidings of the disaster that -had occurred during her absence. - -The damage inflicted by the _Narwhal_ was speedily proved to be -irreparable. For a distance of nearly a mile the roof of the tunnel had -sunk bodily down, blocking it for ever. Millions of tons of rock and -earth had fallen into the submarine channel, and all hope of clearing -it again was out of the question. - -The explosion of the twelve torpedoes had not only brought down all -the rocks in their vicinity, but it had so shaken the earth in both -directions that a general subsidence had taken place, forming a barrier -which was so vast and massive that its removal, even if possible, would -have taken many months of labour; and so there was no avoiding the -dismal conclusion that their submarine dockyard was useless, and, for -the present at least, their sea-power crippled. - -The effects of the explosion in the interior of the mountain, though -bad enough, were much less serious. Nearly seventy men, or more than -half the total garrison that had been left behind, had been either -killed or maimed for life. The six submarine warships that had been -lying in the lake were, of course, useless now that their way to the -sea was barred, and five of the twelve air-ships which had been lying -in the vast cavern whose floor formed the shores of the subterranean -lake were so seriously injured that considerable repairs would be -necessary for them. - -The whole of the lower level of the vast system of chambers and -galleries which pierced the interior of the mountain in all directions -had been flooded by the volumes of water projected from the lake by the -explosion. Workshops, laboratories, and building-slips had been wrecked -or thrown into complete confusion, and the appearance of the whole of -the level was that of a place which had been swept by a tornado. - -As soon as the amount of the damage done had been estimated, Olga -called a council of war, composed of twelve of her most skilled and -trusted adherents, in a chamber which was led up to by a path sloping -steeply up from the shores of the lake. This chamber was an almost -perfect oval, about sixty feet long by twenty wide, and about thirty -high. - -Neither its temperature nor its internal appointments would have given -any idea of the fact that it was situated at the uttermost end of the -earth, and buried under the eternal snows of Antarctica. The rough rock -walls had been smoothed and hung with silken hangings, against which -statues of the purest marble gleamed white, and pictures, some of vast -size and exquisite execution, brought the scenes of sunnier lands to -the eyes of the occupants. - -Electric light-globes hung in festoons all around, shedding a mild -diffused lustre over the luxurious furniture of the chamber. The floor -of lava, smoothed and polished, was covered with priceless carpets into -whose thick pile the foot sank noiseless, as though into soft, shallow -snow. - -Treasures, both of art and luxury, which had been plundered from ocean -transports that had fallen victims to the rams of the submarine -cruisers were scattered about in lavish profusion that was almost -barbaric in its excess. Behind the hangings of the walls ran an -elaborate system of pipes which circulated fresh air drawn from the -exterior of the mountain, and, heated by passing through electric -furnaces, at once warmed and ventilated this council-chamber of the -extraordinary woman who, in virtue of her strange conquest of the air, -had come to be known among her followers as the Syren of the Skies. - -Human art and science had completely conquered both the ruggedness of -Nature and the inclemency of the elements, and had transformed these -gloomy caverns, excavated by the volcanic fires of former ages out of -the heart of Mount Terror, into warm, well-lighted, and airy abodes, -capable of sheltering several hundred human beings from the rigours -even of the Antarctic winter. - -This subterranean retreat and stronghold was roughly divided into two -levels, on the lower of which were situated the chambers and galleries -which served for the performance of all the work necessary for the -building of the air-ships and submarine vessels, while the upper was -devoted to store-rooms and dwelling-places for the followers and -assistants of the Queen of this strange realm. - -No other region could have presented such a marvellous contrast to the -sunlit and flower-scented paradise which was the home of their mortal -enemies, the race with which they had dared to dispute the empire of -the world. The powers of darkness and of light could hardly have been -better typified than were these two contending forces by the different -characters of their respective strongholds. - -When the Council of War, summoned at Olga’s bidding by Orloff -Lossenski, had assembled in the Central Chamber, a pair of heavy purple -velvet curtains parted, and the Syren entered from the gallery, which -had been hewn through the solid rock and which communicated with her -private suite of apartments. The members of the Council rose as she -entered and greeted her as subjects were wont to greet their sovereigns -in the days before the Terror. - -She acknowledged their reverence with a royal condescension, and took -her seat on a raised divan at the inner end of the chamber. Beckoning -Lossenski to her side, she exchanged a few words with him in an -undertone, and then called upon Andrei Levin, the Secretary of the -Council, to enumerate the nature and extent of the losses they had -sustained in their brief but disastrous first attempt to cope with the -mighty race which had dominated the world for nearly a century and a -half. - -When Levin had finished, it was found that, in addition to the -irreparable damage done to the submarine dockyard, no less than -thirty-five submarine cruisers had been destroyed or rendered useless, -while twenty-three air-ships had been annihilated by the projectiles -of the Aerians. This left an available fighting force of twenty-eight -submarine and twenty-four aerial warships fit for service. - -It had been calculated that it would take at least a month of hard work -to get the subterranean arsenal into such working order as would enable -them to repair their losses, and after this at least twelve months -would have to elapse before they had brought their fighting force up to -the strength it had possessed but five short days before. - -In addition to their losses in ships and war materials, more than a -hundred of Olga’s chosen and most devoted followers had lost their -lives in the terrible warfare which knew no sparing of life, and it -would be necessary to draft more men from Russia to replace them before -the work could be carried on upon an adequate scale. - -Olga listened to the catalogue of disasters with frowning brows and -eyes gleaming with hardly-suppressed fury. When it was over, she rose -and spoke in a voice whose wonderful music and witchery seemed to charm -all sense of misfortune for the time being out of the hearts of her -listeners. A born queen of men, she knew when to wither with her scorn -or to charm with her sweetness, and she was well aware that this hour -of defeat and disaster was no time for reproaches or rebuke. - -So her voice was low and sweet, and almost pleading, as she reviewed -the situation, which, for the moment, seemed so dark, and appealed to -her followers, through those who commanded them, not to yield before a -sudden and temporary misfortune, but to learn from defeat the lessons -of victory. She reminded them of all that their ancestors and hers had -lost at the hands of the Terrorists, the forefathers of the hated and -arrogant Aerians, and she painted in glowing colours the glory and the -boundless wealth that would be the reward of victory. - -Heavy as their losses had been, there was no reason why they should -not repair them. She reminded them how, five years before, they had -possessed but a single air-ship, and were only a weak and scattered -body of revolutionaries. Now they possessed, even after all they had -lost, an aerial fleet superior to all the vessels of the Aerian navies -save two, and submarine cruisers swifter and more powerful than any -that floated, save only the stolen _Narwhal_. More than this, they were -now supported by a vast organisation numbering thousands of devoted men -and women, any one of whom would give his or her life for the cause for -which they were fighting. - -She only spoke for a quarter of an hour or so, but every word went -home, and when she concluded with an appeal to their loyalty and -devotion, the twelve members of the Council rose with one accord -to their feet, and there and then spontaneously renewed the oaths -of fealty to her person and dynasty which they had taken when they -enlisted in her service. Every man of them was a scion of some once -noble Russian house, and her cause was theirs in virtue of personal -interest as well as that sentiment of blind, unreasoning loyalty which -even four generations of freedom had failed to eradicate from the -Russian blood. - -Olga thanked them with a tremor in her voice which, whether it was -real or not, spoke to them with far greater eloquence than words, and -then she bade Lossenski lay before the Council the plans which she -had already discussed with him for the future conduct of the vast -enterprise which had opened so inauspiciously. - -Lossenski rose at once, and for over two hours unfolded a vast and -subtly-conceived scheme, which has been very briefly outlined in a -previous chapter, and the results of the working out of which will -become apparent in due course. - -At the end of the discussion which followed it was decided that a -transport should be purchased as soon as possible in a Russian port and -sent out to Antarctica with fresh supplies of men and materials. - -A flotilla of twelve marine cruisers was told off to convoy her on her -voyage, and protect her from possible attack in case the Aerians should -suspect or discover the purpose to which she was devoted. - -As no more submarine vessels could be built in Antarctica--for -the fearful cold of the outside waters made such work totally -impossible--all efforts were to be concentrated upon the increase of -the aerial navy, and a hundred air-ships, in addition to those already -in existence, was fixed upon as the minimum strength that it would be -safe to depend upon, when the hour for the final struggle came. - -No force was to be wasted, if possible, upon minor attacks or isolated -engagements, for the Russians, like the Aerians, had learnt that, under -the conditions of the new warfare, skirmishes only meant destruction in -detail and loss of strength entirely disproportionate to the advantage -gained. - -Thus virtually the same decisions were arrived at in Aeria and -Antarctica. Both sides resolved to husband their resources and increase -their strength, and then to risk everything upon the issue of one -mighty conflict, a veritable struggle of the gods, in which both -equally recognised that the defeated would be annihilated and the -victors would remain undisputed masters of the world. - -Finally, it was decided that Orloff Lossenski should depart at once -with a formal offer of alliance to the Sultan of the Moslem Empire, -and that a day later Olga should follow with a squadron of twenty -air-ships and give him the alternative of alliance or immediate war. - -If, as was confidently expected, he chose alliance, five submarine -cruisers were to be given to him, so that he might use them as models -for the construction of a fleet which should be powerful enough to -sweep the Aerian warships from the seas, and which would be supplied -with the secret motive power at a station to be established at Larnaka -under Russian control. - -Then, when all was in readiness for the world-war, Olga was to be -proclaimed Tsarina in Moscow, and the standard of absolute monarchy -once more reared over the re-erected throne of the House of Romanoff. -Anglo-Saxondom was to be invaded and conquered, and Aeria itself -attacked and either subdued or depopulated and laid waste. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. KHALID THE MAGNIFICENT. - - -A FEW minutes before midnight on the fifteenth of May, in the year -2036, Khalid the Magnificent, lord and master of the greatest and most -splendid realm that had ever been ruled over by a single man since -the world began, stood alone on the spacious terrace of his palace -in Alexandria, gazing up at the myriads of stars that shone in the -cloudless firmament above him, and dreaming one of those dreams of -world-wide empire which had haunted the soul of such men as he from the -days of Rameses the Great until his own. - -He was a man of thirty-four, tall, swarthy, and athletic, with the -proud aquiline features of the Arab, the dark, alternately flashing and -melting eyes of the Circassian, and the strong, reposeful dignity of -the Turk--a man whom women looked upon with love and men with respect -that was often akin to dread. - -The lord of seven hundred million subjects who, even in those days, so -strong was still the faith and loyalty of the Moslem, looked upon him -only as something less than Allah and the Prophet whose sacred blood -flowed in his veins, his soaring ambition was not content even with the -splendid inheritance that he had received from his ancestors. - -In his being were closely blended those elements of religious -enthusiasm and worldly ambition which had made the men of the Golden -Age of Islam such irresistible conquerors and such mighty rulers of -men. He had pondered over the past history of his faith and his people -from the times of the Prophet down to his own, until he had come to -believe himself the man chosen by Destiny to subjugate the world, and -to compel all men, from pole to pole, and east to west, to accept -the rule and faith of Islam, and to confess the unity of God and the -apostleship of Mohammed. - -He saw in the vast area of the Anglo-Saxon Federation, which now, in -name at least, dominated Europe, America, and Australasia, only a -collection of democratic and ill-governed States in which the mob ruled -by blind counting of heads, and in which religion had been refined into -a mere philosophy of life and morals, the last word of which seemed to -him to be: Make the best of to-day, lest to-morrow should never come. - -In his own breast the flame of the fierce, uncompromising faith of -Islam burnt, undimmed by the mists of the centuries that had passed -since the first Moslem armies had emerged from the deserts of Arabia to -conquer the greater part of the Roman world. - -Why should he not send forth his armies, as the Khalifs of old had -done, to plant the banner of the Crescent over the subjugated realms of -Christendom, and rule, the greatest of the Commanders of the Faithful, -sovereign lord of a Moslem world? - -It was a splendid destiny, but there was a power in the world, located -in one tiny spot of earth, and yet, so far as he knew, universal -and irresistible, before which the armies which he had called into -existence would be as helpless as a swarm of locusts before a forest -fire. - -This power possessed the empire of the air, and therefore of the earth. -In the days of the Terror it had led the Anglo-Saxon race to the -conquest of the world. Would it sit idly now behind the bulwarks of -Aeria and watch his armies conquering the domains of Anglo-Saxondom? - -Was it not far more likely that those terrible air-ships would be sent -forth to hurl their destroying lightnings from the skies and overwhelm -his armies and his cities in irretrievable ruin? These Aerians had -ruled the world for a hundred and twenty-five years, and yet had -committed no act of aggression upon the rightful liberties of any -nation. How, therefore, could he believe that they would hold their -mighty hand while he carried fire and sword through the habitations of -their blood and kindred? - -If he gave the word for war, within forty-eight hours after he had -spoken more than ten millions of men, armed with weapons of fearful -precision and destructive power, would stand ready to do his bidding -and to carry the banner of the Crescent to the uttermost ends of the -earth; but of what use would be their numbers, their valour, or their -devotion with a squadron of aerial cruisers wheeling above them and -hurling death and destruction upon them from the inaccessible heights -of the sky? - -He remembered how his ancestor Mohammed Reshad had been stopped in his -career of conquest, and how his victorious armies had been decimated -and thrown into confusion by a flotilla of air-ships and war-balloons -which a dozen cruisers of the present Aerian navy would have swept -from the skies in a few minutes. Intolerable as the thought was to his -haughty soul, the truth remained that, in the midst of all his power -and splendour, he was as helpless as a child before the real masters of -the world. He had armies and fleets, but he could not make war without -their permission or the assurance of their neutrality, save with the -certainty of disaster and defeat. - -What would he not give for a squadron of these aerial battleships? Half -his empire, willingly, and yet he knew that even an attempt to build a -single air-ship would be the signal for his own death and the end of -the dominion of his dynasty. - -He had no knowledge of the momentous events which had just been taking -place on the other side of the world. He still believed implicitly -in the unquestioned supremacy of the Aerians throughout the domain -of the skies, although he was well aware that some mysterious power -had successfully disputed with them the command of the seas, and he -remembered the stern threat of immediate war and annihilation that the -President of Aeria had promulgated against any who should even help in -the concealment of the air-ship that had been lost six years before, -and, so far as the world at large was concerned, had never been heard -of since. - -Anglo-Saxondom, and therefore Christendom, lay at his mercy but for -this guardian power of the air. Its millions were unarmed and its -wealth unprotected. Its indolent and luxurious democracies, occupied -solely with social experiments and the increase of their material -magnificence, would be crushed almost without resistance by his -splendidly armed and disciplined legions. - -The Crescent would replace the Cross above their temples, and the world -would be a Moslem planet but for this empire of the air, universal and -unconquerable, which barred his way to the dominion of the world and -the final triumph of his faith. - -For the hundredth time he had revolved the hopeless dilemma in his -mind, alternately looking upon the conquests he longed for, and on the -splendid but useless forces at his command, when a huge, strange shape -dropped swiftly and silently out of the sky overhead, and, as though in -answer to the unspoken call of his intense longing, one of those very -air-ships of which he had been thinking with such angry despair swept -with a majestic downward sloping curve out of the dusk of the night, -and ran up close alongside the low parapet of the terrace on which he -was standing. - -It was the first time he had ever seen one of these marvellous vessels, -which were the talk and the wonder of the world, at such close -quarters. Paralysed for the moment by mingled curiosity and amazement, -he recoiled with a startled invocation to the Prophet on his lips, and -then stood staring at it in silence, wondering whether the strange -apparition meant the visit of a friend or an enemy. - -While he was standing thus the air-ship drifted as silently as a shadow -over the parapet, and sank gently down until it rested on the marble -floor of the vast terrace. Then a sliding door opened in the after-part -of the glass dome which covered the deck from stem to stern, a light -metal stairway fell from it, and three men richly and yet simply -dressed descended to the terrace and advanced to where he stood. - -Two of them halted at a respectful distance, and the third, a man whose -dignity of bearing was enhanced by the snowy whiteness of his hair and -beard, advanced alone, and with a grave and courteous gesture of salute -said in English, the language of universal intercourse-- - -“Am I right in believing this to be the palace of his Majesty the -Sultan?” - -It was some moments before Khalid recovered his composure sufficiently -to answer the question, simple as it was. His wonder was increased -tenfold when he saw that his visitor from the skies did not wear the -golden wings which were the insignia of the Aerians. - -Was it possible that some other inhabitants of the earth had, in spite -of the rigid prohibition of the Supreme Council, managed to build an -aerial navy? His heart leapt with exultation at the thought. Obeying -the impulse of the moment, he took a stride forward and held out his -hand, saying-- - -“I know not who you are, or whence you come, but if you come in -friendship there is my hand in welcome. This is the palace, and I am -Khalid, the Commander of the Faithful. What is your errand?” - -His visitor took the outstretched hand, and, bending low over it, -replied in a tone of the deepest respect-- - -“I am honoured and fortunate beyond measure! I trust your Majesty will -pardon the strangeness of my coming for the importance of the mission -that brings me.” - -“Say on, sir, and tell me freely who you are and what your mission is, -for I am all impatience to know,” said the Sultan, speaking even more -cordially than before. - -“I am Orloff Lossenski,” replied the ambassador from the skies, “and I -am the bearer of a message from my mistress, Olga Romanoff, by right of -descent Tsarina of the Russias, and deprived of her lawful rights of -rule by the Terrorists who reign in Aeria.” - -“Then you are enemies of the Aerians?” broke in the Sultan, “and you -possess air-ships like that marvellous craft yonder! How have you--but -pardon me, I have interrupted you. You can satisfy my curiosity later -on.” - -“Her Majesty, my mistress, possesses a large fleet of air-ships, of -which this is one,” replied Lossenski, “and she has sent me as her -envoy to give your Majesty this letter which will explain my mission in -full. At this hour to-morrow night the Tsarina will come in person to -receive your answer to it.” - -As he spoke he presented a letter to the Sultan, and then drew back a -pace. Khalid took the missive without a word and walked towards one of -the electric lamps with which the terrace was lighted, breaking the -seal as he went. This is what he read-- - - To Khalid the Magnificent, - Sultan of the Moslems. - - You have dreams of world-wide conquest, but the fear of the power of - the Aerians restrains you from putting them into action. You command - armies and fleets, but they are useless and helpless because you - cannot fight in the air as well as on land and sea. - - I can give you the power of doing this, and I will help you to the - conquest of the world if you will help me to regain the dominions - that were stolen from my ancestors in the days of the Terror. - - Twenty-four hours after you receive this I will come for your answer - to it. If you agree to the general terms I have no fear but that the - details will be easily arranged between us. This is brought to you by - Orloff Lossenski, my chief counsellor and responsible minister, who, - at your Majesty’s desire, will lay the particulars of my proposals - before you in full. - - OLGA ROMANOFF, - Tsarina of the Russias. - -Hardly had the Sultan finished the perusal of this strangely curt and -yet all-pregnant letter when a cry from Lossenski’s two attendants -caused him to look up. If what he had seen but a few minutes before had -amazed him, what he saw now fairly stupefied him. A second air-ship, -similar in size and shape to the first, but with a hull of a strangely -lustrous blue metal, had dropped without sign or sound out of space, -and was hovering exactly above Lossenski’s vessel with her ten long -slender guns pointing in all directions. - -A moment later she seemed to drop bodily on to the Russian air-ship, -splintering her thin steel masts with the weight of her hull, and yet -stopping in her descent before she crushed in the glass dome of the -deck. The next instant a score of men slipped swiftly over the side and -gained the open door of the Russians’ deck-chamber. Then there came a -sound of fierce cries and oaths, and the quick crackling reports of -repeating pistols. - -The envoy’s two companions turned as though to fly, but two shots fired -in quick succession brought them down before they had made a couple -of strides. Then a dozen men leapt down upon the terrace and covered -Lossenski and the Sultan with their pistols before they had time to -recover from the stupefaction into which the suddenness of the attack -had thrown them. - -The next moment a man, whose splendid stature raised him a good head -above the Russian and the Moslem, came down the steps from the deck of -the now captured air-ship. As he advanced towards them Khalid, brave -and haughty as he was, looked up at him almost as he might have looked -upon the visible shape of one of the angels of his faith. - -He was dressed in the Aeria costume, save for the fact that, instead of -azurine and gold, his winged coronet was black and lustrous as polished -jet. In his left hand he carried a magazine pistol, and in his right -a long slender rapier with a blade of azurine that gleamed with an -intense blue radiance in the light of the electric lamps. - -“Orloff Lossenski, you are our prisoner! Go back to your ship or you -will be shot where you stand. Sultan Khalid, have you received that -letter in your hand from this man?” - -Alan’s words came quick and stern, but before they were spoken the -Sultan had put a golden whistle to his lips and blown a shrill call, in -instant obedience to which a stream of armed guards issued from a door -of the palace opening on to the terrace, spread out into a semi-circle, -and in turn Alan and his companions were covered by a hundred rifles. - -“Now, sir, whoever you are,” exclaimed the Sultan, recovering at once -his courage and his composure, “you are _my_ prisoner! Throw down your -arms, or”-- - -“Stop!” cried Alan, in a voice that rang clearly over the whole -terrace. “Don’t you see that your palace is under our guns? Fire a -shot, and in an hour it shall be a heap of ruins.” - -Khalid had forgotten the air-ships for the moment. He glanced up at the -two rows of guns, and saw in the lighted interiors of the deck-chambers -men standing ready to rain death and ruin in every direction. - -Lossenski, too, grasped the suddenly changed situation in an instant. -He knew far better than the Sultan did what would be the effect of -a discharge of that awful artillery upon the palace and the city, -and more than this, he saw the hopeless ruin of his mistress’s plans -that would follow the death of the Sultan. He turned to him with an -appealing gesture, and said-- - -“Your Majesty, for the sake of all you hold dear, send back your -guards! I surrender to save you!” and then, with a glare of impotent -hate at Alan, he turned and walked quickly towards the air-ships. - -Nothing could have brought the terrible power of the Aerians home to -the mind of Khalid the Magnificent more convincingly than the position -in which he now stood. Absolute master of the greatest empire on earth, -he stood on the terrace of his own palace, in the midst of his own -capital, and with thousands of soldiers within call, as helpless as a -child. - -But before he could force the words of surrender from his reluctant -lips an event occurred which, brave as he was, struck terror to his -heart. Alan had raised his rapier to command the attention of his men -at the guns, and the captain of the Sultan’s guards, thinking he was -going to strike his master, rushed forward and struck at the uplifted -blade with his scimitar. As the steel rang upon the azurine the -Damascus blade splintered to the hilt. - -With a cry half of rage and half of fear the Moslem whipped a pistol -out of his sash, but before he could level it the bright blue blade -descended swiftly, and when its point was within a foot of his -assailant’s eyes Alan dropped his own pistol and pressed a jewel in the -centre of his belt-clasp. As he did so a pale blue flame leapt from the -point of his sword, and the Moslem, without as much as a sigh, dropped -dead on the floor of the terrace. - -“Mashallah!” cried the Sultan, recoiling in ungovernable terror. “What -are you, man or fiend, that you carry the lightnings in your hand?” - -“A man like yourself, Sultan, and one who wishes your Majesty no evil,” -replied Alan. “I am Alan Arnold, the son of the President of Aeria, and -therefore your friend, unless you choose to make me your enemy. I am at -present in command of the cruiser _Ithuriel_, and we have followed that -Russian vessel for over five thousand miles to find out what his errand -was. When he landed on your palace we guessed it, I think, pretty -nearly. Lossenski came to propose an alliance between your Majesty and -his mistress, Olga Romanoff, did he not?” - -Before he replied the Sultan, seeing some of his guards advancing -again, and being now convinced that resistance was both unnecessary and -impossible, ordered them to take away the body of their comrade and -those of the two Russians who had been shot. Then he turned to Alan, -and said with politeness that was perhaps more Oriental than sincere-- - -“Pardon my ignorance, Prince of the Air! I did not know that I was -speaking to the son of one who is above all the kings of the earth. -That slave deserved his death for raising his arm against your -Highness. Yes, you are right. The Russian came to me with such a -proposal from her you name. Here is her letter. She styles herself -Tsarina of the Russias, but I have never heard her name before. Who is -she?” - -“I will tell your Majesty,” said Alan, taking the letter which the -Sultan now held out to him without hesitation, “for no one can tell -you better than I can. She is the last living child of the House -of Romanoff. She is beautiful beyond description, and evil beyond -comprehension. She aspires to rule in fact as what she styles herself -in name, and to bring back the gloom of despotism and oppression on the -earth. - -“She and her accomplices are responsible for that terrorism of the seas -which has paralysed international commerce for more than five years, -and they are also in possession of a fleet of about thirty air-ships. -How they were enabled to construct them there is now no time to -explain. Suffice it to say that they have them, that they have dared to -challenge the forces of Aeria to a contest for the empire of the world, -and that during the fortnight they have been fighting they have had -very much the worst of it. - -“We have practically crippled their sea-power, blown up their submarine -dockyard, and destroyed about half of their aerial fleet. I tell you -this in order that you may receive her proposals with your eyes open. -The course of events has made your Majesty to a great extent the -arbiter of the destinies of humanity. - -“Olga Romanoff knows that you have a splendid army at command, that you -have illimitable wealth to spend on war material, and that an alliance -between you would be irresistible. As an independent sovereign it is, -of course, within your right, as it is within your power, to conclude -this alliance if you think fit. Do so if you choose; but remember that -if you do you must assume the tremendous responsibility of plunging the -whole world into war, and bringing inconceivable desolation upon your -fellow-creatures. You will be allying yourself with the worst enemies -of humanity--nay, with the only enemies that humanity has on earth. - -“This Olga Romanoff is called by her followers the Syren of the Skies, -and the name is an apt one, for she is a very syren, armed with arts -that can charm a man’s heart out of his breast, make him forget his -duty to himself and his loyalty to his race, and, like Circe of old, -reduce him to an animal that exists only for the execution of her will -and the gratification of her desires. I speak with knowledge; for I -have felt, and through me the world will feel, the terrible force of -her spells, and I tell you frankly, as man speaking honestly with man, -that if you make this alliance there will be war between your people -and mine to the death. - -“As far as a single man can do so, you hold the fate of mankind in your -hand, and within the next forty-eight hours you will decide it. Now I -have done my duty, and given you such warning as I can. You will answer -for your decision at the bar of God, and it is not for me to say more. - -“Whether we meet again as enemies or not, let us part friends, and let -me implore you, for the love of God and your kind, to rest content with -what the Fates have already given you. You have raised the Moslem power -to a pitch of splendour and dominion far beyond all its former glories. -You have all that man could ask for”-- - -“Yes, as a man,” interrupted the Sultan, who up to this point had -listened with silent attention to Alan’s quick, earnest words. “But not -all that the Commander of the Faithful may be content with. I know not -what the religion of your people is, but you know that the laws of mine -command me, as they command every true Moslem, to plant the banner of -the Prophet over the habitations of the infidel and to give the enemies -of the Faith the choice between the sword and the Koran. - -“It is not for mere conquest that I have created my armies and my -fleet. It is in obedience to the commands of Heaven, which has given me -the means of conquering the earth for Islam.” - -Khalid spoke rapidly and fiercely with heaving breast and eyes blazing -with the lurid light of fanaticism. Alan heard him out in silence. Then -his hand fell heavily on the Moslem’s shoulder, and holding him at -arm’s length he looked him straight in the eyes and said, slowly and -deliberately-- - -“Sultan, a man’s faith, by whatever name it may be called, is no -concern of ours. He is responsible for it to his God, and there is an -end of it. But when you tell me that your faith commands you to force -it with fire and sword upon the consciences of those who hold another -creed, then I tell you to your face that you are a fanatic and a -persecutor. - -“Blood enough and to spare has been shed in the wars of creeds, and -if I believed that you meant to revive the warfare between Cross and -Crescent, I would strike you dead where you stand, as I struck your -slave down just now. But I cannot believe it either of you or any other -enlightened man. - -“I am not in any mood to utter empty threats, but I am speaking no -idle words when I tell you that the hour in which you make war on -Christendom, either for political or religious conquest, shall be the -hour in which you will hear the voice of Destiny speaking your own doom. - -“More than that, I ask you now to pledge me your word as an honest -man and a ruling King that for twelve months from now, at the very -least, you will neither draw a sword nor fire a shot either against -Anglo-Saxondom or any other Power.” - -He stopped, and took his hand from the Sultan’s shoulder. Khalid -recoiled and drew himself up to the full height of his royal stature as -he replied-- - -“Prince of the Air--demi-god almost as you are--you must learn that -the Commander of the Faithful is not to be dictated to on the roof of -his own palace, even by you. Am I your slave that you should lay these -commands upon me?” - -Before he made any reply in words Alan communicated a few rapid orders -to those in command of the two air-ships in the Aerian sign-language. -The _Ithuriel_ rose from above the _Vindaya_, as the Russian air-ship -was named, and both vessels ranged themselves alongside the front of -the terrace. The Sultan watched this manœuvre in helpless silence, well -knowing that whatever it imported he was powerless to resist. Then Alan -went on-- - -“Not my slave, Sultan, but my fellow-man, and as such I will, if I -can, and by any means within my power, prevent you from committing such -a colossal crime as that which I am afraid I must now believe you are -contemplating. Now listen well, for my words mean much. - -“Those two air-ships could lay your capital, vast and splendid as it -is, in ruins before to-morrow’s sun rises, and as surely as those stars -are shining above us they shall do so unless you give me the pledge I -ask for. I ask it in the name of all humanity, and I will not spare a -few thousands of lives to enforce it.” - -“If you could!” ejaculated the Sultan, half involuntarily. “I have -heard much of your wonderful air-ships, but do you know that I have a -hundred thousand soldiers in the city, and that I have hundreds of guns -which will hurl their projectiles for miles into the air? If only one -of the hundreds struck either of those vessels of yours, she would fall -like a stone and be dashed to pieces on the earth. The fighting would -not be all on one side.” - -His tone grew more and more defiant as he went on, and Alan saw that -some stern lesson would be necessary to induce him to give the pledge -upon which the safety of millions depended. In quiet, even tones, that -contrasted strongly with those of the Moslem, he said-- - -“We of Aeria are not accustomed to boast our prowess lightly, and I -am threatening nothing that I cannot do. Still, I do not wish you to -give the pledge I ask save in the fullest knowledge. If you will trust -yourself with me on board the _Ithuriel_ for an hour under my pledge of -your safe return I will prove to you to demonstration that your city -would be as defenceless beneath our guns as a collection of tents would -be. The moon is high enough now to give us plenty of light for the -experiment if you think fit to make it.” - -The Sultan hesitated for a few moments, as though in doubt whether -he would be permitted to return if he once allowed the _Ithuriel_ to -carry him away from the earth. Then he remembered that no man had ever -known the Aerian who had broken his word. He looked into Alan’s strong, -frank face, and read there an absolute assurance that his safety would -be respected. Then, with a slight inclination of his head, he said-- - -“Your words are wise. I will come, and if you convince me that you can -do as you say I will swear by the holy name of the Prophet that I will -make no war upon any man for a year from now.” - -Alan signalled to the _Ithuriel_, which ran in close to the terrace. -The door of the deck-chamber opened, a gangway was run out, and for the -first time in his life Sultan Khalid trod the deck of a cruiser of the -air. The _Ithuriel_ and the _Vindaya_ at once mounted up into the now -brightly moonlit atmosphere. - -The Sultan saw the myriad lights of his splendid capital sink swiftly -down into a vast abyss that seemed to open beneath him. The dim horizon -widened out until it enclosed an immense expanse of pale grey desert to -the south, while to the north a dark stretch of sea spread out farther -than the eye could reach. Up and up the air-ships soared until the -lights of Alexandria glimmered like a faint white mist at the bottom of -a seemingly unfathomable gulf. At length Alan, who was standing beside -him, pointed down and said-- - -“There is your city. If I gave the word, a hundred shells a minute -would be rained on to it from here. Do you think your guns could reach -us?” - -“No,” said the Sultan, striving in vain to repress a shudder at the -fearful prospect disclosed by Alan’s words. “But how could your shells -strike that little patch of light which is miles away, and thousands of -feet below us?” - -“That, too, I will prove to you, but not at the expense of your city.” - -He sent an order to the engine-room, and the _Ithuriel_ swerved round -to the northward and, followed by the _Vindaya_, swept out over the -Mediterranean, in the direction of Crete. - -Half an hour’s flight at full speed brought them in sight of a small -rocky islet which showed like a black spot on the surface of the -moonlit sea. The two air-ships were stopped six thousand feet above -the water, and about four miles from the heap of rocks. Alan then gave -orders for each of the ships to train four guns upon it. - -“Now,” he said to the Sultan, “fix your glass on that mass of rocks -down yonder and watch what happens.” - -As he spoke he raised his hand and the eight guns were discharged -simultaneously. The Sultan heard no report and saw no flash, but a few -seconds later he saw through the night glasses that Alan had given him -a vast mass of flame of dazzling brilliancy burst out over the islet, -covering it completely, for the moment, with a mist of fire. - -“Now you shall see the effects of our shells,” said Alan. The two -vessels sank rapidly down in a slanting direction towards the spot -where the projectiles had struck. A hundred feet from the surface of -the water they stopped, and Alan said-- - -“Now look for the island.” - -Khalid swept the sea with his glass. The islet had vanished, the waves -were breaking over what seemed to be a sunken reef, and that was all. -With hands that trembled, in spite of all that he could do to keep them -steady, he took the glass from his eyes, saying in a voice that was -shaken by irresistible emotion-- - -“God is great, and I am but a man, while you are as demigods. It is -enough! I will give the pledge you ask for.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. AN UNHOLY ALLIANCE. - - -WITHIN a couple of hours after the destruction of the islet Sultan -Khalid was back in his palace, and the _Ithuriel_ and the _Vindaya_ had -departed with their prisoners of war for Kerguelen. - -Alan, quite content with the advantage he had gained by obtaining the -Sultan’s pledge of peace for a year, in comparison with which even the -capture of one of the Russian air-ships was of trifling importance, had -determined not to run the needless risk of an encounter with Olga’s -fleet, for he had learnt the strength of it from Lossenski, and saw -that it would be madness to attack it. - -Added to this there was far more important work in hand for him to -do, for it was absolutely imperative that a full report of what he -had discovered with regard to the proposed alliance between Olga and -the Sultan should be laid before the Council with as little delay as -possible, for if it ever became an accomplished fact it could not fail -to enormously complicate the coming struggle for the mastery of the -world. - -Therefore, as soon as he had placed a prize crew on board the -_Vindaya_, under the command of Alexis, he gave orders for the two -air-ships to proceed southward at full speed, having bidden the Sultan -farewell on the terrace of his palace, and left him to draw what moral -he could from the brief but startling experience that the midnight -hours had brought him. - -A few minutes before twelve on the following night the inhabitants of -Alexandria were thrown into a state of the most intense excitement by a -marvellous appearance in the southern heavens. Long streams of light, -which in power and brilliancy excelled even the great electric suns -with which the city was lighted, shot down out of the skies, flashing -hither and thither, and sweeping the earth below it in vast curves of -radiance. - -Now they streamed out in a huge fan of endless horizontal rays which -seemed to reach to the horizon, and now they crossed each other in -a network of beams, changing their positions with a rapidity which -dazzled and bewildered the beholders. Then they were projected -vertically to the zenith as though challenging the stars, and then they -blazed straight down upon the earth, bringing into strong relief of -light and shadow everything they fell upon. - -Instantly the spacious streets were crowded with excited throngs -of people, and millions of eyes were cast heavenwards watching the -approach of the Syren and her aerial squadron. - -The twenty air-ships swept up out of the south at a speed of about -a hundred miles an hour in the form of a wide crescent, with the -_Revenge_ in the centre. They slowed down as they neared the city, -and the concentrated blaze of their lights soon fell upon the -Sultan’s palace, the magnificent proportions of which distinguished -it conspicuously even from the thousands of splendid edifices which -adorned the Moslem metropolis. - -Then, still keeping their relative positions with perfect accuracy, the -winged vessels sank downwards and wheeled round until they faced the -eastern terrace on which stood the Sultan with his Grand Vizier and -the chief officers of his household, awaiting the coming of his aerial -visitors. - -The flotilla stopped a hundred feet from the terrace. Its search-lights -were extinguished, but the strange and beautiful shapes of the cruisers -of the air stood out sharply defined against the bright background -formed by the myriad lights of the city. - -The _Revenge_, flying the long vanished Imperial Standard of Russia, -with its crowned black eagle on a broad ground of gold, at the mizzen, -the white flag of peace at the main, and the Star and Crescent of the -Moslem Empire at the fore, floated slowly forward till her shining ram -projected over the parapet and her three keels rested lightly upon it. - -Then one of the forward doors of the deck-chamber was drawn back by -some invisible agency, and the Sultan saw standing in the opening such -a vision of loveliness as he had never imagined even in his dreams of -the houris of Paradise. Clothed, according to her invariable custom, -in a plain clinging robe of royal purple, with no other ornament than -a coronet, consisting of a plain broad band of gold from which rose -above her temples two wings of silver filigree thickly encrusted with -diamonds, Olga Romanoff stood upon the deck of her flagship the perfect -incarnation of royal dignity and womanly beauty. - -Khalid, who had advanced to the parapet as the squadron approached, -saw instantly that this could be none other than the woman whom Alan -Arnold had described as beautiful beyond description and evil beyond -comprehension. Few men had seen so many beautiful women as he had, and -there were scores of them waiting in his harem for the favouring glance -that none could win from him; but no sooner did his upward glance rest -upon the vision that was looking down upon him from the doorway of the -deck-chamber of the _Revenge_ than his eyes fell and his head bowed -in the involuntary homage that the supreme beauty of such a woman has -always claimed from such a man. - -Evil she might be, but evil in such a shape might be something more -than good in the eyes of some men, and of these Khalid the Magnificent -was one. His hot Arab blood was aflame the instant that he looked upon -her intoxicating loveliness, and half her errand was accomplished -before a word had passed between them. - -She returned his greeting with a gracious inclination of her -wing-crowned head, and as she did so he said-- - -“The Tsarina is welcome! My house and all that is in it is hers if she -will honour me by entering it, for she will make it more beautiful by -her presence.” - -“Your Majesty’s welcome is sweet in my ears,” she answered, almost -insensibly adopting his Oriental style of speech, “for I come as a -friend and I hope to go as an ally.” - -The gangway stairs dropped as she spoke, and as they did so the Sultan -made a sign and a pair of attendants brought forward some steps covered -with crimson velvet, which they placed so that she could descend from -the parapet, to which the Sultan himself ascended to meet her as she -came down. Taking her hand on the parapet, he led her down to the -terrace with the grace of a king and the deference of a courtier. Then -he bent low over her hand and kissed it, and as he did so the attendant -officers of his empire bowed in silent and respectful salutation. - -Olga was at once conducted to one of the state apartments of the palace -in which the Sultan was wont to receive his most distinguished guests. -She was treated with even more respect than would have been accorded to -one of the crowned monarchs of the earth, for not only her wonderful -beauty and royal carriage, but the marvellous manner of her coming and -the tremendous power represented by the flotilla of air-ships inspired -both the Sultan and his subjects with a deference that amounted almost -to homage. - -Then, too, the mystery and romance which invested her name and family -and fortune distinguished her as a woman apart from all other women -in the world. It might be, as Alan had told the Sultan, that she was -really the enemy of the human race, that her true object was to destroy -the peace of the world, and rekindle the fires of war on earth, but -still the present romance was stronger than the future, and possibly -problematical, reality, and so it would hardly be too much to say that -Olga had succeeded in removing the impression left by Alan on Khalid’s -mind before she had been an hour under his roof. - -She naturally expected that one of the first to receive her would be -the ambassador who had preceded her, but, after looking anxiously for -him and not finding him either on the terrace or in the reception-room, -she turned to Khalid and said-- - -“I do not see my ambassador here, and yet he must have arrived, since -your Majesty tells me that you have been expecting me.” - -The Sultan’s face darkened, and his brows slightly contracted, as he -replied-- - -“Tsarina, I have been waiting for an opportunity to tell you what -cannot but be unwelcome news. Your ambassador, Orloff Lossenski, is not -here”-- - -“What!” cried Olga, half rising from her seat, “not here! Surely he has -not presumed to leave before my arrival? I can hardly believe that of -him.” - -“He has gone, nevertheless,” said the Sultan, “though not by his will -or mine, I can assure you. Scarcely had his vessel alighted on the -terrace yonder, and he had disembarked, when an Aerian cruiser dropped -down as silently as a shadow from the skies. - -“Whence it came I know not, but it would seem that these Aerians see -everything, and that their hands reach everywhere. In a moment she had -dropped upon your ambassador’s vessel, splintering her masts, and yet -so softly did she alight that the glass dome was not broken. Then her -crew streamed out of the doors of the deck-chamber, and the next I knew -was that your ambassador and I were covered by half a score of pistols -and rifles and commanded to stand still on pain of death. - -“Then Alan Arnold alighted, forced your envoy to surrender, struck -one of my guards dead by some mysterious lightning that flashed from -his sword, and, after carrying me away into the air over the sea and -blasting a rock out of the waters to prove to me the power of his guns, -brought me back honourably and in safety to await your coming. Truly -these Aerians are more as gods than men!” - -Furious as the unexpected tidings made her, Olga yet managed to -restrain her anger sufficiently to reply with wonderful coolness-- - -“Your Majesty gives me sad and bitter news; but it is the fortune of -war, and I must not complain. The air-ship that is taken by surprise -is lost, and Orloff Lossenski fell a victim to his own carelessness.” - -Then her mood changed swiftly, and a soft and musical laugh came from -her smiling lips as she went on-- - -“But it is a poor revenge, after all. That same Alan Arnold, the son of -the great President of Aeria, was my would-be lover and slave for over -five years. For my sake he turned traitor to his name and race, gave -up the _Revenge_ to me and told me all the jealously-guarded secrets -of aerial navigation. He killed my brother in a quarrel, but he was -useful, so I let him live--a prisoner of war, till I had done with him. -Then I set him free, when, perhaps, I ought to have kept him safe, to -go and tell his people what a fool I had made of him. I suppose he did -not tell your Majesty that?” - -“No,” laughed Khalid in reply, wondering what magic she had used to -accomplish so marvellous a charm, “he did not. But such a miracle -proves that you have been truly named the Syren of the Skies, as he -said you are, for no other woman could have worked such a wonder and -disputed the empire of the air with the masters of the world.” - -“That is true,” replied Olga, lowering her voice to a tone of intense -earnestness, “and the fact that I did it single-handed proves, I hope, -that with good friends and true allies I can do more than dispute that -empire with the Aerians, these despots of peace who have made the world -a paradise of the commonplace, and fettered all strongest and most -aspiring spirits so that they might be equal with the coward and the -fool. - -“But those are matters which I would discuss with your Majesty in -private, and it is too late in the night to go into them now. You tell -me that Alan Arnold has shown you what his air-ships can do. If your -Majesty will honour the _Revenge_ by being my guest for to-morrow I -will show you that mine are in nowise inferior to them. - -“Indeed, as I have told you, the _Revenge_ is an Aerian ship, built in -the enchanted land of Aeria, and if you will to-morrow she shall carry -you over the whole of your dominions, and after that over those other -dominions that shall be yours if you approve the plans that I will lay -before you.” - -She paused and looked at Khalid with cheeks glowing and eyes shining -with enthusiasm and passion. He returned her glance with one no less -fiery and passionate as he replied-- - -“I will be your guest, as you say, but the honour and the favour will -be to me, your Majesty--for Majesty you are, crowned by the hand of -favouring Nature with that which makes all men your subjects. Your -air-ships shall rest in the garden of my palace to-night, and an hour -after sunrise you shall find me ready for another journey to the -skies, for my first experience has given me a taste for more. Till -then farewell. The memory of your eyes will make me dream of Paradise -to-night!” - -There was that in his tone which told Olga that his words meant more -than a neatly turned Oriental compliment, and as he stooped and kissed -her hand in leave-taking she said half in jest and half in earnest-- - -“And I shall dream of the nearer glories of the world-empire which your -Majesty and I may in the not very distant future divide between us.” - -“Or share together!” said Khalid in his soul, as he raised his head -again and their eyes met. - -At the appointed time the next morning the squadron rose into the air -from the palace gardens. In order to produce as widespread an effect -as possible, Olga had extended her invitation to the Grand Vizier -and about a score of the Sultan’s highest officials, including the -commanders of his armies and fleets who happened to be in Alexandria -at the time. These were distributed among the twenty air-ships, but -Olga took care to arrange matters so that only the Grand Vizier should -accompany the Sultan on board the _Revenge_. - -In order that the Vizier, who was a cool-headed, wary, far-seeing man -of nearly seventy, and therefore beyond the power of her own personal -spells, might not interfere with her designs upon his master, she lost -no time in placing him under the power of the drug which she had -already used with such disastrous results to the world. - -Although he had said nothing about it, she felt certain that Khalid -must have been warned by Alan of the danger of taking anything to eat -or drink from her hands, and therefore she had decided to make no -attempt upon his liberty of will, unless it became absolutely necessary -to do so; but the Vizier was easily taken unawares, and she had little -difficulty in causing him to drink a cup of coffee while her chief -engineer was explaining the working of the machinery to the Sultan in -the engine-room. - -The coffee, of course, contained a sufficient quantity of the drug to -deprive the Vizier of all power of opposing her will or resisting her -suggestions for many hours to come. So far as all independent advice -was concerned, he was safely disposed of. - -The air-ships rose to an elevation of some two thousand feet, and at -a speed of two hundred miles an hour ran first along the valley of -the Nile to the southward. At Khartoum they swerved to the eastward, -crossed the mountains of the Red Sea littoral at a height of nine -thousand feet, then sank again and skirted the Arabian coast until -Mecca, the sacred city of Islam, came in sight. - -The ancient temple of the Kaaba, containing the tomb of the Prophet, -still stood, almost unchanged by the hand of time, amid the splendid -buildings, verdant gardens, and long groves of palms with which the new -Mecca of the twenty-first century was adorned. Pointing down towards -it, Olga said to the Sultan, who was standing by her side on the deck, -dazzled by the splendours of the swiftly-changing prospects of the -scene below-- - -“There is the Holy City, which your Majesty may some day make the -religious capital of the world. That would be an achievement worthy of -the Commander of the Faithful and the descendant of the Prophet, would -it not?” - -Khalid looked down at the city, over which they were now speeding in -the direction of Medinah, and was silent for a few moments; then he -raised his eyes to hers and said-- - -“Even so; but have you counted the cost of achieving it to me and my -people? Before the banner of the Crescent could float over a world-wide -empire of Islam we should have to triumph in a war which would involve -the whole human race, and this means that we should first have to -destroy those who have been lords of the earth and of the air for more -than a century.” - -“The Aerians are but men,” said Olga, a trifle coldly. “Why should your -Majesty fear them if you are armed with the same weapons that they -wield? I suppose Alan Arnold has threatened you and your people with -nothing less than annihilation should you conclude this alliance with -me? But why should you fear? I have met the Aerians in battle, and you -see I am not annihilated.” - -“I do not fear them as personal enemies,” replied Khalid proudly, “but -only as the possible destroyers of my people, who would be defenceless -against them. Think of the destruction you could rain upon the sacred -city down yonder, while it could strike no blow in return. That would -be the fate of Alexandria and all the capitals of my empire, and while -my armies were marching to the conquest of Christendom our homes would -be laid in ruins and our wives and children slain without mercy. - -“Show me,” he continued, speaking more earnestly and rapidly, “how they -are to be protected against this, and our alliance may become possible.” - -“It is purely a matter of relative strength,” replied Olga. “Do you -know why this squadron of mine is allowed to pursue its way unmolested, -although the Aerians know of its existence? It is because, although, -as Alan Arnold truly told you, by superior skill and experience in -handling their ships they have been able to destroy about half my -fleet, I am still stronger in the air than they are, and they know that -we have now gained the experience which we lacked. - -“They have only three vessels, counting the one you saw captured, as -swift and powerful as this, while I have twenty-six. None of their -smaller vessels dare venture within reach of my guns, for to do so -would be to meet certain destruction. They are doubtless building -others as strong and swift as these in preparation for the struggle -which they know must come. But if we join hands against them we shall -be stronger than they will be when the year of your truce is ended. - -“My engineers shall teach yours how to build air-ships in all respects -equal to these, and submarine cruisers, a dozen of which could destroy -your present navies in a day. With all the resources of your empire -at command, you could possess in a year from now an aerial navy of a -thousand ships and a sea fleet of equal strength. - -“Then you would be strong enough to sweep the seas from pole to pole, -and to storm the mountain battlements of Aeria itself. You must not -forget that what the Aerians could do to your cities you could do to -Aeria and to all the capitals of Christendom. City for city, you could -take your revenge, until”-- - -“Until the whole earth was laid waste and the habitations of men were -desolate,” broke in Khalid, overwhelmed by the horror of the prospect. -“It is too great a price to pay, even for the empire of the world and -the supremacy of Islam, even if we survived the ruin that we should -have brought upon the world.” - -“Too great if there were any need to pay it,” said Olga quickly, seeing -that her lust of conquest and revenge had carried her too far. “But -matters will never come to such a pass as that. - -“Our battlefields will be the countries that we shall invade and -conquer, not our own, and enough air-ships can be devoted to the -defence of your cities to repel any attack the Aerians may make upon -them. Your Majesty must not forget, too, that they will not dare to -send any very large force away from Aeria, for they well know that the -final battle for the possession of the earth will have to be fought out -round the summits of its mountains.” - -“You are right and I was wrong, Tsarina,” said the Sultan in an altered -tone, “and the Prophet has said of the infidel, ‘Such as are stubborn -and refuse the true faith ye shall slay without mercy. Kill them -wherever ye find them’--but alas”-- - -He stopped suddenly and looked at her, and she could see a smile -moving his lips under his black beard and moustache. She divined -instantly what was passing in his mind, and saw the opportunity for a -stroke of diplomacy which, base as it was, she made without a moment’s -hesitation. Before he could continue, she turned and faced him, looking -into his eyes with a glance that dazzled him, and said in a low, quick, -earnest tone-- - -“I know what you would say, Sultan Khalid. You would say that I and my -people are infidels in your eyes, and therefore worthy of destruction. -I have thought of that--but the deck is too public a place for the -discussion of such a matter. Call your Vizier and we will retire to my -own saloon and talk of it there.” - -Khalid obeyed, wondering what was coming next from the lips of the -Syren whose fatal beauty of person and subtlety of mind were luring -him on to plunge into an ocean of blood of which no human eyes could -see the further shore--if it had one at all--and as soon as the three -were seated in the room, which had once been Alan’s, Olga, addressing -the Vizier first, rapidly but very clearly sketched out the project -that had been suggested to her by Lossenski, and then, turning to the -Sultan, she said-- - -“There seems now but one real bar to such an alliance, and that is the -difference in our faiths, or, I should rather say, in our creeds. I -have not ignored this; nay, I have pondered it deeply and earnestly. -Creeds change with times, and Russia, like the rest of Europe, has now -no real, living faith like yours. But you shall give it to them if -you wish, and the day that I am proclaimed Empress of the Russias the -Crescent shall shine on the towers of the Kremlin.” - -“What do I hear?” cried Khalid, springing to his feet in amazement at -her astounding words; “you and your people will accept the Koran and -acknowledge the Prophet?” - -“I will and they shall,” said Olga calmly and firmly, committing -herself to the huge apostasy without a tremor in her voice. “Remember, -too, that millions who should by right be my subjects in Asia are -already good Moslems. If the Russians refuse to obey me in this -they will be rebels, and you shall do with them as you will do with -the other peoples of Christendom if they remain stubborn. Let your -Majesty’s chief minister and favourite counsellor speak and say whether -or not I have spoken fairly.” - -“Speak, Musa al Ghazi!” said the Sultan, in a voice that betrayed -intense emotion, “and weigh your words well, for many and great issues -may depend upon them.” - -“Commander of the Faithful!” said the old man, speaking slowly and -with some hesitation, as though he were repeating a lesson hardly yet -learnt, “I can speak but the words that my soul echoes from without. A -strange power has seemed to take possession of me, and I speak as one -to whom another has taught what he should say. - -“Yet the words seem wise to me, and I will speak them, lest, not doing -so, I should have to answer for my negligence. If it is written that -you shall be the one chosen of Heaven to plant the Crescent where -now falls the shadow of the Cross, and reign supreme, sole lord of a -Moslem world, then have the means been sent to you by the hand of her -who gives you the means of measuring strength with the masters of the -nations, by whose pleasure we possess that which we have, and without -whose countenance your Majesty would not much longer remain Commander -of the Faithful. - -“I would not willingly speak words of offence, but it is necessary to -recognise that the Moslem practises his faith only by permission of -those who, if they hold any, hold another.” - -“By the Beard of the Prophet, thou hast said it, Musa! I am a King -by permission, a High Priest of Islam by sufferance of the infidel!” -exclaimed Khalid, as the hot blood rushed to his swarthy cheeks and the -fire of fanaticism leapt into his eyes. - -“But I will be so mean a thing no longer than the time of the truce to -which I have pledged my word. In the blood of the infidel I will wipe -out this shame on Islam, yea, though the whole earth shall be drenched -with the blood and tears that shall be licked up by the fires of war. -It is my destiny, and I will do it, or my name shall perish from the -earth for ever! - -“Tsarina Olga, I have seen and heard enough. Let us return to my palace -and arrange the terms of our alliance; and when you have sworn upon -the Koran that you will take Allah for your God and Mohammed for your -Prophet, I will sign them, and together we will conquer the world for -Islam. It is kismet, and that which is written shall be done!” - -Olga looked upon the splendid figure of the Sultan as he stood before -her, his athletic form dilated and his face glorified by the passion of -religious fervour that was burning within him, and as she did so a new -light dawned upon her. She saw that this strong, fiery soul might some -day conquer even hers, and fuse it into itself. - -It would be an unholy union, a love bought with apostasy from her faith -and sealed with treachery to her people and the trust that she had -inherited from her forefathers; but what were apostasy and treachery to -her now that the love she had stained her soul with blood and untold -crime to win was lost to her for ever? - -Earthly pomp and power, the pomp of imperial rule and the power -of life and death, of happiness and misery, over millions of her -fellow-creatures were well worth living for, and with them might come -love again, or if not love, then passion, fierce and all-consuming, for -this one king of earth who dared to be a king in fact as well as in -name, and then--Before she could make any reply to the Sultan’s words, -the slow, measured tones of the Vizier sounded again, saying-- - -“If I may speak again, Majesties”-- - -“Say on, good Musa!” said the Sultan, “for so far thou hast spoken the -words of wisdom.” - -“I would say,” continued the old man, “that even as the winged steed -Alborak bore the Prophet from earth to the Seventh Heaven, so may it -be written that the winged ship of Tsarina Olga shall bear thee, my -Master, into that Paradise of love which so far thou hast sought and -not found.” - -“What say you, well-named Syren of the Skies, to that?” said Khalid, -taking a step towards the couch on which Olga was sitting, and making a -half-appealing gesture with both his hands. - -She rose to her feet and faced him. One look into his passion-lighted -eyes told her that the victory was already won, and that strength could -now give place to softness. She dropped her eyes before his burning -gaze, and, crossing her hands upon her bosom with a pretty semblance of -submission, said, in a low, sweet tone that he heard now for the first -time-- - -“All things are possible, and if this be possible, then more than -Cleopatra lost for Antony I will win for you, and you shall reign sole -Cæsar of a subject world. As for me, when that comes to pass, let it be -to me as it shall seem good in the eyes of my lord the King!” - -And so saying she bowed slightly before him and turned and passed out -of the saloon, seeing the vision of him whom she had loved in vain -through the mist of tears which rose in that instant to her eyes. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. A MOMENTOUS COMMISSION. - - -TWELVE hours after they had left the Sultan on the terrace of his -palace, the _Ithuriel_ and the _Vindaya_ dropped through the clouds on -to the snow-covered surface of Kerguelen Island, and within an hour -the despatch-vessel _Vega_ was speeding away north-westward to Aeria -with a full account of the results achieved by the first cruise of the -_Ithuriel_. - -The twenty-four hours which would have to elapse before the reply of -the Council could be received were employed in repairing the damage -done to the _Vindaya_, and in renewing the motive-power and ammunition -of both vessels. Sundry small but effective improvements in the -mechanism and appointments of the _Vindaya_ were also made, and last, -but by no means least important, the name of the prize was changed. - -“You are henceforth her commander, old fellow,” said Alan to Alexis -when the question of the new name came up, “and therefore it is for you -to say what her name shall be.” - -“I knew you would say that,” replied Alexis, his grave, thoughtful face -lighting up with a quick flush and an almost boyish smile, “and, of -course, I needn’t tell you what name I should like above all things to -give her, but, then, you see”-- - -“I see nothing but a quite unaccountable embarrassment written -largely upon those ingenuous features of yours, my blushing Achates,” -interrupted Alan, with a laugh that deepened the color on his friend’s -cheeks. - -“Well, you see, I’m not quite sure whether she would like it under the -circumstances,” said Alexis hesitatingly. - -“I didn’t know that air-ships had any choice in the question of their -names any more than children have,” said Alan, gravely stroking his -beard and looking at his friend with a laugh in his eyes. - -“Don’t assume a density that the gods have not given you,” laughed -Alexis in return. “You know very well who the she is to whom I refer. -Now, suppose you were going to name and command the _Vindaya_, what -would you call her?” - -“I would do as you want to do, my friend,” said Alan, laughing outright -now, “although, I fear, with more chance of getting snubbed for my -temerity, and trust to winning forgiveness from the lips of her -name-mother by good service and hard hitting.” - -“Perfectly reasoned!” exclaimed Alexis, “and so henceforth, until I -have express orders to call her something else--the _Forlorn Hope_, -for instance--she shall be the _Isma_, and on her decks I will win the -right to ask--I mean to wear the golden wings again, or else she will -never cross the confines of Aeria.” - -“You will win more than the golden wings, I hope and believe,” said -Alan, now very serious again, “for you evidently have a better chance -of forgiveness than I have, though I don’t despair, mind you, for I am -determined never to go back to Aeria unless I feel that I can fairly -ask Alma to forgive what is past. And if she refuses I will hunt Olga -Romanoff to the ends of the earth till I take her alive, and then I -will carry her to Aeria, and at Alma’s feet I will strike her dead with -my own hand so that she may know the truth!” - -“Amen,” said Alexis, striding forward and taking his hand. “And if Alma -says ‘No’ to you I will never see Isma’s face again till I have helped -you to clip the Syren’s wings, and take her to meet her just reward. It -is a bargain! Between us we will bring these proud damozels to sweet -reasonableness. Now let us go and get a bottle of sparkling Aerian, and -rename the _Vindaya_ in proper form.” - -Thus it came to pass that when the _Ithuriel_ next took the air her -consort bore the name that was dearest to her commander’s heart. - -The anxiously-expected _Vega_ did not return till nearly thirty hours -after her departure. The delay proved that the Council had considered -the tidings that she had brought of great importance, and had therefore -taken some time to deliberate over them. This turned out to be the -case, and the decision arrived at by the rulers of Aeria showed that -they looked upon the crisis as grave in the last degree. - -The return despatch stated that within twenty-four hours after the -arrival of the _Vega_ at Kerguelen a fleet of fifty air-ships would -be at the disposal of Alan and Alexis, who were ordered to place -themselves at the head of it and proceed with all speed to Alexandria, -taking Orloff Lossenski and the other Russian prisoners with them. - -Alan was to be the bearer of an ultimatum to the Sultan confirming, -in the name of the President and Council of Aeria, the provisional -declaration of war which he had threatened as the result of an alliance -with Olga Romanoff, and stating that at sunrise on the 16th of May in -the following year, hostilities would be commenced against him, and -continued to the point of extermination so far as all men who bore arms -were concerned. - -He was also called upon to order the Russian squadron to leave his -capital, should it still be there, within two hours. If he refused, or -if Olga declined to remove her ships, they were to be engaged there and -then, and, if possible, destroyed at all costs. This latter part of the -message was to be conveyed to Olga in a different form by the hands of -Lossenski, who was then to be set at liberty with his fellow-prisoners. - -If Olga consented to go within the given time, it would be necessary -to allow her to depart unmolested, as the superior speed of her ships -would place the bulk of the Aerian fleet at a hopeless disadvantage in -a pursuit, and expose it to certain destruction. If she insisted on -fighting, then, of course, the hazard of battle must be taken, and the -Council relied upon the commanders of its fleet to do their duty as -their judgment should point it out to them. No specific terms were to -be made with Olga and her adherents, but hostilities were, if possible, -to be avoided until the Sultan’s year of truce had expired, and the new -Aerian fleet was ready to take the air. - -If no fighting took place Alan was to proceed with his squadron to -London with a third despatch to the King of Britain, as head of the -Anglo-Saxon Federation, advising him, in the face of the threatening -danger, to call together the rulers of Anglo-Saxondom and take -immediate measures for mutual defence against the Moslems in case -they should invade Europe when the year of truce was up. For this -purpose arms in any quantities that might be needed would be sent out -from Aeria, and the Aerians would undertake the task of drilling the -newly-formed armies and instructing them in the use of the weapons. - -In addition to this the necessary works and power-stations for building -and equipping at least a thousand of the largest air-ships were to -be established under Aerian control in England, and at the same time -dockyards were to be set up for the construction of an equal number of -submarine vessels of the _Narwhal_ type. It was, however, to be made an -absolute condition of this assistance and protection that the armies -and aerial and sea navies were to be entirely officered by Aerians, and -were to be under the unquestioned control of the President of Aeria. - -This condition was, for obvious reasons, held by the Council to be -absolutely essential to success. Divided commands in the face of a foe -which would obey blindly the orders of a single chief who had already -shown that he could create armies and fleets of high efficiency, would -mean inevitable failure and disaster. Therefore the absolute control -of Anglo-Saxondom must once more be placed in the hands of the Supreme -Council until the danger was passed and peace was restored, or Aeria -would fight the battle alone and leave the nations of Anglo-Saxondom to -their fate. - -The immediate effect of the orders brought by the _Vega_ was to throw -the station of Kerguelen into a state of the most intense activity. -Alan at once assumed command by common consent, and, assisted by -Alexis, Admiral Forrest, and Captain Ernstein, got everything in -readiness for the reception of the coming squadron from Aeria. All -the defences of the station were also thoroughly inspected, from the -air-ships floating above the clouds to the submarine mines which -guarded the entrances to the harbours, and a general plan of the now -inevitable campaign was sketched out at a council of war held on the -evening of the _Vega’s_ return. - -It is scarcely necessary to say that the orders from headquarters -put both Alan and Alexis into the highest spirits. They had already -vindicated their claim to the confidence of the Council and their -fellow-countrymen, and the claim had been allowed without stint or -hesitation. - -Though their year of probation had only just begun they found -themselves intrusted with a mission, dangerous it is true, but also of -the most supreme importance, and Alan in particular felt his pulses -thrill with justifiable pride when he found himself charged with -the glorious task of doing almost exactly what his great ancestor, -Alan Tremayne, had done a hundred and thirty years before, when -he marshalled the millions of Anglo-Saxondom against the leagued -despotisms of Europe and overthrew them in the mighty conflict which -had given peace on earth for nearly five generations. - -Whether he would succeed as the Chief of the Terror had done depended -not upon himself so much as on Anglo-Saxondom itself. If the once -conquering race of earth had kept intact its old martial strength and -imperial spirit through the long years of peace and prosperity as its -kindred in Aeria had done, all would be well, and the disturbers of the -welfare of humanity would pay dearly and bitterly for their tremendous -crime. - -But if, like the Romans of old, they had allowed the tropical -atmosphere of material luxury to relax the fibres of their once sturdy -nature and weaken the arms which had once enclosed the world in their -embrace, then his mission would fail, however eloquently he might urge -it. A desolation infinitely greater than that which overwhelmed Rome -or Byzantium would fall upon Anglo-Saxondom, and its name would be the -only monument of its vanished glory. - -But the _Vega_ brought something more to Alan and Alexis than the -despatches and orders of the Council. This was a letter from Isma to -Alan, filled with the tenderest expressions of delight at the triumphs -which he and his “companion in arms” had already achieved, and of brave -and hopeful confidence in them, despite the terrible dangers that they -were going forth to confront. - -The letter concluded with the significant sentence--“When you come back -in triumph, as I know you will, there will not be one heart in Aeria -that will not beat more gladly for your sakes, not one hand that will -not be stretched out to greet you either in friendship or in love. -Remember this against the day of battle, and in the day of peace you -shall see how true my words are.” - -Although the letter made no mention of Alma, save as one of the -intimate friends who sent their “loving greetings” to the two men who -were going to lead the navy of Aeria to what might be the first battle -of a war that would be the most colossal and unsparing struggle ever -waged on earth, Alan was able to read enough between the lines to give -him hope. - -He knew enough of Alma’s proud and sensitive nature to fully understand -why no word had come directly from her to him, and also to recognise -that the task of winning her back from her estrangement would be no -light one. Indeed, of the two tasks which lay before him, the conquest -of the world and the reconquest of Alma’s heart, he looked with less -misgiving upon the former than he did upon the latter. Still he by no -means despaired, and what he had said to Alexis was justified in his -mind by the belief that in Isma he had the most eloquent of advocates -always at Alma’s side, pleading his cause even better than he could do -it himself, at anyrate for the present. - -As for Alexis, his lover’s eyes and more sanguine temperament found -in the letter ample justification for the re-naming of the _Vindaya_, -and if he forgot to return the precious sheet of paper to Alan after -he had read its contents, it was because he honestly felt that he had -the better right to it, and his companion in love and war apparently -recognised this, for he carefully refrained from asking him for it. -Thus well comforted with new-born hope, and impatiently longing -to begin the momentous work in hand, whether it was to be war or -diplomacy, they awaited the arrival of the promised fleet from Aeria, -which was expected to alight on the surface of Kerguelen about noon on -the day after the arrival of the _Vega_. - -A few minutes before twelve o’clock on the 19th of May one of the -look-out vessels floating five thousand feet above the clouds which -overhung Desolation Land telephoned, “Fleet from Aeria in sight,” -and half an hour after the receipt of the anxiously-expected news at -headquarters the fifty air-ships were grouped round the power-station -at the head of Christmas Harbour, renewing the motive power which had -been expended on the voyage from Aeria. - -When this operation was completed the fleet was equipped for a voyage -of thirty thousand miles if necessary. As every vessel was completely -furnished with all stores and munitions of war, no further preparations -had been made, and Alan was able to give the signal for the flotilla to -take the air in little more than an hour after its arrival at Kerguelen. - -It was divided into two divisions of twenty-five ships each, one led -by the _Ithuriel_ and the other by the _Isma_, and these rose into -the air, formed in two straight lines each about a quarter of a mile -long. The two flagships flew one on either flank, and slightly ahead -and above the main body. This formation enabled any signals made from -either of them to be instantly seen by every ship in the fleet. - -The distance to be traversed was five thousand eight hundred -geographical miles, and the voyage was performed at a speed of four -hundred miles an hour without incident. - -At daybreak on the 20th, the two divisions were floating in a wide -circle six thousand feet above Alexandria at a sufficient distance -to be practically invisible from the city, which nevertheless lay -completely at the mercy of the four hundred guns which were trained -upon it, and which, if the terms of the Council’s ultimatum were not -accepted by the Sultan and Olga, would reduce it to a wilderness of -ruins within an hour from the signal to fire being given. - -That the Russians were still the guests of the Sultan was made apparent -as soon as the light became strong enough for their squadron to be seen -resting on the earth in the gardens of the palace, with one look-out -ship stationed about fifteen hundred feet above the roof of the palace. -When all the ships were in their stations the _Ithuriel_ and the _Isma_ -ran up close to each other, and Alexis boarded the flagship to receive -his final instructions from Alan, who had undertaken the perilous duty -of conveying the ultimatum to the Sultan and his possible ally. - -Orloff Lossenski was on board the _Ithuriel_, and Alan requested him to -be present when Alexis received his orders. As he shook hands with the -Vice-Admiral, Alan said-- - -“I have asked Orloff Lossenski to hear our last arrangements made so -that he may recognise as well as we do that this is a matter of life -and death for all of us. For my own part, I am determined that the -wishes of the Council shall be obeyed, or the _Ithuriel_ and her crew -shall be buried with our enemies in the ruins of Alexandria. - -“We have not been seen yet from the Russian look-out ship, but they -will of course see the _Ithuriel_ going down. I shall descend flying -a flag of truce, and I feel certain that the Sultan will recognise it -himself and compel his allies to do so. But if not, if a single shot is -fired, or if the Russian squadron attempts to rise in the air until my -return, you are to give the signal to open fire upon the city, and the -fleet is not to cease firing until it is destroyed. - -“You are to forget that you are destroying friends as well as foes, for -I and all on board the _Ithuriel_ recognise that the honour of Aeria -and the safety of the world demand the sacrifice, and we are resolved -to make it. - -“I not only order this as your superior in command, I ask it as a -friend and brother in arms. I know you would gladly die in the same -cause if necessary, and so you must not hesitate to kill me and destroy -the _Ithuriel_ if the fortune of war compels you to do so.” - -Alan’s speech, spoken with the perfect steadiness of an unalterable -resolve, found a fitting response in the breast of his companion in -arms. Still holding his friend’s hand in what might be a farewell -clasp, Alexis simply replied-- - -“I see the necessity, and I will obey to the letter! God grant that you -may all return safe and sound; but if you don’t, you shall have such a -tomb as no man ever had before. Good-bye.” - -“Good-bye,” said Alan in the same steady tone, and then their hands -parted, and Alexis returned to his ship. - -“Now, Orloff Lossenski,” said Alan, turning to the Russian, “you have -heard my instructions, and you know that they will be obeyed. Neither -you nor your mistress have any right to expect mercy at my hands, and -you shall have none. Obey my orders to the letter, and see that your -mistress does the same, or Alexandria will be in ruins, before that sun -reaches the zenith.” - -“I have heard and I will obey, for the fortune of war is with you and -I must,” replied Lossenski, completely overmastered by the heroic -devotion displayed by Alan in what bade fair to be a crisis in the fate -of the world. - -A broad white flag of truce was now flown from the aftermast of the -_Ithuriel_. At the fore flew as a greeting to the Sultan the Star and -Crescent of Islam, while above both at the main floated the sky-blue -banner of Aeria, emblazoned with the golden wings united by a mailed -hand armed with a dagger. With every man at his station and every gun -ready for instant use, the flagship dropped swiftly down towards the -Russian vessel floating over the palace. - -Within a mile of her the signal, “We bring despatches to the Sultan,” -flew from the signal staff at the stern. The captain of the Russian -scout-ship read the signal and at once telephoned to the palace, with -which his ship was connected by an electric thread, for instructions. - -The _Ithuriel_ then flew a second signal, “If you rise we shall fire,” -and this he was forced to obey as the Aerian vessel was too far above -him for his guns to come into play. He therefore replied with the -signal, “I have asked for instructions. Wait for reply.” A few minutes -later Alan, keeping the Russian well under his guns, saw her drop -down to the earth and alight on the flat roof of the palace, on which -several figures could be seen moving about and scanning the skies with -glasses, which were speedily centred on the _Ithuriel_. - -Then a white flag was run up to the top of a flagstaff on one of the -minarets of the palace, a similar one was hoisted by the Russian -air-ship, and she rose towards the _Ithuriel_. Alan, feeling now sure -that the flag of truce would be respected for the Sultan’s sake, -allowed the ship to come stern on to the _Ithuriel_ until the two were -within speaking distance. - -As she approached, the Russian swung her stern guns out laterally, -and Alan did the same with his, so that for the time being neither -ship could injure the other. The stern doors were then opened, and the -Russian captain delivered a message to the effect that the Sultan had -just risen for morning prayers, and would receive the captain of the -_Ithuriel_ in half an hour. The Aerian vessel could therefore descend -without fear. - -“There is no question of fear,” replied Alan shortly. “I have not come -alone. Use your glasses and you will see that the city is surrounded, -but we shall respect the truce if you do.” - -The Russian stepped back with a hurried gesture and seized his glasses. -It was now quite light enough for him to see at that elevation a wide -circle of points of flashing blue light reflected from the hulls of the -Aerian fleet. He put down his glasses and replied-- - -“So I see! You would not have got here if patrols had been sent out as -I advised.” - -“Or else your patrols would not have come back,” said Alan, turning on -his heel and walking forward. - -Half an hour later the white flag on the minaret was dipped three times -as an invitation for the _Ithuriel_ to descend, and Alan, determined -to guard against any possible treachery on the part of the Russian -scout-ship, signalled to it to precede him, and so the two vessels sank -down and alighted almost together on the roof of the palace. - -The Sultan surrounded by his ministers was awaiting them, and as -soon as salutes had been exchanged Alan handed him the ultimatum of -the Council. As Khalid read the brief but pregnant message his brows -contracted, and an angry flush showed through the bronze of his skin. - -He read it twice over, stroking his beard slowly and deliberately as he -did so. Then he looked up and said to Alan in a tone from which he made -no effort to banish the accents of anger-- - -“Was not my word enough? Have I not promised that I would make no war -for a year? By what right do you order me to compel my friend and ally -to leave my city within two hours?” - -At the word “ally” Alan’s face assumed an expression of wrathful -sternness, and he replied-- - -“By the right which has always governed the issues of war--the power to -compel obedience.” - -“To compel!” cried the Sultan, in a still angrier tone. “What! with one -air-ship against twenty? Not even a Prince of the Air could do that.” - -“No Prince of the Air would be mad enough to make the attempt,” replied -Alan coldly. “Ask the captain of your scout-ship, and he will tell -you that your city is surrounded; and I can tell you that four hundred -guns are trained upon it at this moment, and that the firing of a shot, -or the rising of any air-ship but my own from the ground, will be the -signal for them all to be discharged. I need not tell your Majesty what -the result of that would be.” - -Khalid recoiled with a cry that was almost one of fear. He knew -instinctively that Alan was speaking the literal truth, without the -confirmation given by the captain of the scout-ship. He saw, too, that -Olga had deceived him, or at anyrate had been grievously mistaken, -when she had said that the Aerians would not send a fleet after her -squadron. They had done so, and so skilfully had its movements been -ordered, that the city had been taken by surprise, and lay at its mercy. - -Brave as he was, the strange terrors of the situation sent a thrill -of fear through his soul. There he stood, the proudest king on earth, -on the roof of his palace, beneath the smiling sky of an Egyptian -summer morning; and yet that smiling sky was charged with death and -destruction a hundredfold greater than if the thunder-clouds were -lowering on it, ready to hurl their lightnings upon the earth. - -He could see nothing but the blue heavens and the eastern sunlight -shining over the roofs of his capital; and yet he knew that the man -standing before him could, with a single signal, reduce the splendid -city to heaps of shattered, shapeless ruins, and bury its inhabitants -and its guests in one common tomb. - -Then what seemed to be a saving thought flashed through his mind, and -he said, almost in a tone of banter-- - -“But in that case we should not die alone, unless you have taught those -unsparing guns of yours to distinguish between friend and foe--the -signal for our destruction would be the signal for yours as well.” - -“Even so!” replied Alan gravely. “That is a contingency which I have -foreseen. Orloff Lossenski, tell his Majesty what my last orders to the -fleet were.” - -The Russian stepped forward, and after saluting the Sultan said-- - -“I heard the orders given, Majesty, and they were to that effect. -Friends and foes are to be destroyed alike, and nothing is to be left -of Alexandria but its ruins. - -“I am also charged with a message to my mistress, the Tsarina, which -tells her that if she does not leave within two hours her ships will -be attacked in the city, and that, too, would be disaster; and if my -words have still any weight with her I shall advise compliance with the -order of the Council. Will your Majesty permit me to be conducted to my -mistress in order that I may deliver my message in due form?” - -The Sultan did not seem to hear the request at all. The idea that -Alan and his crew should thus deliberately devote themselves and -their beautiful vessel to annihilation in the event of their orders -being disobeyed appalled and unnerved him. He knew nothing, save by -tradition, of the heights of heroism to which men can rise under -the stimulus of war, and he looked upon the man who had so calmly -pronounced the provisional death sentence of himself and his companions -as something more than human, as beings of a higher order, to fight -against whom would be impious rashness rather than courage. - -It was a situation that would have shaken the nerves of the sternest -and most experienced soldier of the nineteenth century, and so it was -no wonder that his spirit, unbraced by the discipline of war, shrank -from facing its terrors. He saw, too, that there was literally no -choice save between submission and destruction. To save, not only the -lives of himself and his people, but also those of his guests and -allies, he and they must submit and obey this imperious mandate. - -“It is the will of God!” he said, bowing his head slightly towards -Alan as he spoke. “They who cannot fight must yield. Hereafter we may -meet upon more equal terms, and then to-day’s humiliation shall not be -forgotten.” - -Alan inclined his head in reply, and said-- - -“So be it! As your Majesty has seemingly decided to involve the world -in the horrors of war, it is not for me to say any more. When the day -of battle comes, let the fortune of war decide between us. Meanwhile, -Orloff Lossenski, it is time that you took the Council’s message to -your mistress.” - -“Give it to me,” said the Sultan, stepping forward with outstretched -hands, “and I will take it to her, if she has risen yet.” - -“There is no need for that,” said a voice a few yards beyond Alan. “I -am here, and I will take it.” - -As the sweet, low, even tones, now so hatefully familiar, reached -Alan’s ears he turned sharply round, with a blaze of ungovernable anger -in his eyes, and saw Olga, calm and self-possessed in all the pride of -her imperial beauty, walking towards the group from an arched doorway -that led up from the interior of the palace. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. FACE TO FACE AGAIN. - - -SMILING and self-possessed as Olga appeared when she gained the roof of -the palace, she had passed through a perfect purgatory of conflicting -and agonising emotions since the news of the arrival of the _Ithuriel_ -had reached her in her room. Her tremendous and, but for the fact of -her strange, hopeless love, incomprehensible blunder in setting Alan -and Alexis free, instead of either killing them or keeping them in -life-long captivity, had already borne terrible fruit; but this visit, -made at the very moment when her plans were apparently crowned with -success, seemed to threaten nothing less than the complete ruin of all -her schemes. - -She knew instinctively that the city must be surrounded by an -overwhelming force of Aerian ships, for a single one to venture -thus into the midst of her own squadron, and, judging by her own -tactics, she expected nothing less than immediate annihilation as -the alternative to surrender. But even more bitter than this was the -thought of meeting, not only as a freeman, but as the commander of -the Aerian navy, the man who but a few days ago had been her docile, -unresisting slave, robbed of the highest attribute of his manhood by -the Circe-spell that she had cast over him, and which she now knew was -broken for ever. - -And, more than this, she must now meet as an implacable enemy the man -whom, in spite of herself, she still loved with all the passion of -her fiery nature, and who, now that he was free again, could but look -upon her not only with hatred, but with disgust. This, so far as her -own feelings were concerned, was the miserable end of her scheming, but -there was no help for it. She had deliberately sown the wind, and now -the time was approaching for her to reap the whirlwind. - -She thought of her dream in St. Petersburg, and a new and awful meaning -was made apparent to her in those few minutes of mental torture before -she went to meet her well-beloved enemy face to face. She saw herself -mistress of a conquered world, seated on a lonely throne, wailing over -her own broken heart in the midst of a desolation that she had brought -upon the earth--for nothing. - -This, it seemed, was to be the penalty of the unspeakable crime she -had committed to gain possession of the air-ship, a hopeless love that -should turn all the fruits of conquest, if she ever won them, into -the bitter ashes of the Dead Sea apples in her mouth, a love not only -unrequited, but repaid with righteous horror and almost divine disgust. - -And yet, despite all this, her marvellous fortitude and royal pride -came to her aid to help her to bear herself bravely before her enemies, -and so, with a smile on her lips and a hell of raging passions in -her bosom, she ascended to take her part in the debate, big with the -destiny of a world, that was being held on the palace roof. - -As Alan turned and confronted her in all the strength and splendour -of the manhood that not even her almost superhuman arts had been able -to tarnish or weaken, and looked at her with the stern, steady gaze -without one sign of recognition in the eyes that shone blue-black -beneath his straight-drawn brows, her heart stood still and seemed -turned to ice in her breast, and for one brief moment her foot faltered -and the light died out of her eyes and the colour from her cheeks. - -Then she caught the Sultan’s gaze turned inquiringly upon her; her -indomitable spirit rose to the emergency, and her self-possession -returned. Passing Alan by with a slight inclination of her head which -did not conceal the mocking smile which curled her dainty lips, she -went to Khalid and, holding out her hand, said in steady, musical tones -which, do what he would to resist it, sent a thrill to Alan’s heart-- - -“Where is the message that my faithless servant brings from the tyrants -of the world?” - -The Sultan gave it to her, and as she read it Lossenski stood silent -like the rest, but with head bowed down in shame and sorrow. When she -reached the last word of the despatch the crimson deepened on her -cheeks and her hands closed convulsively on the paper. Then with a -quick movement she tore it in twain, flung the two fragments to the -ground, and then, looking up with eyes blazing with passion, she cried-- - -“I should be a slave to obey! Lossenski, signal to the squadron to -rise. Boris, train a gun on that ship and blow her to pieces if a man -moves on board of her. Out of the way there, Alan Arnold. If you lift a -hand I will shoot you like a dog!” - -As she spoke she snatched a pistol out of her belt and had almost -levelled it at Alan’s heart, when, like a flash of lightning, his -rapier leapt from its sheath, and as the pistol came up it was dashed -from her hand. - -“I could have killed you with less trouble,” he said, in quick stern -accents, raising the glittering blue blade to a level with her eyes, -and keeping it outstretched towards her. “Have you forgotten what I -told you, or that I am no longer under your vile spell? If those orders -are obeyed I will kill you now, though you do wear a woman’s shape. The -city is surrounded, and if one vessel rises from the earth, Alexandria -will be in ruins in an hour. Now, give the signal for its destruction -if you dare, and let the earth be rid of you!” - -“And of you, my gallant Knight of the Air, who draws his sword upon a -woman!” she almost hissed at him in her fury. “Yes, I dare and I will. -Lossenski”-- - -In another moment the fate of the world would have been changed; but, -before the order could be repeated, the Sultan strode forward and -placed himself between Alan and Olga with outstretched arms-- - -“No, Tsarina! that order shall not be given on my palace or in my -hearing. You have forgotten our agreement and my oath. I have sworn -on the Koran that there shall be no war between Islam and Aeria for a -year, and by the glory of Allah there shall be none! - -“What have I and my people done that you should bring this destruction -upon them? Your servant shall be shot if he opens his lips, and if -you must fight, go into the desert and do it; but that will end our -alliance, for you will have broken the peace to which I have sworn, and -made me a liar. It is enough! Let us talk like reasonable beings, and -not quarrel like children.” - -Olga was conquered for the time being, and she saw it. Few as had been -the moments of the Sultan’s speech, they were enough to allow her agile -intellect to get the better of her anger, and to convince her that it -would have led her to suicide in another minute. - -Her manner changed with a swiftness that was almost miraculous. Her -long, thick lashes fell, hiding the still burning fires of her eyes. -Her attitude changed from one of defiance to one of deference, and as -she stepped back a pace or two, she said in a totally altered voice-- - -“Your Majesty has justly rebuked me. My anger overcame my reason for -the moment. My hatred of these tyrants of the air is not a thing of -to-day or of yesterday, as you know, but the legacy of generations of -wrong and robbery, and the arrogance of this man, who but a few days -ago was my slave, and now ventures to dictate terms of war or peace -to me, was more than my patience or my temper could bear. I have done -wrong, and in atonement I will promise, on the honour of a Romanoff, to -be bound absolutely by such engagement as your Majesty may make until -the period of your truce is expired.” - -So saying, she retired to a distant part of the terrace, beckoning -Lossenski to follow her. Throwing herself on a seat in full view but -out of earshot of the group she had left, she bade him tell her the -story of the loss of the _Vindaya_, and how he came to be the bearer of -the message of the Council of Aeria to her. - -Lossenski told the story simply and truthfully, and as he finished, the -Grand Vizier approached, and after an obeisance, made with Oriental -reverence, said-- - -“Tsarina, my master commands me to inform you that he has settled all -matters with the Prince of the Air save one, and to settle that he -craves your assistance. Will it please you to come and speak with him?” - -“I will come,” said Olga, rising and following him with the words of -Lossenski fresh in her ears. - -“Tsarina Olga,” said the Sultan, coming to meet her as she approached -the group amidst which Alan was still standing, “I have come to an -agreement with Alan Arnold upon all points but one, and that one only -you can decide. - -“He asserts that six years ago he took you and your brother as guests -on board the air-ship, which you now call the _Revenge_, that you -drugged the wine drunk by him and his comrades, and, sparing only him -and his friend Alexis Masarov, you poisoned the rest of the crew, and -threw them out on to the snows of Norway, after which you kept him and -Alexis under your influence by means of a drug, which deprived them of -their will-power and forced them to reveal the secrets of the air-ship -to you and assist you in building your fleet.” - -“And has your Majesty given credence to such a monstrous story, or do -you only wish to hear me give it the contradiction which its absurdity -and falsity deserve? If the former, the sooner I and my ships leave -your city, never to return save as enemies, the better. If the latter, -you shall soon be satisfied.” - -Olga spoke with an air of angered innocence which completely deceived -the Sultan, anxious as he was to find the extraordinary story false, -and he hastily replied-- - -“It is the latter that I desire, of course. I was obliged to say that -if you were unable to deny the accusation it would be impossible for me -to continue an alliance with one who had been guilty of a crime which -my faith and the customs of my race denounce as vile beyond all human -measure. But I refused to believe it against you until your own lips -had confessed it, or undeniable evidence had proved it, and therefore I -have asked you to come and let us know the truth.” - -“I thank you, Sultan Khalid, for your confidence and your chivalry,” -she said, looking up into his eyes with a glance that rendered all -denial from her once and for ever unnecessary. “You shall hear me deny -the foul falsehood to my traducer’s face.” - -Stung to fresh fury by the knowledge that Alan had sought to expose -her in her true nature to the man whom she sought to make her slave -in his place, she strode forward to within three paces of where he -was standing, and, drawing herself up to the full height of her -royal stature, she faced him with pale cheeks and blazing eyes, her -beauty so transfigured by anger that the Moslems standing about her -instinctively shrank back, awe-stricken by such an incarnation of wrath -and loveliness as no man of them had ever dreamed of before. Even Alan -himself forgot his hate and disgust for the moment in the contemplation -of her almost miraculous beauty and the indescribable dignity with -which her anger invested her, and waited in silence that was almost -respectful for the tempest of wrath and reproach which he saw was about -to be let loose on him. - -Her lips trembled mutely for a moment or two before any sound came from -them, but when she spoke her tone was low and clear, though almost -hoarse with passion, and shaken by the manifest effort she made to keep -it under control. - -“So this is the return that your chivalry makes for my generosity in -giving you life and liberty when you were lost to the world; when I -might have killed you, as I see now that I should have done, without a -single soul among your people knowing anything of your fate! - -“I expected that you would take up arms against me, for your people and -mine are enemies to the death; and I knew, too, that the love which -I had spurned would not be long in turning to active hate. But you -excelled my expectations--you, one of the Princes of the Air, the scion -of a race that holds itself above all the other races of the earth, the -son of a man who but a few years ago was lord and master of the world! -You come in the guise of open and honourable warfare to smirch with -your foul lies the fame of a woman for whose sake you made yourself a -traitor to your people and a murderer of your own comrades. A pretty -story, forsooth, to tell in the ears of my friends and allies. Do you -take them for children or fools that you expect them to believe it? - -“Imagine such a miracle, your Majesty,” she continued, turning, with -the clear ring of a mocking laugh in her voice, to the Sultan, “imagine -this Alan Arnold, son of the President of Aeria, with his friend and -lieutenant, Alexis Masarov, and a crew of eight Aerians on board their -flagship, armed with the most tremendous means of destruction ever -invented by human genius, and each man of them, moreover, possessing in -his own person the power of life and death, as he himself has proved -before your own eyes. - -“These kings among men invite two casual acquaintances for a trip to -the clouds, and these two guests, a youth of twenty and a girl not -seventeen, unarmed and without assistance, seize their ship, kill -eight of their invincibly armed comrades, and lead the captain and his -lieutenant away captive. And how? By means of some mysterious drugs, -subtle and irresistible poisons, of which such a boy and girl could not -possibly have known either the composition or the use, and which they -would have been afraid to employ if they had done. - -“But let me come to the facts as they are,” she went on, turning again -to Alan, who stood literally dumfounded before her, amazed beyond -power of thought or speech by the audacity of her words. “It is you -who are the liar, the traitor, and the murderer. It is you who killed -my brother before my eyes because he sought to protect me from your -violence; and it is you and your friend Alexis who, of your own free -will, struck your comrades dead, threw them out of the air-ship upon -the Norwegian snows, and then, in the hope of gaining my favour, took -the _Ithuriel_ to Vorobièvo, near Moscow, and delivered her into the -hands of my friends. - -“I have fifty men within call at this moment who will swear that this -is true. Orloff Lossenski, you are one of them. Were you not at the -villa at Vorobièvo when these two came with me in the _Ithuriel_ and -delivered her into your hands; and did you not find the corpse of my -brother Serge in one of the state rooms with his neck bruised and -blackened by the grip of his murderer?” - -“Yes, Majesty,” replied Lossenski, stepping forward as he was -addressed. “That is true, though they told us at the time that your -brother had been killed in a struggle with their comrades.” - -“And is it true,” continued Olga, “that they accompanied me into your -villa and had supper with us as friends, and did not I forgive the -death of my brother for the sake of the advantages which the possession -of the air-ship, which they consented to surrender to us, would be to -the cause of the revolution in Russia to which we were pledged?” - -“That is also true, Majesty; and there are several here now with the -squadron who can also testify to the fact.” - -“And also,” interrupted Olga, “to the fact that these two traitors -worked willingly to help us to secrete the air-ship, and finally to -take her to Mount Terror, and there explained the working of her -machinery to us and helped us to build other air-ships and submarine -vessels, and commanded these in their attacks upon the commerce of our -enemies. Is that true, also?” - -“It is, Majesty,” again replied Lossenski. “Shall I summon the crews of -our ships that they also may testify to it lest my word should not be -enough?” - -“Is it your Majesty’s wish that they shall be called?” asked Olga, -again turning to the Sultan, who all this time had been standing -shifting his gaze from her face to Alan’s, and from Alan’s back again -to hers, horrified by the fearful accusations with which she had -replied to the story, of the falsity of which he was already thoroughly -convinced. - -“They can be called if Alan Arnold desires it,” he said, in grave, -deliberate tones. “But would it not be better that he should speak -first? At present we have two words against one. Has he any proof that -what you say is false?” he continued, looking inquiringly towards Alan. - -“I have none but my own word and that of Alexis, up yonder in the -skies, and him I cannot--and if I could, under the circumstances, -I would not--call,” said Alan, who by this time had recovered his -self-possession. “If your Majesty proposes to judge between us -according to spoken testimony, I say at once that I will accept no such -tests, for I well know that this woman could produce a hundred of her -accomplices who would swear anything she bade them swear. - -“She has given me the lie with equal skill and audacity. I can only -give her the lie in return, if not as skilfully, at least as boldly, -and with a knowledge that I am telling the truth. Your Majesty can -believe her story or mine, as you choose. If you believe hers, I am -willing to do you the justice of confessing that you will be judging -according to the weight of testimony, such as it is, for that is -certainly against me.” - -“And so I must judge,” replied the Sultan coldly. “I cannot believe -your story, for it seems to be impossible, while the Tsarina’s has -every appearance of truth. Into your motives I have neither the right -nor the wish to inquire, and all that is left for me to say is that -what I have heard has finally decided me to espouse the cause of the -Tsarina and her friends against those who have wronged and slandered -her, be the cost to me and my people what it may. - -“We shall keep the truce if you do, and in the day of strife let the -God of Battles decide between us. My answer to your Council’s message -shall be ready for you in half an hour. Farewell!” - -So saying, Khalid the Magnificent turned his back upon Alan, and -walked, followed by his Vizier and his ministers, to the doorway -leading to the interior of the palace. Olga, pausing for a moment to -cast one glance of triumphant hatred at her discredited foe, beckoned -to Lossenski, and followed the Sultan without a word. - -Alan, amazed and enraged beyond measure by the unexpected turn that -affairs had taken, and yet confident in his own knowledge of the truth, -turned on his heel, and went back on board the _Ithuriel_, where he -went into his own cabin and sat down to write his directions for -enforcing the order of the Council with regard to the evacuation of the -city by the Russian squadron. - -He bitterly regretted that the orders of the Council did not permit him -to destroy the Russian air-ships there and then while they lay at his -mercy. But the orders were explicit, and forbade him even to pursue -them after they had left Alexandria, unless they committed an act of -hostility against him. - -If he could have done so, he would have fought them at all hazards, -and then, if he had conquered, he would have been able to enforce the -general prohibition of the Council against building air-ships upon the -Sultan; but as disobedience was not to be thought of, he could only -carry out his orders, and hope that the judgment of the Council might -prove in the end superior to his own. - -At the end of the half-hour he was summoned to meet the Grand Vizier, -who brought the reply of his master. This ran as follows:-- - - In the Name of the Most Merciful God! - - Khalid, Commander of the Faithful, to Alan Arnold, President of Aeria. - - I have received your message from the hands of your son. I shall - faithfully observe the terms of the truce I promised to him, and of - which he has told you. - - As my city lies for the time being at the mercy of your fleet, I can - only save my people and my guests from destruction by agreeing to - your demands. The Russian air-ships shall leave Alexandria within an - hour of the delivery of this to your son. But this is to tell you - that I have made alliance with Olga Romanoff, rightful Tsarina of - the Russias, and that when the year of truce has expired, I will no - longer be a king merely in name and hold my power and dignity at your - pleasure. - - At the end of the year of truce there shall be war between you and - me and your people and mine unless before then you shall recognise - my independence in due form and my right to create such armaments - as I think fit for the protection of my dominions against yourself - or any other Power, and unless you consent to restore Olga Romanoff - to the throne and dignity which is hers by right, and of which your - ancestors robbed her in the days of the Terror. - - If you do this there shall be peace between us, but if not, there - shall be war, and we will fight until the God of Battles has decided - between us, and given to you or to me the dominion of the world. - -Alan’s brows contracted slightly as he read this defiant missive, but -there was a half-pitying smile on his lips when he said to the Vizier -as he handed him the instructions he had just written-- - -“I am deeply sorry--sorry for him and his people, and, indeed, for the -whole human race--that he has been misled into writing words which in -a year’s time will set the world in a blaze. Our reply to this will be -written in blood and fire, and the smoking ruins of cities throughout -the length and breadth of his dominions. But he has chosen, and he and -you must abide by his choice. I cannot believe that he knows what he is -doing, and if you are a faithful friend and servant you will counsel -peace and moderation.” - -“My master,” said the Vizier haughtily, “does not seek advice from his -enemies; more than ever would it be impossible for him to do so when -their lips are fresh-stained with lies.” - -Alan’s hand instinctively sprang to the hilt of his rapier, and in -another moment the Vizier’s life would have paid for the insult, but -when the blade was half out of its sheath his self-control returned, -and he thrust it back again, saying-- - -“You are an old man and an ambassador, so you are safe. You shall live -so that you may some day find out for yourself where the truth in this -matter lies. Who knows but that the Syren may before long put you or -your master under her spell. If she does you will drink something from -her hand, and when you have drunk it you will have no will but hers; -you will obey her blindly, and the thoughts that you speak shall be -only those she suggests to you.” - -Later on that day, when the excitement of the hour had passed, Musa -al Ghazi remembered these words, and the strange acquiescence which he -had given to Olga’s plans in the saloon of the _Revenge_. If he had -remembered it while Alan was speaking, millions of innocent lives might -possibly have been saved, and the curse of war averted from the world -for many more generations, perhaps for ever. But he did not, and so -events took their logical course. As it was, he made no direct reply to -Alan’s words, but handed him another paper, saying-- - -“I have been commissioned also to give you this. The instructions -agreed upon shall be obeyed, and now I have only to remind you that you -are no longer my master’s guest.” - -With that he saluted with frigid dignity and turned away towards the -palace door. - -Alan looked after him for a moment with a smile half of contempt and -half of pity, then he opened the paper in his hand. As he expected, it -was from Olga, and, beginning without any form of address, it ran thus-- - - I shall obey your orders and leave the city, not because I will, - but because I must, in order to save the Sultan and his people from - destruction. I will also undertake to refrain from hostilities until - the Sultan’s truce expires, provided you do not molest me. If you do, - or if the Sultan is subjected to any unreasonable commands or acts - of oppression, I will consider the truce at an end, and I will not - only recommence my submarine attacks upon the world’s commerce, but I - will send out my air-ships and scatter death and destruction far and - wide over the earth, without mercy and without discrimination between - enemies or neutrals; it is therefore for you to choose whether the - issue between us shall be fought out when the time comes, and in - fair and honourable warfare, or whether the dogs of war shall be let - loose at once. I have still thirty air-ships, and as many submarine - cruisers, and I can do what I say. - - OLGA ROMANOFF. - -“No doubt,” said Alan to himself. “I’m afraid we shall have to accept -your terms. I didn’t think that even you would be capable of such a -colossal crime as that; but now I know something like the full capacity -of your wickedness, and if you threaten it you will do it. - -“With those thirty ships, if you have as many as that, and I suppose -you must have twenty-four or twenty-five at least, you could wreck half -the great cities of the world in six months, and we could do little or -nothing to stop you. We have only eleven ships equal in speed to yours, -and most of those must be kept in call of Aeria. - -“I would give my life and my ship willingly for permission to fight it -out here and now, and yet, after all, that would be frightful cruelty -and injustice to the unoffending thousands who would lose their lives -by the destruction of the city, so I suppose it must be peace for a -year, and then--ah, what then?” - -His soliloquy began on the terrace and ended on the deck of the -_Ithuriel_. He gave the order to rise into the air, and the aerial -cruiser soared slowly upwards, still flying the flag of truce as -a signal to her consorts that the mission had been successfully -accomplished. As he felt certain that the Sultan would carry out the -directions agreed upon to the letter, he left the city without any -misgivings, and in a few minutes the _Ithuriel_ was floating alongside -her consort the _Isma_, and Alan and Alexis had clasped hands once -more. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. THE CALL TO ARMS. - - -WITHIN an hour the wondering inhabitants of Alexandria saw the Russian -fleet rise a thousand feet into the air and form in two columns of -line ahead. Then the Aerian fleet ranged itself in two long lines five -hundred feet outside them and a thousand feet above them. A time-shell -from the _Ithuriel_ gave the signal to start, and the two fleets leapt -forward to the south-east at a speed of a hundred miles an hour, and -in a few minutes had vanished over the desert. The speed was quickly -increased to two hundred miles, and so they sped on all day and through -the next night--the Russian ships being forced to show their lights -while the Aerians remained in darkness--until, when morning dawned and -Olga and her captains looked for Alan’s fleet they found that it had -vanished, and that they were floating alone over the solitudes of the -Southern Ocean. - -They had been escorted like offending school children out of harm’s -way, and then left to their own devices. It was a bitterly humiliating -ending to an expedition which had really produced such important -results, but there was no possibility of present revenge, and so Olga -gave the order to proceed straight to Mount Terror, intending to begin -there and then the working out of her part of the compact that she had -made with the Sultan. - -This arrangement was briefly to the following effect:--Olga placed at -Khalid’s disposal all the necessary plans for the construction of both -air-ships and submarine vessels, and also supplied members of her own -immediate retinue, well skilled in the work, to supervise the building, -which was, of course, to be carried out with the utmost secrecy and -speed, so as to guard, as far as practicable, against the possible -destruction of the factories and dockyards by the Aerians. - -The Sultan had engaged to find money and material for building a -thousand air-ships, and the same number of submarine cruisers, -within the year, and these were to be supplied with motive power at -conversion-stations established at the dockyards under the exclusive -control of certain of Olga’s lieutenants. - -The secret of this motive power, which was identical save for slight -differences in the process of conversion with that possessed by the -Aerians--that is to say, electrical energy derived directly from -atomised carbon and vaporised petroleum--was retained in her own -keeping by Olga, who had simply promised that an unlimited supply of it -should be forthcoming as it was wanted. - -She had insisted on a strict engagement that no one not authorised by -her should even approach the conversion-stations, and she had given the -Sultan and his ministers distinctly to understand that any attempt to -discover the secret of the process would terminate the alliance, and -expose the cities of the Moslem empire to destruction. - -At the expiration of the year of truce, the Sultan’s army and navy, -supported by the immense aerial fleet that would then be in existence, -was to be in complete readiness for any emergencies. Olga was to be -proclaimed Tsarina in Moscow, and the House of Romanoff formally -restored in her person. If any portions of Russia refused to receive -her, they were to be terrorised into submission by the air-ships. - -The tribesmen of Western and Central Asia were to be armed as rapidly -as possible, so as to be ready to form a reserve force for compelling -the submission of the Russians if they resisted the new order of -things, and to participate in the invasion of Europe, which was to -take place at several points as soon as the Holy War of Islam was -proclaimed, and Cross and Crescent once more confronted each other on -the battlefield. - -Meanwhile, too, the resources of the dockyard at Mount Terror were -to be strained to the utmost, and the conspiracy in Russia for the -restoration of Olga to the throne of the Romanoffs was to be developed -by every means that money could purchase or skill devise. - -The scheme of defence arranged by the Council of Aeria had already been -completed, and it was to execute this that the Aerian fleet had left -the Russian squadron during the night. Indeed, the Russians had been -travelling southward alone for more than eight hours before they had -discovered the fact. As soon as it became impossible for them to see -the Aerian vessels these had stopped, in accordance with a prearranged -plan, and had wheeled round and steered for London across the African -continent at a height of about ten thousand feet. - -Flying at the full speed of the smaller vessels, a twenty-hour flight -carried the fleet over the eight thousand miles which separated its -starting-point from the capital of the world, and about six o’clock -in the evening of the 21st of May the fifty-two vessels, flying the -Aerian and British flags, appeared in the air over the open space -which is now called Hyde Park, and, to the amazement of the astonished -citizens, dropped quietly to the earth and lay open to the unrestricted -inspection of the thousands who speedily gathered in the park to avail -themselves of the unwonted spectacle, and to learn, if possible, the -reason of the unexpected visit. - -No attempt was made by the crews of the ships to prevent the sightseers -from seeing all they could of the exteriors of the vessels, which -were arranged on the sward in two long lines, so that they could walk -down between them and admire their beautiful shape and wonderful -construction at their leisure. A sentry was stationed by each vessel -to warn the sightseers not to approach too close to the wings and -propellers, and that was the only precaution taken. - -Alan learnt soon after landing that King Albert the Second, the fourth -in descent from Edward VII., who was King during the War of the -Terror, was at Windsor, and that the House of Commons and the Senate, -which for over a hundred years had filled the place of the old House of -Lords, had dissolved for the spring recess, and would not meet again -until after the General Election, which was held every 1st of June. - -He therefore caused a message to be sent to His Majesty at Windsor, -requesting him to name a time for an interview on the following day, -and then, sufficient watches having been set on all the vessels, he and -Alexis, with the majority of the crews, took a few hours’ leave, not -a little glad of the opportunity of stretching their legs on _terra -firma_, after their three days’ confinement to the air-ships. - -The reply which he received from the King fixed eleven o’clock in -the morning of the 22nd as the time of the interview for which he -had asked, and, just as the castle clock was beginning to sound the -strokes of the hour, the _Ithuriel_ swept up out of the distance -towards Windsor Castle, and, after hovering for a moment in mid-air, -sank quietly down until she rested on that portion of the terrace which -overlooks the Home Park. Her arrival had been announced to the King as -soon as she hove in sight, and he was on the terrace ready to receive -his visitors when she alighted. - -Albert II., King of England, Emperor of Britain, and President of -the Anglo-Saxon Federation, was a monarch only in name. Nothing but -the trappings of sovereignty remained to himself or his station, and -he would not even have retained these had it not been for the fact -that, during its hundred years of actual rule, the Supreme Council had -insisted upon the maintenance of the monarchical principle in those -countries where it had obtained at the end of the nineteenth century. - -The first formal greetings over, the King caused Alan to be escorted to -his private apartments in the castle, and as soon as they were alone -together in the room which he reserved for his own special use, he -motioned Alan to a seat and, throwing himself back upon a lounge with -an air of weariness which accorded but ill with the hour of the day, he -said in a somewhat querulous tone-- - -“We are quite alone now and you can speak with perfect freedom. I am -sure it must be important business that has brought you here with a -whole fleet of your air-ships, and I shall be glad if you will tell me -at once what it is. I hope nothing has occurred to imperil our peace -and safety?” - -“On the contrary, your Majesty,” replied Alan. “I regret to say that my -errand is to tell you that, not only is that the case, but that it is a -practical certainty that within twelve months from now the whole world -will be plunged into war.” - -“What! what!” exclaimed the King, jerking himself up to a sitting -posture. “Surely you don’t mean that? I thought that no war would be -possible without the permission of your Council. Surely you would not -allow the nations of the world to go to war with each other again, and -repeat all the horrors that happened a hundred and thirty years ago?” - -“Your Majesty forgets that when we renounced the control of the world -six years ago we gave back to the nations the right of making war upon -each other, although we hardly believed that they would be foolish -enough and wicked enough to exercise it. That, however, is beside -the question, because war is now inevitable, and, what is even more -important, the Council of Aeria is unhappily powerless to prevent it.” - -“Eh! what is that?” exclaimed the King, this time rising to his feet -and facing Alan with an air of petulant reproach. “Powerless to prevent -it? You, with all your fleets of air-ships and submarine vessels? -You, who have called yourselves the masters of the world for nearly a -century and a half--you cannot stop war?” - -“We cannot do so, your Majesty,” said Alan, also rising to his -feet, “simply because I regret to say that we no longer possess the -undisputed empire of the air, and therefore, in a measure at least, we -have lost the command of the world. - -“As for the responsibility which your words impute to us, I must tell -you at once that it does not exist. The rulers of the world, and -yourself among them, voluntarily and with full knowledge accepted -perfect freedom, and therefore the individual responsibility that is -inseparable from it. You knew that from the time we resigned the -world-throne you were free to make war upon each other, on land and by -sea. - -“It is your fault and not ours that you are now so defenceless that you -have cause to fear the war against which you ask us to protect you. -You have known for nearly four years that the Sultan of Islam has been -creating armies and fleets, and diligently training millions of his -subjects in that art of war which we hoped was to be forgotten for ever -among men. - -“Did you suppose, you Kings and Princes of the Anglo-Saxon Federation, -that Khalid the Magnificent, a man of boundless ambition, was creating -these armies and fleets simply to play with them? Could you not see -that nothing but some dream of world-wide conquest could be inspiring -him to do this, and do you need to be told that the realms of -Christendom offered him the only possible area of conquest in the world? - -“What have you done to defend yourselves, or to prepare against -a possible day of battle? You have done nothing. Saving your -international police, now little more than an ornamental body of -officials, the Federation does not possess a single soldier. You have -seen the Sultan building battleships and arming them with the deadliest -weapons that skill and science could devise, and you, with all your -wealth, and skill, and knowledge, have not built a single vessel that -would be of use in time of war. - -“I understand that the Council has warned you again and again that -the Sultan’s designs could not have been peaceable, and yet your -Parliaments have not voted a single pound for the defence of your homes -and your riches.” - -“Ah, yes!” broke in the King, now in an apologetic tone, for he was -completely cowed by the direct, earnest force of Alan’s reproving -words. “That is it! You must not blame myself or my fellow-monarchs, -you must blame the Parliaments. We can do nothing without them; they -have usurped all the power that formerly belonged to Kings. It is this -democracy that has weakened us and left us defenceless. Every man -thinks himself a ruler, and so there are no rulers, except in name. -Every man has a vote, therefore every man must be consulted about -everything, and so nothing can be done but what the multitude wishes. -They want only riches, splendid buildings and cities, light work, and -comfortable lives. That is all they have cared about, and so that is -all they have got. If we, their Kings and duly appointed rulers, could -have done as we wished to do affairs would have been very different; -but it is impossible to rule where every man fancies himself a king!” - -“That is but a poor excuse, King Albert,” replied Alan sternly and yet -somewhat sadly. “It is the old story of Greece and Rome and Byzantium -over again. The weakness of the rulers has been the strength of the -demagogues, and that has always spelt national decay from the days of -Cleon until now. - -“I might ask you how it comes that Sultan Khalid has been able to keep -his millions of subjects in hand and to be to-day the sole actual ruler -of the greatest empire the world has ever seen; but neither you nor -I have any more time to waste, either in reproaching each other or -regretting what cannot now be helped.” - -“No, no!” said the King, almost appealingly. “That is quite -right--quite right. Tell me, if you please, what has really happened to -bring about this terrible danger which threatens us, and let us see if -we cannot yet protect ourselves.” - -“You can yet make such preparations as will at least enable you to -meet your enemies on equal terms,” replied Alan, following the King’s -example, and seating himself again, “and it is to put before you a -necessary scheme of defence that I have come here, and when I have -described it you will see that we Aerians have not forgotten that our -ancestors once led Anglo-Saxondom to the conquest of the world.” - -“Pray proceed,” said the King, sitting up on his lounge again. “I can -assure you that I am all attention.” - -Alan then began, and told in detail all that was necessary for the King -to know of what had happened during the last six years, concluding -with a graphic narrative of startling vividness of the marvellous -and momentous events that had been crowded so thickly into the last -twenty-one days. - -It would not be saying too much to state that the close of the recital, -which he had listened to with the most anxious attention, left King -Albert in a state of nervous excitement that bordered closely upon -absolute panic. He had heard enough to show him that the splendid -fabric of Anglo-Saxon civilisation would, if left in its present -defenceless state, totter and fall like a house of cards at the first -onslaught of its powerful and disciplined enemies. - -He saw that its wealth and splendour, like those of the effete empires -of old, were a source of weakness and not of strength, a temptation to -its foes and an encumbrance to itself. - -Then, as Alan went on to describe the scheme of defence proposed by -the Council of Aeria, he seemed to find support and consolation in the -quiet, masterful tones of the man who, without a tremor in his voice, -could calmly discuss the prospect of a war which would involve the -whole of humanity in one colossal struggle, which could have no other -result than an indescribably appalling loss of human life and the -complete subjection, if not destruction, of those who were vanquished -in it. - -Yet when he had finished King Albert shook his head sadly and -doubtfully, and said-- - -“Yes, yes, it is a splendid scheme, a scheme worthy of you and your -wonderful race, but it can only be accomplished if our Parliaments -agree together to sanction it and support it. I hope with all my heart -that they will do so, but I sadly fear that not even your influence, -and the fearful danger which threatens them, will make them agree one -with another. - -“Of late years, since the power of the democracy has increased so -enormously, they wrangle for weeks over the smallest matters of -municipal government. As for national policy, they seem to have -forgotten what it means. I may be wrong, and with all my soul I hope I -am, but I sadly fear they will never consent to what they will call a -military despotism, even to save themselves. The elections take place -during the last four days of this month, and by that time the news that -you have brought me shall be published everywhere, so that the people -may know what is before them, but everything will depend upon the men -and women whom they return to Parliament.” - -“Ah,” interrupted Alan, stroking his beard to conceal a smile, “I had -forgotten for the moment. You have lady legislators now as well as -male ones. We were ungallant enough to refuse them admittance to the -Parliament during our period of control.” - -“Yes,” said the King, with a smile that had but little mirth in it. -“But we have progressed fast since then. In our Parliament men and -women were almost equally balanced in both Chambers, and scarcely any -business was done during the year.” - -“Which proves,” said Alan, “that what was called our discourtesy and -unfairness was not so very unwise after all.” - -The interview ended shortly after this remark, for the time for action -had already arrived. Alan had learnt enough from the King’s own lips -to see that he was merely a crowned puppet in the hands of the rival -parties, which contended in both Chambers for the favour of the -democracy and the continuance of office. He therefore saw further that, -if anything was to be done in working out the scheme of international -defence, he would have to take the initiative. - -As full discretion had been given to him in his commission from the -Council of Aeria, he did not scruple to half-persuade and half-frighten -the King into investing him with such authority as he could give, -and, armed with this, he went to work that very day with a vigour and -promptness which amazed the feeble monarch, and raised a storm of -indignation among the members of the two Chambers who were seeking -re-election. - -A very short experience of these people proved to him that nothing must -be hoped from them. Day after day he met committees and deputations of -them, who argued with him and wrangled among themselves until he was -utterly disgusted and out of patience with them. - -At last, on the evening of the 27th, after he had spent the whole -day in striving to convince a joint-committee, consisting of twenty -members of each Chamber, of the tremendous danger which threatened the -Federation, and the immediate and urgent necessity of united action in -preparing to meet it, he lost the last remnants of his temper, and, -springing to his feet, he faced them with anger in his eyes and scorn -on his lips, and said-- - -“We have talked enough, ladies and gentlemen! I came here expecting to -find the old spirit of Anglo-Saxondom still alive, and so far as you -are concerned I find it dead. You are not patriots or competent rulers. -You are simply members of a noisy and verbose debating society! When -absolute destruction at the hands of a well-armed and implacable foe -is threatening your country and your allies, you talk of averting the -calamity by discussion and arbitration, instead of armed resistance. -By all means discuss and arbitrate, if you can, but also prepare -for battle in case it proves, as I am certain it will prove, to be -inevitable. Do you suppose that the lamb can argue with the wolf, or -that the rich and defenceless man can save his wealth from the armed -plunderer by mere force of argument or an appeal to his moral sense? If -you do, you are something worse than simple, you are guilty of a folly -which is a crime against those who have committed their affairs to your -keeping. - -“But I, like most of my people, have Anglo-Saxon blood in my veins, and -I will not leave my kindred defenceless. I bear an English name, and -that name and my descent shall be my title to do what I now tell you -I am going to do. In my own person, and with the full authority and -sanction of the Council of Aeria and your own lawful monarch, I here -and now reassert the supremacy over the realms of Anglo-Saxondom which -my father resigned in St. Paul’s Cathedral six years and a half ago! -Hold your elections if you choose, and conduct your noisy pretence at -government according to your own tastes, but do not expect me to be -guided or bound by any enactments that you may choose to make. You may -call this a revolution if you will. So it is, but remember that your -foolishness has made it necessary! I can make Anglo-Saxondom ready to -meet its enemies on equal terms when the day of battle comes, as come -it surely will in less than twelve months from now, and, God helping -me, I will do it! You either cannot or will not do this, but I will -take good care that you do not prevent it being done. - -“I believe that the old spirit which won the Armageddon of 1904 still -survives in Anglo-Saxon breasts, and I believe that it will respond to -the call to arms which shall be heard throughout the length and breadth -of the Federation before another sun has set. To-morrow I shall take -possession of the means of intercommunication, and I warn you that you -will oppose me at your peril. - -“You know that I have a force at command before which you are as -helpless as the worms that crawl in the earth, and as there is a heaven -above me I will use it without ruth or scruple if I see that the -interests of Anglo-Saxondom require me to do so. You have your choice, -to act with me or to remain neutral. Oppose me, and I will destroy you -as traitors and enemies to your country and your race!” - -So saying, Alan turned his back upon the committees, and strode out of -the room in which he had met them, leaving them speechless with anger -and dismay. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. THE HOME-COMING. - - -THE eastern mountains were still casting their long shadows over the -lawns and fields, the vineyards and the gardens of Aeria on the morning -of the eleventh of May in the year 2037 of the Christian Era and the -hundred and thirty-third year of the Peace, but the whole population -of the lovely valley were already afoot and abroad, for this was the -most momentous day that had been in the history of the colony since -Richard Arnold had first crossed the Northern Ridge with Natasha beside -him in the conning-tower of the little _Ariel_, in those days the only -air-ship that existed in the world, to lay the foundations of that -throne from which their descendants had ruled the nations of the earth -for a century and a quarter. - -To-day the year of probation imposed by the Council upon Alan Arnoldson -and his companion in misfortune, in exile, and in victory, was to -expire, and the long-lost wanderers were to return to their home and -kindred. - -Very soon after it became light hundreds of aerial boats and yachts -of every variety of design and ornamentation that the taste and skill -of the most highly-cultivated race of people the world had ever seen -could devise, came floating in towards the vast city of Aeria from the -marble palaces and villas which were scattered throughout the length -and breadth of the central African Paradise. - -Along the broad, smooth white roads, too, which led from the southern -portions of the valley, round the lake to the northern shore on which -the city stood, groups of people, with here and there husbands and -wives and pairs of yet unwedded lovers, were gliding in long, swift, -easy curves on noiseless wheel-skates over the polished marble of the -pavements. - -Bright with the gayest and yet most perfectly-harmonised colours, -blazing with jewels and precious metals, from their gold or -crystal-winged coronets to the burnished silver framework of their -skates, splendid in stature, and glowing with perfect health--if some -man of the present day could have beheld these dwellers in Aeria on -their way to hold high festival in their capital, he would have thought -that he had strayed into some other and higher sphere, inhabited by -some glorified race of beings who had left the toils and cares and -pollutions of earth far behind them on some lower plane of existence. - -Doubtless, indeed, from some such sphere the reincarnated spirits of -those who, a hundred and thirty-three years before, had passed through -the tremendous ordeal of the Terror, and in their hour of well-won -triumph had made such a splendid future possible for their descendants, -looked down with approving eyes, not undarkened by a shade of sorrow -for woes to come, upon this glorious scene of the fruition of the -harvest that they had sown, this realisation of the long-sought ideal -of human brotherhood, where there was no evil because men had learnt at -last that good was better than evil. - -Vast as was the stately city, which was at once the capital and the -only town of Aeria, it was soon comfortably filled by the brilliant -throngs of visitors that came pouring into it by road and through -the air. The broad white streets, lined with their double groves of -palms and tree-ferns, soon blazed with colour, and became vocal with -greetings and laughter, and all the houses which lined them were thrown -open to all visitors who chose to come and claim hospitality for the -day of rejoicing. - -On the terrace in front of her father’s villa, on the slopes that rose -to the west of the city, Alma stood with Isma watching the brilliant -scene below and around them, and speculating on the coming events -of the day which for them had a supreme interest, such as no other -inhabitant of the valley could feel. - -“It will be a right royal home-coming for our two heroes, won’t it, -Alma?” said Isma, slipping her little hand through her friend’s arm; -“almost worthy of the great deeds that they have done to regain what -will be given back to them to-day--and yet, alas! there is to be a spot -on the sun of happiness for all that. Alma, are you still quite sure -that poor Alan will have to come back and not find that which above all -other things he comes to seek?” - -A faint flush rose to Alma’s cheeks as she replied, in a low, steady -tone-- - -“Yes, Isma, alas! as you say, I am still sure of that, supposing always -that he really does come to seek what you mean. I know that no man ever -lived more worthy the love of woman than he is. Yet, God help me, I -cannot give mine. - -“I know, too, that he will come back to-day crowned with more honour -than any Aerian, save Alexis, ever won before him since the days of our -ancestors--and yet whenever I permit myself even to dream of him as a -lover, a dark, beautiful, cruel face looks with black, burning eyes -into mine, and two sweet, scornfully-smiling lips say in a whisper that -sounds almost like a serpent’s hiss--‘You may take him now, for I have -done with him. Take him and ask him to tell you how well he and I loved -when my spell was strong upon him and he forgot both you and all his -kindred for sake of me.’ - -“It is horrible, horrible beyond all thought or speech, but it is so, -Isma, and I, of all the thousands of Aeria who will make merry to-day, -shall be sad at heart and praying for the night to come.” - -“I don’t believe it, Alma, however sincerely you may do so--as, of -course, you do,” replied Isma impatiently. “It is not your true and -loving self that is speaking. It is the woman who has been brooding -over a shattered idol that never really was a man of flesh and blood. - -“I tell you again--and before that sun has set you will confess in -your own heart that I am right--that you have never known the Alan who -is coming home to-day any more than I have known the Alexis who is -coming home with him. Neither you nor I have ever seen two such men as -they will be--men who have passed through such experiences as no other -Aerians ever had, who have suffered and conquered, dared and done, like -them. - -“You must put away those morbid fancies of yours, dearest; they are not -worthy of you any more than Olga Romanoff is worthy to cause you an -hour’s unhappiness. Never mind thinking about Alan as a lover now. I -tell you you have never seen him, therefore it will be time enough for -you to begin to do that when you do see him. - -“For my own part, I don’t mind telling you--of course, strictly between -ourselves--that though I can hardly say that I love Alexis as he is -now, since I do not know what he is like, I am quite prepared to fall -in love with him all over again on the slightest provocation. And now, -after that confession, I think we had better close the discussion and -get ready to go over to the city.” - -This frank avowal, uttered as it was with a delightful candour quite -irresistible in its charm, brought a smile to Alma’s lips in spite of -her own sombre thoughts. She slipped her arm round Isma’s waist, and -led her towards one of the long windows which opened out on to the -terrace under the pillared portico which ran the whole length of the -front of the villa. - -“I quite agree with you,” she said. “If that tell-tale face of yours -is no better masked than it is now, when you meet your Alexis I don’t -think you will have long to wait for the provocation. Ah, well, I -suppose--in fact, I am sure--that you take by far the wiser view, and I -would give anything to be able to look upon Alan as you are ready to do -on Alexis. - -“But no, it’s no use; do what I will I cannot think of him apart from -that Syren who has held him in the bondage of her spells all these -years. I know it is unreasonable, and yet he seems, even now that he -has regained his freedom, to belong to her more than he ever did to me.” - -“That, my dear Alma,” replied Isma, half seriously and half in jest, -“is as nearly absurd as anything that such a serious and cultivated -person as yourself could say. If I could give you a share of my -more trivial temperament you would just say that you are still so -desperately jealous of Olga Romanoff that you cannot bring yourself to -think of Alan as a possible lover until you feel quite sure that he -hates her as intensely as you do. That may not be a very heroic way of -putting it, but I think we shall find it pretty near the truth before -you have known the new Alan very long.” - -Alma laughed more musically than mirthfully at this sally, but made -no reply to it in words. There was, perhaps, more truth in the -half-bantering, half-reproachful words than she would have cared to -admit, even to her best-beloved and most confidential friend, and so -she took a wise refuge in silence, from which Isma, in the gladness of -her own heart, drew her own conclusions. - -It might have been that there were depths in Alma’s nature which not -even their life-long friendship and their common sorrow had enabled her -to fathom, but for the present she was quite satisfied that jealousy of -Olga and anger at the advantage which Alma believed her to have taken -of her power were the sole reasons that prevented her from regarding -Alan as she had confessed herself ready and willing to regard Alexis. - -When they left the terrace the two girls had breakfast together in -Alma’s own room in a privacy which the other members of the family -tacitly respected, knowing as they did that the events of the day would -bear a totally different significance for them to that which they would -have for all the other inhabitants of the valley. - -By the time the sun began to show his disc above the ridges of the -eastern mountains they were on their way to the city with Alma’s mother -and father in one of the aerial boats that were used for transit about -the interior of the valley. - -They alighted on the flat roof of the President’s official residence, -a splendid palace of the purest white marble, which stood on the -northern side of the great square, from the centre of which rose the -golden-domed building which served the Aerians as a meeting-place on -all public occasions. It was here that the decrees of the Council were -promulgated, and here, too, on every seventh day were held the simply -impressive religious services prescribed by the Aerian form of worship. - -Soon after they had arrived at the President’s house a great -mellow-toned bell sounded the hour of six from the cupola above the -dome, and, as the last stroke died away, a chorus of silvery chimes -rose up from a hundred towers in different parts of the city, and went -floating across the lake and down the valley to the southward, caught -up and echoed as it went by peals from the thousand palaces and villas -scattered about the lower slopes of the mountains. - -This was the signal for the commencement of the first ceremony of the -day, and the gaily-dressed, smiling throngs of visitors to the city -began to file in orderly, leisurely fashion into the eight wide-open -doors which led to the interior of the vast temple in the middle of the -central square. - -In the midst of the immense open area under the dome was a space about -twenty feet square, enclosed by low railings of massive gold, and in -this stood three tall pillars of marble without a single flaw or vein -to mar their perfect whiteness from base to capital. On each of them -stood an urn of exquisite shape, each carved out of a solid block of -crystal, and each containing a small quantity of ashes. - -Each pillar bore an inscription in letters of gold let into the -marble. The centre one was slightly higher than the other two, and its -inscription consisted of the single word - - “NATAS.” - -The urns on the other two pillars contained a larger quantity of ashes. -On the pillar to the right hand, facing the main entrance to the -temple, were the words-- - - RICHARD ARNOLD, - First Conqueror of the Air. - - NATASHA, - The Angel of the Revolution. - -And on that to the left-- - - ALAN TREMAYNE, - First President of the Anglo-Saxon Federation. - - MURIEL TREMAYNE, - His Wife. - -The square in which these pillars stood was the most sacred spot on all -the earth in the eyes of the Aerians, sanctified as it was by the ashes -of those who had made possible the Great Deliverance, and brought peace -on earth after countless ages of strife. Every tongue was silent, and -every head was bowed in reverence as those who entered the temple first -caught sight of the pillars and their priceless burdens. - -Then the vast and ever-swelling congregation ranged itself in orderly -files, all fronting towards an elevated rostrum which stood at one of -the angles of the great square under the dome, formed by the junction -of the four naves, with their long pillared aisles which ran towards -the four points of the compass. - -Suddenly all the carillons that were still ringing out over the city -ceased, and in the midst of the perfect silence the President ascended -the rostrum to address the expectant assembly. Although he spoke but -a little above his ordinary tone, every word could be heard with -perfect distinctness throughout the immense interior of the building, -for a system of electric transmitters, a development of the modern -telephone, carried his voice simultaneously to a hundred parts of the -walls, so that those who were standing farthest from him heard quite as -distinctly as those who were close to the rostrum. - -He began by a brief narration of all that had happened to Aeria and the -world since the fatal day on which Olga Romanoff had set foot on the -deck of the _Ithuriel_ to the present moment, and made no attempt to -conceal or to minimise the tremendous and disastrous consequences that -had flowed from that fatal and yet innocent mistake on the part of his -son. - -He confessed that the empire of the air, that priceless legacy which -they had received from its first conqueror, had been lost, and that, -not only the outside nations of the earth, but even Aeria itself stood -upon the eve of a conflict in comparison with which even the War of the -Terror itself would prove almost insignificant. All that had been won -then had now to be fought for over again, and fought for with weapons -the destructiveness of which made impossible any estimate of the -carnage and desolation that were about to burst upon the world. - -Then he described how Alan and Alexis, acting under the orders of the -Council, had, after vainly trying to arouse the rulers and senates -of Anglo-Saxondom to a sense of their danger and responsibility, -proclaimed martial law throughout the whole area of the Federation, -reasserted the supremacy which the Council had resigned nearly seven -years before, and taken the direct conduct of affairs into their own -hands. - -He told how the manhood of Europe, America, Southern Africa, and -Australia had, under the influence of their appeals, roused itself from -the sloth of prosperity and the vain dreams of democracy, and under -their leadership had mustered millions upon millions strong to oppose -those who determined to rivet the chains of despotism once more upon -the limbs of free men. - -The energy and devotion of the two men whose exile was to end that -day had accomplished this miracle in less than a twelvemonth. All the -mechanical resources of the Federation had been simultaneously devoted -to the building of an aerial navy, which already numbered nearly a -thousand vessels, and more than a hundred dockyards had achieved -the construction of a navy of over a thousand submarine warships, -while millions of small-arms had been sent out from Aeria, or -manufactured in the arsenals of the Federation for the equipment of the -newly-created armies. - -What the issue would be of the mighty struggle which would begin in -six days, no man could tell, but all that could be done to give the -victory to Aeria and the Federation had been done, and the rest lay -in the hands of the God of Battles, who had given their ancestors the -victory in the days of the Terror. The President concluded his address -by saying-- - -“Those through whom, if not by whom, this calamity has undoubtedly -fallen upon the world, have been recalled to Aeria by the Council, -after nearly seven years of exile, to receive reinstatement in -their long-forfeited rights of citizenship, but even now they will -not reassume those rights unless their welcome home is unanimous. -Therefore, while their ships are still outside our mountains, if any -citizen of Aeria has, even at this eleventh hour, any reason to give -why they should not be permitted to recross the barriers which separate -us from the rest of the world, let him or her come forward now and -state it.” - -He ceased, and for a few moments there was perfect silence throughout -the vast congregation. Not a man or woman moved or spoke, and all -eyes were turned on the President, waiting for him to speak again. In -a voice whose now unrestrained emotion contrasted strongly with the -former impassiveness of his tones he said-- - -“Then their welcome shall be unmarred by any voice of dissent! As the -father of one of the exiles I thank you for endorsing the sanction -which, as President of the Council, I have believed it my duty to give -to the return of my son Alan and his friend and companion, Alexis -Masarov, who fell with him and with him has risen again.” - -Hardly had the last word left his lips when salvo after salvo of aerial -artillery roared out from mid-air all round the mountains, and came -echoing down the upper gorges and ravines to tell the people of Aeria -that the fleet which had been sent out to escort the returning exiles -was already in sight. - -So spacious were the approaches to the vast building that in less than -ten minutes from the time the President had left the rostrum on hearing -the salutes from the sky not a soul remained within its precincts. - -Outside the Council Hall the scene was such as to baffle all attempts -at adequate description. Hundreds of aerial craft, fashioned in every -conceivable variety of design that the educated fancy of their owners -could suggest, soared up from various parts of the city and its -environs, and made towards the Ridge to the north of the valley. - -The summit was about four thousand feet above the slope on which the -city stood, and it was quite within the capacity of the pleasure-craft -to scale this height. So their glittering wings beat the cool, fresh -air of the morning with rapid strokes, and the whole flotilla of them -soared upwards until their occupants were able to see over the mighty -rock-wall, and the illimitable landscape beyond opened out before their -expectant gaze. - -The President, the Vice-President, and the twelve members of the -Council with their families had embarked on one of the new aerial -battleships, two hundred and fifty of which had been constructed -during the past year. The _Avenger_, as she had been named, in view of -the fact that she was henceforth to be placed under Alan’s immediate -command as flagship of the combined Aerian and Federation fleets, was -the largest aerial cruiser then in existence, and embodied the highest -structural skill to which the engineers of Aeria had attained. - -From the stern to the point of her ram she was two hundred and -seventy-five feet in length, with a midships beam of thirty feet. She -was sustained in the air on two pairs of wings, one working under the -other. Of these, the lower and larger pair measured two hundred feet -from point to point and fifty feet in their greatest breadth, while -the upper pair, working nearly flush with the deck, were two-thirds of -their size. - -She carried ten guns on each broadside, and two bow and two stern -chasers of a range limited only by the possibility of taking aim at the -object to be destroyed, and her propellers were capable of driving her -through the air at the hitherto unheard-of speed of six hundred miles -an hour.[4] - -The _Avenger_, attended by an escort of fifty cruisers of somewhat -smaller dimensions than her own, rapidly out-distanced the flotilla of -pleasure-craft, and passing over the Ridge at a speed of sixty miles an -hour, stopped at an elevation of a thousand feet above it. - -From here those on her deck could see the vast oval of the valley -encircled by the sentinel ships which now constantly patrolled the -mountain bulwarks of Aeria, and which were launching hundreds of -time-shells up into the air from their outer broadsides and producing -a continuous roar of explosions which formed such a greeting salute as -had never been heard on earth or in the air before. - -Presently an answering roll of thunder was heard far away to the north, -growing every moment louder and louder. - -“There they come at last!” cried Isma, who was standing with Alma in -the bow of the _Avenger_, eagerly scanning the northern heavens through -a pair of field-glasses. “I can see the flashes of the shells quite -distinctly.” - -As she spoke she handed the glasses to Alma, and noticed, not without a -little smile of satisfaction, that her hands trembled slightly as she -raised them to her eyes. - -“Yes, they are coming,” said Alma, in a tone that might have been a -good deal steadier than it was. “I can see the sun shining upon the -hulls of the ships. They are coming up very fast, evidently.” - -“Of course they are!” laughed Isma. “After the poor fellows have been -shut out all this time from the delights of Aeria, it is only natural -that they should hasten their home-coming. Look, look! you can see them -without the glasses now. What a swarm of them there seems to be!” - -As she spoke an immense fleet, numbering nearly five hundred vessels -spread out in the form of a vast crescent, the arc of which was turned -towards Aeria, swept up out of the blue distance, their polished -hulls glittering in the bright sunlight. In the centre of the arc and -slightly elevated above the rest, shone the blue hull and the white -glistening wings of the _Ithuriel_, and close in her wake followed the -_Isma_. - -When the advancing fleet was within five miles of the mountains it -slowed down from four hundred to about fifty miles an hour. At the same -instant the other fleet ran up the Aerian and Federation flags and the -simply eloquent signal, “Welcome Home!” flew from the lofty foremast -of the _Avenger_. It was instantly acknowledged by the _Ithuriel_, and -then on all the five hundred vessels the Aerian and Federation flags -were run to the mastheads and dipped three times in greeting. - -Then the two points of the vast crescent that they formed swung slowly -and regularly forward until the arc was inverted and the _Ithuriel_ and -the _Isma_ came along side by side midway between the two horns. - -When the two fleets were within half a mile of each other the -_Avenger_, with twenty-five of her consorts on each side, swung round -into line with their prows pointing towards the mountains, and in this -order, at fifty miles an hour and an elevation of a thousand feet above -the Ridge, the combined squadrons swept across the mountain barrier, -and Alan and Alexis, each steering his own vessel in the conning-tower, -saw for the first time, after nearly seven years of exile, the -incomparable beauties of the Aerian landscape opening out before their -eyes. - -[Illustration: THE COMBINED SQUADRONS SWEPT ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN -BARRIER. _Page 237._] - -Following the movements of the leading squadron, they dipped as soon -as they had passed over the Ridge, and were met on their downward -flight by the hundreds of pleasure-craft which were waiting for them in -mid-air. - -Thousands of gaily-coloured handkerchiefs were waved in welcome to -them, and many a greeting in the sign-language passed from the crews -of the warships to the occupants of the pleasure-craft and back again, -for some of the former had been on foreign service for nearly a year, -and there were many pleasant relationships to be renewed which had been -interrupted by the calls of duty. - -Far below the home-comers could see the spacious streets of the great -city, brilliant with the gaily attired throngs who had come to welcome -them, and heard the greeting chorus of thousands of bells chiming in -gladsome peals from hundreds of towers and minarets scattered over the -city and its environs. - -Signals were now flown from the _Avenger_ directing the whole of -Alan’s fleet, excepting the _Ithuriel_ and the _Isma_, to alight on a -great sloping plain to the northward of the city, where their crews -were to disembark and then proceed to the central hall of the Temple. -Acting on previous orders, the consorts of the _Avenger_ did the same. -The pleasure-craft fluttered downwards on to the housetops, and so -the three battleships were left alone in the air, the _Ithuriel_ now -floating on the right of the _Avenger_ and the _Isma_ on the left. - -Amid the welcoming cheers of the throngs which now filled the great -square they sank slowly down, and at length alighted on the roof of the -President’s palace. Then the doors of the deck-chambers opened and a -last and loudest cheer of all rose up as, in full view of the assembled -thousands in the square, the President and Maurice Masarov once more -clasped hands with their long-exiled sons. - -Then they descended into the interior of the palace, followed by the -Council and the other guests on board the _Avenger_. - -In the President’s room, the same in which he had received Olga -Romanoff’s challenge from the skies, Alan and Alexis were welcomed -home again by those who were nearest and dearest to them. Only their -immediate kindred were present, for, in the nature of the case, the -occasion could have been nothing but a private one. Nor could mere -words of description do justice to the tender pathos of the scene that -was enacted in that inner chamber, for but few words were spoken even -by the actors in it. The emotions of such a moment were too intense and -overpowering for speech, and so heart spoke to heart almost in silence. - -Alma, who had, of course, remained outside in the reception-room of the -palace with the Council and her parents, felt even more keenly than she -had expected the truth of the prophecy that she had uttered to Isma an -hour or so before. Amidst all the thousands of Aeria she was the only -one whose heart was heavy on that day of universal rejoicing. - -Once, and once only, her eyes had met Alan’s, but the single swift -glance had been more than enough to tell her how far they now stood -apart. She had seen the light of pleasure and triumph suddenly die out -of his eyes and the bright flush on his cheek pale as he looked at her. - -There had not even been a greeting smile on his lips as he bowed his -cold, grave salutation to her and then turned away to look down upon -the city and the splendid prospect of the valley that was opening -before him. This had happened up in mid-air, just as the ships had -crossed the Ridge in close order, and she had not been able to trust -herself to look at him again even when they had disembarked on the roof -of the palace. - -The swift telegraphy of that one glance had been enough to tell her -that it was not the fond, light-hearted lover of her girlhood that had -come back, but a strong, stern, and prematurely grave man, who knew all -and more than she knew of the new relation between them, and who knew -also that they could not meet as they had parted, and so accepted the -changed conditions with a proud reserve that drew a sharp dividing line -between them which, for all she knew, might never be crossed. - -Though outwardly she was calm and perfectly self-possessed, she waited -in a suspense that almost amounted to mental agony for the moment when -the greetings in the President’s room would be over and Alan and Alexis -would be brought out to be formally presented to the Council. Then -their hands would have to meet and words would have to pass between -them. - -Meet as strangers they could not, for everyone knew--even he knew--why -she had refused all these years to wed with any other man, nor yet -could they meet as lovers, as Isma and Alexis had perhaps done by this -time, for between them the shadow had fallen, and even if there was -love in their hearts there could be none upon their lips. - -If Olga Romanoff could have looked into Alma’s soul at that moment, she -would have seen something very like a fulfilment of a prophecy she had -made on board the old _Ithuriel_ six years and a half before to Alan, -when she first heard of her rival--“By your hand I will wring her heart -dry, and cast it aside to wither like an apple shaken from the tree!” -In those moments of suspense it seemed to Alma that even now her heart -was withering under the blight of this great sorrow that had fallen -upon her life after all her years of loving and patient waiting. - -At last she heard footsteps and voices in the corridor that led from -the private apartments of the palace. They were coming, and almost -mechanically she turned her eyes towards the curtains which screened -the doorway through which they would enter. They parted, and Alan came -in walking by his father’s side and with Isma hanging laughing on his -arm. - -She shrank back a little as she saw Isma look at her for a moment and -then say something to Alan. But he appeared to take no notice, and -walked forward with his father to where the members of the Council were -waiting to receive him. She heard the President say the formal words of -presentation, and saw the rulers of Aeria one after another grasp his -hands, and then those of Alexis, greeting them heartily as they did so. - -Then the little group opened, and she saw, as in a waking dream, Alan’s -tall form striding towards her with both hands outstretched, and heard -a voice that was his, and yet not his, so deep a ring of unwonted -gravity was there in it, say-- - -“Are you going to be the only one who has no greeting for the prodigal, -Alma? Have you forgotten that we were sweethearts once, and therefore -surely may be friends now?” - -There was an emphasis on the word “friends” that was perhaps -imperceptible to all ears but hers, but she caught it, and took her cue -from it instantly. With admirable tact he had, in that one word, shown -her the only basis on which it would be possible for them to take part -together in the society of the valley. - -As man and woman they must be to one another as friends whose -friendship was sweetened by the recollection that long ago, as boy and -girl, they had been lovers. She accepted the situation with a sense of -thankfulness and infinite relief, and, frankly placing her hands in his -and summoning all her self-command to her aid, she looked steadily up -into his bronzed, bearded face, and said gravely and sweetly-- - -“You know that that is not so, Alan, and if my welcome is a little -tardy it is none the less sincere for that reason. There were others -who had a prior claim, and so I waited, for it is only right that -friends should come after kindred. Welcome home! I suppose we are going -to the Council Hall now, to see what we are all longing so much to -see--the Golden Wings once more upon your brows.” - -“Yes,” replied Alan colouring slightly, as he noticed her upward glance -at his sable head-gear, “we are going there immediately, I believe, -but,” he continued in a lower tone and still holding her hand in his, -“long and anxiously as I have looked forward to to-day and its promise, -half of that promise will be betrayed unless you tell me first that you -believe I have fairly won the right to wear the Golden Wings again. -Tell me, now, do you in your heart think so?” - -“If you have not done so,” she replied, only keeping her voice steady -by a supreme effort, “then it would be hopeless for any man to look for -forgiveness on earth. You have fallen and you have risen again, and -to-day there are no two men in Aeria more worthy of honour than you and -Alexis are.” - -He looked down into the clear depths of her soft grey eyes as she -spoke, and in another instant he might have forgotten that which sealed -his lips to all words of love, and all the reserve to which he had been -schooling himself for so long, but at that moment Alma’s mother came -towards them saying that the President was ready to take Alan to the -Council Hall, and--this with a smile--that thousands should not be kept -waiting for the sake of one. Her words recalled him to himself, and, -with an inclination of his black-plumed head, he said-- - -“That is enough, for now I know that I have heard the truth from the -lips of my severest judge, and I am well content with it. I have not -lost everything if you believe that I have regained my honour.” - -“We all believe that, Alan,” said Alma’s mother before her daughter -could reply; “and, more than that, I know of no one in Aeria who thinks -that you ever really lost it. Now go to your father. He is thinking of -the thousands who are waiting anxiously for you in the Council Hall. -You can finish this conversation later on.” - -He accepted the dismissal with a smile, and as he went back he saw Isma -slip away from Alexis’ side with a tell-tale blush on her lovely face, -and, giving him a saucy, laughing glance as she passed him, run lightly -across the room to Alma’s side. - -“Well,” she said, reading too swiftly and not very correctly the -altered expression of her friend’s face, “have you made friends, then, -after all? I thought you would, and--oh, Alma, I _am_ so happy!” - -“Yes,” replied Alma gravely, though she could not repress a smile at -the radiant face that looked up at hers, “we have made friends. But you -seem to have done something more than that. Your explanations”-- - -“There were no explanations at all,” interrupted Isma, rosy red from -neck to brow. “When we met in the room he picked me up in his arms -before everybody and kissed me--and after that of course there was -nothing to be said.” - -FOOTNOTE: - -[4] Those readers who may be inclined to think this speed extravagant -or impossible are requested to remember that the most recent -experiments in aerodynamics have proved that the higher the speed of -an aerial machine the less is the power required to support and propel -it, or, to quote the words of Professor Langley, of the Smithsonian -Institute, “One horse-power will transport a larger weight at twenty -miles an hour than at ten, a still larger at forty miles an hour than -at twenty, and so on with increasing economy of power with each higher -speed up to some remote limit not yet attained in experiment.” Granted -therefore the practically illimitable energy of the motive power -supposed to be at the command of the Aerians, there is no reason why a -ship of the dimensions of the _Avenger_ should not be propelled at the -enormous speed mentioned in the text. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. THE EVE OF BATTLE. - - -AN irregular procession was now formed, at the head of which walked the -two returned exiles, each with his father by his side, and followed by -the rest of the company. They passed out of the reception-room, down -the wide entrance-hall, and out of the great arched portal which opened -on to the square. - -As they appeared at the top of the spacious flight of marble steps -which led from it down to the pavement, a mighty cheer of welcome went -up from a hundred thousand throats, the peals of bells in the four -towers which rose from the angles of the Council Hall sent forth the -signal to all the other belfries of the city, and, amidst the jubilant -chorus that instantly burst forth, the scene of the reinvestiture -was reached. Then the great bell in the dome tolled out one sonorous -warning note, and instantly there was silence on the earth and in the -air. - -This was at the moment that the procession, after passing half round -the square along the broad path left for it by the cheering throng, -halted in front of the main entrance to the Temple of Aeria, which -faced towards the south, in the middle of the magnificent façade -fronting a marble-paved avenue of double rows of palms and tree-ferns -which ran in a straight line for three miles down to the shores of the -lake. - -The Aerians had progressed far beyond the stage of semi-barbaric pomp -and display, and so the ceremony of restoring to Alan and Alexis the -rights of citizenship, of which the Golden Wings were the symbol, -solemn as it was, was also simple in the extreme. - -As the vast curtains which hung over the main doors of the Temple swung -aside to admit them, they fell out of the procession and doffed their -sable head-gear. The President and his fellow Councillors went on and -took up their position in front of the three pillars under the centre -of the dome. - -Then a guard of honour, composed of a hundred of their shipmates and -companions-in-arms from Kerguelen, marched up to the door and formed -into two files, between which Alan and Alexis walked down the aisle -through the space left by the orderly throng that filled the vast -building from the floor to the topmost tier of the rows of seats which -rose half-way up the lofty walls, and so came in front of the President -and the Council. - -Here their guard halted and formed a semicircle, leaving them in the -open space within it. A breathless silence fell upon the assembled -thousands as they dropped on one knee before the President. Then, in a -voice whose every accent rang distinctly to the farthest corners of the -huge building, he said-- - -“Alan Arnold and Alexis Masarov, the year of your probation ended with -the rising of this morning’s sun. You have been tried and you have not -been found wanting, and that of which the arch-enemy of our race robbed -you for a time you have regained by manly valour and patient devotion. - -“Therefore, by command of the Supreme Council, and with the consent of -all the citizens of Aeria, I restore to you the symbols of those rights -which you lost and have regained. - -“In the presence of God and this assembly, and on the holy ground -that is sanctified by the ashes of those mighty ancestors of ours who -bequeathed to us the empire of the world, I replace the Golden Wings -upon your brows, in the full belief that from the higher and happier -sphere they now inhabit they are looking down with approval upon the -act. - -“Rise now, recrowned Princes of the Air, and in the near approaching -day of battle go forth with fearless hearts and stainless honour to do -that which the voice of duty and the needs of humanity shall bid you -do!” - -As he ceased speaking he held out a hand to each of them, and so they -rose to their feet again, once more wearing the Golden Wings, once more -free and equal amidst their peers of the Royal race of Aeria. As they -did so a burst of jubilant melody rolled out, apparently from all parts -of the Temple at once. - -It was the opening chorus of a triumphal march which the greatest -living musician of Aeria, and therefore of the world, had composed in -honour of the day and the event, and as its splendid harmonies rolled -out from the hidden organ through the vast interior, and through the -open portals into the square beyond, the great assembly filed out in -four streams from the Temple, and all Aeria made ready to give itself -up to feasting and merry-making for the rest of the day. - -For three days Aeria kept high festival in honour of the home-coming -of the son of the President and his companion in exile, but for all -that there was sterner business in hand than merry-making for those -in authority. Save in the almost impossible event of overtures of -peace being received from the Sultan, war which, in the nature of the -circumstances, could hardly fail to be universal, would actually begin -at daybreak on the 16th of May, that is to say in five days after the -return of Alan and Alexis. - -The greater part, therefore, even of the days of rejoicing was really -spent in hard work by those upon whom had devolved the tremendous -responsibility of counteracting as far as was possible the designs of -conquest and oppression to which Olga Romanoff, by means of her fatal -beauty and subtle diplomacy, had succeeded in irrevocably committing -Khalid the Magnificent. - -Early on the morning of the day following the reinvestiture of Alan -and Alexis with the symbols of Aerian citizenship a council of war was -held in the President’s palace, which was attended by all the members -of the ruling Council, the chief engineers of the settlement, and the -admirals in command of the aerial and sea navies and the squadrons -posted at the various stations throughout the world. - -Before this assembly Alan, who had already entered upon the active -discharge of his duties as Commander-in-Chief of all the forces of -Aeria and the Federation, laid the details of his plans of attack and -defence, and invited criticism upon them. - -The same day Alan transferred his flag and his crew from the _Ithuriel_ -to the _Avenger_, while Alexis took possession of a splendid vessel of -the same type, to which the name _Orion_ had been given, after that of -the air-ship commanded by Alan Tremayne in the battle of Armageddon. -Alexis, however, had very little difficulty in obtaining the consent -of the Council to his substituting another name for this, with the -consequence that the prize taken from the enemy resumed her Russian -name, and remained in Aeria as a trophy of the skill of her captors. - -Perhaps in his heart Alan would have dearly liked to have made a -similar change in the name of the _Avenger_, but it was impossible for -him to propose it, situated as he was with regard to Alma. - -Alexis and Isma had taken the shortest, and therefore the wisest, -course out of the terribly delicate and embarrassing position which -had been created by the unholy passions and ruthless treachery of Olga -Romanoff. They had tacitly agreed to ignore it _in toto_, and to begin -again where they had left off nearly seven years before, and thus it -came to pass that Isma’s own pretty hands spilled the christening wine -over the shapely bows of her formidable namesake. - -The first use that Alan made of his new ship was to test her immense -capabilities to the utmost, so that he might know what demands he might -safely make upon her in possible emergencies. He rushed her at full -speed round the mountain bulwarks of Aeria, a distance of two hundred -and fifty miles, and found that she completed the circuit in just -twenty-five minutes, which gave a speed of six hundred miles an hour. -Alexis followed, and covered the same distance in twenty-seven minutes -and a half in the _Isma_. - -These trials proved that the new Aerian vessels were from fifty to -seventy-five miles an hour faster than the models on which their -enemies had been building their new fleets--a fact which, unless Olga -and her ally had made a corresponding improvement in their battleships, -might be expected to have a considerable effect on the issue of the -coming war. - -After the speed-trials the soaring powers of the two vessels were -tried, and it was demonstrated that their machinery was sufficiently -powerful to carry them to altitudes beyond which it was not possible -for human beings to breathe. After this all the defences of Aeria were -visited and examined in detail, and then on the second day after their -arrival in the valley Alan and Alexis divided all the air-ships at -their disposal into two squadrons, each numbering nearly four hundred -vessels, one of which, commanded by Alan, guarded the valley, while -the other, under Alexis, constituted an attacking force, the duty of -which was to find out, if possible, any weak point in the defensive -organisation. - -From noon to midnight the mimic battle went on in strict accordance -with the accepted rules of aerial warfare, but though Alexis and the -captains of his fleet tried everything that skill or daring could -suggest, the defence proved too strong for them, and during the whole -twelve hours they were unable to bring a single vessel into such a -position that she could send a shell into Aeria without previously -exposing herself to a fire that must have annihilated her in an instant. - -This aerial review was the concluding spectacle of the festivities, and -it was watched by the occupants of thousands of pleasure-craft, whose -interest in it was sharpened by the knowledge that before many days a -conflict such as it portrayed might be raging in deadly earnest round -the mountain bulwarks of their hitherto inviolate domain. - -So consummate was the skill displayed by Alan in this defence that -as soon as the _Avenger_ touched ground after the review was over -he was summoned to the Council Chamber in the President’s palace to -receive the thanks of the Senate and cordial expression of the perfect -confidence that the people of Aeria would feel, whatever the magnitude -of the war might prove to be, while the conduct of the campaign was in -his hands and those of Alexis, whose tactics had also been so perfect -that, without once putting a single ship in danger, he had made it -impossible for Alan to do anything more than remain strictly on the -defensive. - -On the following day, the 14th, the motive power of all the vessels -was renewed, ammunition laid in, and all the guns and engines minutely -inspected, so that there might be no chance of failure when the moment -of trial came. Then the final arrangements for the defence of Aeria -itself were perfected, and when that was done, the Vale of Paradise, as -its inhabitants fondly called their lovely land, was a vast fortress -compared with which the strongholds of the present day would be as -harmless and defenceless as molehills. - -Four hundred aerial battleships of what were now called the first and -second classes, ranging in speed from four to five hundred and fifty -miles an hour and mounting from ten to twenty guns each, were to patrol -the outer walls of the mountains, at distances of five and ten miles -from them and at elevations varying from two to ten thousand feet. -These were divided into two fleets of two hundred each which relieved -each other every six hours, so that their supply of motive power might -be constantly renewed. - -In addition to these, two squadrons of twenty-five of the most powerful -warships of the newest type alternately kept watch and ward against -surprise in the upper regions of the air from fifteen to twenty -thousand feet above the valley, while all round the great circuit of -the mountains were planted in the most favourable positions nearly a -thousand land batteries mounting three, five, and ten guns each, which, -if necessary, would be able to surround Aeria with a zone of storm and -flame which nothing living could pass and still live. - -[Illustration: BATTERIES WHICH WOULD BE ABLE TO SURROUND AERIA WITH A -ZONE OF STORM AND FLAME. _Page 248._] - -By day the range of vision from the decks of the sentinel ships would -make surprise impossible, and at night the great electric suns on the -summits of the mountains, aided by hundreds of search-lights flashing -through the darkness in every direction, made an attack under cover -of the darkness almost equally hopeless. - -The news of the alliance between Olga and the Sultan had acted like a -trumpet-call to battle on the proud and martial spirit of the Aerians. -Generation after generation their young men had been trained in the -arts of war as well as in those of peace, for the wisdom of their -ancestors had foreseen that, in the ordinary progress of science, it -was impossible for many generations to pass without some independent -solution of the problem of aerial navigation, which must, sooner or -later, result in a challenge of their supremacy. - -Consequently, all through the years of profound peace which the outside -world had enjoyed under their rule, their vigilance had never slept for -a moment, and their men and ships and materials of war were kept in the -highest possible state of efficiency. Thus, though the Aerian nation -numbered little more than a million souls, inhabiting a territory -of some two hundred and fifty square miles, the amount of effective -strength that it was able to put forth on an emergency was totally -disproportionate to its size. - -Living in a region of inexhaustible fertility and boundless mineral -wealth, with no idle or mere consuming classes, no politics, and -no laws that a child of ten could not understand, they led simple, -natural, and busy lives, accumulating immense public and private -riches, which were as constantly expended in increasing the splendour -and power of the State, which, as a whole, was the expression of the -wealth and patriotism of its citizens. - -No sooner had the alliance of their enemies become an accomplished -fact than they devoted the whole of their vast resources to increasing -their offensive and defensive armaments to the utmost of their power. -Reserves of material that had been stored up year after year had been -drawn upon, the mighty natural forces that they had brought into -subjection laboured night and day for them, and ships and machinery -and guns came into existence as though at the bidding of some race of -magicians. - -Magazines were filled with immense stores of ammunition, potential -death and destruction such as had never been wielded by human hands -before--and commanders and officers for all the battleships of the -Federation had been sent out as each squadron of vessels was completed. - -In a word, Aeria had donned her panoply of war, and stood armed at -all points, ready to fight the world if necessary in defence of the -priceless heritage which its citizens had received from their fathers, -the giants who in the days of the Terror had taken despotism and -oppression by the throat and flung them headlong out of the world. - -The defences of Aeria were to be under the immediate command of the -President. All the oceanic stations, save Kerguelen, Teneriffe, -Bermuda, and Hawaii, had been abandoned so as to permit of greater -concentration of forces, while fifty new ones had been established in -different parts of Europe and the British Islands, for here the brunt -of the attack was to be expected, and here the enemy must be met and -crushed if Anglo-Saxon civilisation was to be saved from a new era of -militarism and personal oppression. - -Alan and Alexis were to take command of the Western and Eastern fleets -into which the aerial forces were to be divided, Alan in the West -with Britain as his chief base of operation, and Alexis in the East -with the Balkan Peninsula as his base between the Russian and Moslem -headquarters. - -The naval fleets, in three divisions, the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and -Pacific squadrons, had already received their general instructions, -and were waiting at their various rendezvous for the outbreak of -hostilities. The Atlantic squadron blocked the Straits of Gibraltar, -the Narrow Seas of Britain, and the approaches to the Baltic, the -Mediterranean division patrolled the Inland Sea from Gibraltar to -Cyprus, and the Pacific fleet were blockading the southern approach to -the Red Sea, ready to operate against any junction of the Indian and -African sea forces of the Sultan. - -At midnight, on the 14th, Alan and Alexis were to set out for their -respective fields of operation, and that evening there was a farewell -banquet given by the Council in the President’s palace in honour of -them and the commanders of their ships. Many a hearty toast was given -and drunk in the sparkling golden wine of Aeria, and many a hearty -God-speed and loving farewell passed between those who remained at home -and those who were going forth to do battle for them and for the peace -of the world in distant skies, and to pass through the fiery storm of -such warfare as had never been waged in the world before. - -Just before twelve, when the fleets were ready to take the air, and -the last farewells were being said, the _Avenger_ and the _Isma_ were -lying on the roof of the President’s palace, and their commanders were -standing by the gangway steps which hung down from the deck-chambers, -the centres of two little groups of grave, silent men and sorrowing -women, their nearest and dearest in a land where all were friends. - -The last blessings of fathers and mothers had been given and taken, -and then came the hardest farewells of all. Isma and Alexis parted as -declared lovers will part as long as the Fates are cruel, but when -Alan took Alma’s hands in his for the last time, and looked down upon -the pale loveliness of her perfect face and into the clear calm depths -of her eyes, the word that he had been longing to say ever since his -return died upon his lips. - -The contrast between her stainless purity and the darkness of the blot -that Olga’s unholy passion had placed upon his life rose up in all its -horror for the hundredth time before him, and once more the impassable -gulf opened between them. All that he could say was-- - -“Good-bye, Alma! You, too, will wish me God-speed, won’t you?” - -“With all my heart, yes, Alan,” she replied in low, sweet, steady -tones. “God guard you in your good work and send you back in safety to -us. You will come back rich in honours and followed by the blessings of -the world you are going to rescue from the oppressors”-- - -“Or I shall never come! Good-bye, Alma, good-bye, all!” he said, -breaking upon her speech, for he could bear to hear no more, and as he -spoke he stooped and kissed her forehead as he had kissed Isma’s a few -moments before. Then he turned and ran up the steps just as Alexis took -his last kiss and did the same. - -As they gained the decks of their ships the great bell in the dome -of the Temple boomed out the first stroke of twelve. At the sixth -stroke the electric suns on the summits of the mountains blazed out -simultaneously at a hundred points, a long, deep roar of thunder rolled -round the bulwarks of Aeria, and with search-lights flashing out ahead -and astern, the four hundred battleships of the two squadrons rose into -the air and swept up towards the Ridge. - -[Illustration: THE FOUR HUNDRED BATTLESHIPS OF THE TWO SQUADRONS ROSE -INTO THE AIR. _Page 252._] - -A thousand feet above it they stopped and hung for a moment motionless -in mid-air. Then the roar of a thousand shells exploding far up -in the quaking sky answered the salutes from the sentinel ships, -and then, still signalling farewells with their search-lights, the -squadrons swept out into the ocean of darkness that loomed round the -light-girdled realm of Aeria. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. THE FIRST BLOW. - - -THE night of the 15th of May 2037 was passed in an agony of -apprehension by nearly the whole of civilised humanity. The long -threatened and universally feared thunder-cloud of war had at last -loomed up over the serene horizon of peace in full view of the whole -world. - -Although the events of the last six years had to some extent prepared -the minds of men for the impending disaster, now that the last hour of -the long peace was really about to strike there were very, very few -among the millions of non-combatants who were able to rise superior to -the universal panic. - -The ocean terrorism which had paralysed the commerce of the world five -years and a half before, fearful as it had been, was, so far as the -bulk of humanity was concerned, a terror of the unseen. Ships had gone -out to sea and had vanished into the depths, leaving no trace behind -them, but the hand that struck the blow had remained invisible. - -Now, however, this same terror, magnified a thousandfold, was to come -close up to the shores of lands whose inhabitants had never known what -it was for man to raise his hand against his brother. To-morrow the sun -would rise as usual, the earth would smile, the sea would dance, and -the air grow bright and warm under his beams, yet air and earth and sea -would be wholly strange to the eyes of men, for they would be invested -with terrors hitherto only pictured by the fears of panic. - -The air would be charged with death. Beneath the laughing waves great -battleships would be speeding swiftly, silently, and invisibly on their -errands of destruction, and the fair face of earth would be scarred by -the harrow of battle, and seared with the fires of murderous passion. - -The ocean traffic of the world had been almost wholly at a standstill -for nearly a month. Transports which could complete their voyages -before the end of the truce had done so; but since the 1st of May only -short voyages had been attempted, for it was known that escape from the -attack of a submarine battleship would be absolutely impossible for any -vessels that floated on the surface of the water. - -The immediate results of this had of course been the dislocation of -trade and commerce and ever-increasing scarcity of food in the great -centres of population. Impossible, absurd even, as it still seemed to -those who had not thoroughly recognised the tremendous gravity of the -situation, the inhabitants of the magnificent cities of the old and new -worlds were actually within measurable distance, even before a blow had -been struck, of seeing the spectre of Famine cross the threshold of -their palaces. - -In a few days communications by land would be as difficult and as -dangerous as those by sea, for, swift as the trains were, their speed -was far excelled by that of the slowest air-ship, which could wreck -them with a single shot. Bridges would be destroyed, stations blown -up, and lines cut in a hundred places at once, till railway travelling -would have to cease all over the world. - -Thus the most splendid civilisation of all the ages stood trembling -on the verge of destruction at the moment when the sleepless eyes -of the inhabitants of Alexandria saw the first faint glow of the -dawn brightening the eastern sky. No one knew where or how the first -blow would be struck in the strange and terrible warfare for the -commencement of which the rising of that morning’s sun gave the signal. - -There were scarcely any elements in common with the war of the -nineteenth century save the slaughter and destruction that it would -entail. There could be no marshalling of fleets or warships on the -sea, for to be detected by an enemy would be coming very near to being -destroyed. Every blow would have to be struck swiftly, silently, and -without warning, for only one could be struck, and to fail would be to -be lost. - -So, too, in the air, as had been proved at Kerguelen and Mount Terror. -Everything would depend upon the supreme strategy which enabled the -first fatal shot to be sent home that would decide battle after battle -without hope for the vanquished to recover from their defeat. - -But after all it would be on land that the terrors of the new warfare -would be most fearfully manifested. It needed but little effort of -the highly-strung imaginations of those who were waiting for the -world-tragedy to begin to picture vast armies, magnificent in their -strength and splendid in their equipments, marching to grapple with -each other on some field of Titanic strife. Suddenly and without -warning they would be smitten by an invisible foe floating far above -the clouds, or perhaps visible only as a tiny speck of light high in -the central blue. - -Their battalions would be torn to pieces, their regiments decimated -and thrown into confusion, their commanders--the brains of the huge -organisms--would have no such protection as they had in the wars of -former times, for the aerial artillery would reach everywhere, and the -Commander-in-Chief in his headquarters would be as much exposed as the -private in his bivouac. - -Thus the brain would be destroyed and the body reduced to impotence; -disciplined armies would become lawless and unregulated hordes in a few -days or weeks, and the organised slaughter of the battlefield would be -exchanged for the butchery and plunder of the city carried by assault. - -It was little wonder, then, that the world watched the ending of its -last night of peace and the dawning of its first day of battle with -feelings such as men had not felt for five generations, if, indeed, -ever before in the history of man. - -It was not a mere war of nations with which men were confronted. The -evil genius of a single woman had achieved the unheard-of feat of -dividing the human race into two hostile forces so nearly balanced -in strength that mutual destruction seemed a not improbable issue of -what might after all prove to be the death-struggle of humanity, the -collapse of civilisation and the sinking of a remnant of mankind back -to the level of barbarians whose children would wander amidst the ruins -of their forefathers’ habitations, and wonder what race of demigods had -created the wondrous fabrics whose very fragments were splendid. - -As the dawn flew round the world on that momentous morning every -eye was turned towards the heavens, on every lip there was but one -question: Where will the first blow be struck? and in every heart there -was but one thought: Will it reach me or my dear ones? - -The focus of all human interest was for a moment Alexandria, for it -was known that from there the main expeditionary force was to be sent -out to, if possible, effect a landing on the shores of Italy, while -other expeditions were to start from Tripoli, Tunis, and Oran to -effect landings in France and Spain. The bridge across the Straits -of Gibraltar from Point Cires to Gualdamesi was to all intents and -purposes neutral, since it would have been madness to send trains -conveying troops across it when a single shot from the British battery -at Gibraltar would have shattered the bridge to fragments. - -The forces destined by the Sultan for the invasion of Europe would, -therefore, either have to be conveyed in swift transports by sea, -protected by squadrons of air-ships and flotillas of submarine -battleships, or else they would have to go by land round the Levant by -Syria, and so through Asia Minor to the shores of the Dardanelles and -the Bosphorus. - -As the European shores of these two straits were known to be defended -by concealed batteries mounting guns a single shot from which would -blow the biggest transport afloat out of the water, the Sultan had -decided to make the attempt to invade Italy, France, and Spain by sea, -while the Russian forces, with their Asiatic allies, were to attack the -central nations from the east. - -So far, therefore, as could be foreseen, the Mediterranean would -once more be the arena of strife, and on some part of its shores or -its waters the first blow of the war would be struck. Every possible -preparation for the attack upon Europe had been finally completed -immediately after the return of Khalid from the coronation of Olga -on the 11th, but beyond the fact that the coasts of Europe, from the -Straits of Dover to the Golden Horn, were patrolled by Federation -battleships, nothing was known of the dispositions which had been made -for the defence of Europe. - -Gibraltar, Minorca, Cape Spartivento, Mount Ida in Candia and Olympus -in Cyprus formed a chain of Federation posts which, while they had been -made impregnable to all attack save long-sustained bombardment from -the air, rendered any attempt on the part of large fleets to cross the -Mediterranean an extremely hazardous venture. - -These stations were connected from Gibraltar to Cyprus by telephonic -cables, buried beneath the floor of the sea to hide them from the -enemy’s cruisers, and also by patrols of battleships constantly moving -to and fro in touch with each other along the whole line, and this was -the first barrier through which the Moslem Sultan had to force his way -before he could land his armies upon the shores of Southern Europe. - -This, too, formed what may be termed the first line of defence of the -Federation and of Christendom, and although neither the Sultan nor -the Tsarina was wholly aware of the fact, it had been strengthened to -such a degree that it was expected to prove unbreakable even under the -impact of the immense forces that would be brought to bear upon it. - -When the sun at last rose over the hills of Syria and Sinai, and the -watchers in the streets and on the housetops of Alexandria heard the -voice of the Muezzin calling the first hour of prayer and the last -hour of the world’s peace, the bright blue waves of the Inland Sea lay -smiling and sparkling in its earliest beams, betraying not a trace -of the hidden forces which waited but for the signal that might come -either from land or sea or sky to begin the work of desolation. - -The harbours of the city were thronged with shipping, great transports -lined the miles of quays whose network fronted the seaward verge of -the Moslem capital. Some of the basins swarmed with the half-submerged -hulls of scores of battleships waiting to take up their position as -convoys to the flotilla which, if the Sultan’s plans succeeded, would, -within the next twelve hours, land nearly four million troops on -European soil. - -In the air, at elevations varying from five hundred to ten thousand -feet, a squadron of two hundred aerial cruisers kept watch and ward -against a surprise from the upper regions of the air. By the time the -day had fully dawned, land and sea and sky had been scanned in vain for -a sign of an enemy’s presence. - -The sailing of the flotilla of transports had been fixed for six -o’clock by Alexandrian time, and already the battleships were moving -out into the open to take up their places in advance of the fleet of -transports. Fifty air-ships had ranged themselves in a long line to -seaward at an elevation of two thousand feet to protect the transports -from an aerial assault, and the transports themselves were moving -out to form in the basin behind the breakwater, whence they were to -commence their voyage. - -Sultan Khalid, on board his aerial flagship _Al Borak_--named after the -winged steed which, according to the old legend, had borne the Prophet -from earth to the threshold of the Seventh Heaven--superintended in -person the last preparations for the departure of his great armament. -Flying hither and thither, now soaring and now sinking, he inspected -first the cruisers of the air and then the flotillas of the seas, and -at last, when all was ready, he took his place by one of the bow guns -of the _Al Borak_ to fire the shot that was to be the signal for the -expedition to start. - -But a higher intelligence and a greater tactical ability than his had -already determined that the signal should be given in very different -fashion. Fifty miles to the south towards the Lybian desert, high in -air, fifteen thousand feet above the earth, a solitary air-ship hung -suspended in the central blue. - -As the sun rose she had moved slowly forward towards the city. As she -came within sight of it, Alan Arnold standing in her conning-tower -saw through a telescope that commanded a range of a hundred miles the -disposition of the aerial fleet above Alexandria. He marked down a -group of five air-ships floating some five thousand feet above the -centre of the city, and singled them out as the first victims of the -war. - -He was, of course, far out of range of gun-fire, and to have gone -within range and fired on them would have been to expose his single -ship to a concentrated hail of projectiles which would have scattered -her in dust through the sky. So he determined to open the game of death -and destruction by a stroke as dramatic as it was terrible. - -He remembered how his ancestor, Richard Arnold, in the first -_Ithuriel_, had rammed the Russian war-balloons to the north of Muswell -Hill, and resolved to eclipse even that marvellous stroke of tactics. -Obeying his will like a living creature, the mighty fabric under his -control sank five thousand feet and then began to gather way on a -slanting course towards the Moslem air-ships. - -The propellers whirled faster and faster, and the quadruple wings -undulated with ever-increasing velocity until the crowds in the streets -of Alexandria saw something like a swift flash of blue light stream -downward from the southern sky, and heard a long screaming roar as -though the firmament was being rent in twain above them. - -Then three of the air-ships floating in line above their heads seemed -to break up and roll over. The crowds held their breath and pointed -upwards with one accord in sudden horror, as the crippled air-ships -dropped like stones towards the earth. In another moment they struck -it, and then, as though the central fires of the earth had burst -through in the heart of the great city, there came a crash and a shock -that shook the ground like an earthquake spasm. - -[Illustration: THREE OF THE AIR-SHIPS SEEMED TO BREAK UP AND ROLL OVER. -_Page 259._] - -A vast dazzling volume of flame shot up from amidst a wide circle of -blackened ruin, towers fell and roofs collapsed all round the focus of -the explosion, the whole atmosphere above the city was convulsed, and -the very sea itself seemed to writhe under the stress of the mighty -shock, and so, leaving death and ruin and consternation behind her, -the _Avenger_ swept out over the Mediterranean at a speed that the eye -could scarcely follow, after striking the first blow in the world-war -of the twenty-first century. - -To say that this sudden and unexpected catastrophe spread panic through -the Moslem capital would be but a very inadequate description of the -_Avenger’s_ first blow in the world-war. Consternation, wild and -unbounded, blanched every cheek, and made every heart stand still as -the mighty roar of the explosion burst upon the deafened ears of the -inhabitants and then instantly died into silence, broken only by the -crash of falling ruins and the screams and groans of the wounded and -dying. - -The red spectre of war in its most frightful form had suddenly appeared -to the terrified and horror-stricken vision of millions of men and -women, scarce one of whom had ever seen a deed of violence done. - -Khalid, like a wise leader, did all he could to prevent the panic -spreading to the troops on board the transports by issuing peremptory -orders for the expedition to start at once. At the same time he -signalled for half a dozen air-ships to ascend as far as possible and -attempt to discover the source from which the inexplicable attack had -come, an errand destined to be entirely fruitless. - -In orderly succession the hundred huge transports, each carrying from -eight to ten thousand men, left the outer basin in two long lines in -the rear of the fifty air-ships already in position. - -A hundred submarine battleships took up their stations five hundred -yards in advance of the first line of transports. Fifty of these sank -to a depth of thirty feet, and shot two thousand yards ahead as soon as -the whole flotilla was in motion, while the other fifty ran along the -surface of the water with their conning-towers just showing above the -waves, ready to sink in obedience to any signal that their commanders -might receive from the air-ships, which commanded an immense range of -vision over the waters. - -To all appearance the enemy was content with the one terrible blow -that had already been struck. The smooth, sunlit sea betrayed no trace -of a hostile vessel, and as far as the glasses of those on board the -air-ships could sweep the sky nothing but the blue atmosphere, flecked -here and there with white, fleecy clouds, could be seen. - -But the Moslem commanders were far from being deceived by these -peaceful appearances. From Sultan Khalid, who was commanding the -expedition in person, to the engineers who worked the transports, all -knew that the invisible line of the Federation patrols had to be passed -somewhere in the depths of the sea before the shores of Italy could be -reached. - -The speed of the three flotillas was limited to twenty-five miles an -hour, in order that there might be no headlong running into danger, -and the commander of each of the submerged battleships had orders to -rise to the surface the instant that his tell-tale needle denoted the -presence of an enemy, and signal the fact to the rest of the squadron. -The transports were then to stop, and were not to resume their passage -until the battleships had cleared the way for them. The first division -was to engage the enemy, while the second was to remain on the surface -ready to defend the transports in case of need. - -For six hours the expedition proceeded on its way north-west by west -from Alexandria without interruption. The intention was to pass about -a hundred miles to the south of the Federation post at Candia, between -which island and the Cape Spartivento the ocean patrol would most -likely be met with. - -Soon after twelve those on board the Sultan’s flagship detected -half a dozen little points of light shining amidst the waves to the -north-westward. They could be nothing else but the scout-ships of the -patrol; and although they were nearly ten miles away, a couple of -shells were discharged at them from the _Al Borak’s_ bow gun, more as a -warning to the Moslem flotilla than in the hope of doing any damage. -Whether they did or not was never known, for before the explosion of -the shells was seen in the water the points of light had vanished. - -Signals were at once made from the flagship ordering the transports to -stop, and the second division of battleships to stand by to protect -them. A dozen remained on the surface of the water, running round and -round the now stationary troopships in concentric circles. The others -sank to varying depths, and scattered until the vague fluctuations of -their needles showed that they were more than a thousand yards from -each other and the transports. - -As the first division had orders to keep more than two miles in advance -as soon as an enemy was discovered, there would be no danger of ramming -friend instead of foe. It ran on for seven miles after the main body -stopped. It was moving in a single line, the vessels being at an equal -distance apart, so that, with the exception of the two ships at the -extremities of the line, the attraction of the steel hulls on the -needles should be neutralised, and therefore only give indications of -vessels ahead. - -At the end of the seventh mile the tell-tales ceased their wavering -motions and began to point steadily, in slightly varying directions, -ahead. The moment they did so the engines were stopped and the flotilla -rose to the surface of the water. Their commanders found themselves -out of sight of the transports, but the _Al Borak_, attended by ten -other air-ships, was floating about a thousand feet above them. From -the flagship’s mainmast-head flew the signal--“Fleet eight miles to the -rear. Enemy ahead. Sink and ram.” - -The order was instantly obeyed by the whole division, and the fifty -battleships simultaneously sank out of sight to engage the invisible -enemy, while the Sultan and his companions on board the air-ships -waited in intense anxiety to see what the next few fateful minutes -would bring forth. - -No human eye could see what work of death might be going on down in the -depths of the sea. Even those who took part in it would know it only by -its results, and of these only the victors would know anything. They -would reappear on the surface of the waves, but the vanquished would -never rise again. - -Minute after minute passed and still the anxious watchers on the -air-ships saw nothing. The bright, sunlit waves rippled on over the -abyss in which the conflict must by this time be almost over. Five, -ten, fifteen minutes passed, and still no sign. Had Khalid been a mile -or two farther on and closer down to the surface of the sea, he would -have seen streams of air-bubbles rising swiftly here and there and -instantly breaking. But from where he was he could see nothing. - -Five more minutes went by and suspense gave place to apprehension. Had -the whole of the first division simply sunk to its destruction into -some invisible trap that had been laid for it deep down in the watery -abyss? If not, how came it that not even one of the battleships had -risen to the surface to tell the tale of victory or defeat? - -Khalid knew that the squadron would obey orders and hurl itself at full -speed, that is to say, at some hundred and fifty miles an hour, upon -the enemy the moment the tell-tales found their mark. In two or three -minutes--five at the outside--their rams must either have done their -work or failed to do it. If they had done it they would have risen to -the surface; if they had failed and themselves escaped destruction they -would still have risen. - -Now twenty minutes had passed and not one of the fifty battleships had -reappeared. What could this mean but disaster? - -And disaster it did mean, but great as it was it was as nothing -compared with the frightful catastrophe which followed close upon -it. All eyes on board the air-ships were so intently fixed upon that -portion of the sea where the squadron was expected to rise again that -no one thought for the moment of looking back towards the transports -until the dull rumbling roar of a series of explosions came rolling up -out of the distance. - -Instantly every glass was turned in the direction whence the sound -came, and Khalid saw his great fleet of troopships tossing about in -the midst of a wild commotion of the waves, out of which vast masses of -white water spouted as if from the depths of the sea, and amidst these -ship after ship heeled over and sank into the white seething waters. - -Uttering a cry of rage and despair, he headed the _Al Borak_ at full -speed towards the scene of the disaster. In three minutes he was -floating over it, helpless to do anything to avert or even delay the -swift destruction that was overwhelming the splendid fleet. Distracted -by impotent rage and passionate sorrow for the fate of his soldiers and -sailors, who were being slain hopelessly and by wholesale beneath his -eyes, he watched the awful submarine storm rage on, wrecking ship after -ship, and swallowing them up with all the thousands on board in the -boiling gulfs which opened ever and anon amidst the waves. - -When the first panic passed, the transports which were still uninjured -scattered and headed away as fast as their engines would drive them to -the southward, where the only chance of safety seemed to lie. But there -was no escape for them from their invisible and merciless enemies. - -The fate of one magnificent transport, the flagship of the fleet, -may be described as an illustration of the general disaster. She -was a vessel of fifty thousand tons measurement, and her crew and -complement of troops numbered together nearly twenty-five thousand. -She escaped the first discharge from the submarine torpedoes unharmed, -and heading southward with her triple propellers revolving at their -utmost velocity, rushed through the water at a speed of more than forty -nautical miles an hour. - -She had scarcely gained a mile on her course when the glass-domed -conning-tower of a battleship appeared for an instant above the waves. -Before Khalid, not knowing whether it was friend or foe, could make up -his mind to fire on it, it disappeared again. - -A few seconds later the great ship stopped and shuddered with some -mighty shock, as though she had run head-on to a sunken reef, and -heeled over to one side. Then came a dull roar, a huge column of white -foaming water rose up under her side amidships, and she broke in two -and vanished in the midst of a white space of swirling eddies. - -Such scenes as this were occurring simultaneously in twenty different -parts of the naval battlefield. The foe never showed himself save for -an instant. Then came the blow that meant destruction, and the victim -vanished. There was none of the pomp and pageantry of modern naval -warfare; no splendid armaments of mighty ironclads and stately cruisers -vomiting thunder and flame and storms of shot and shell at each other, -nor were there any rolling masses of battle smoke to darken the -brightness of the sky. - -The occupants of an open boat five miles away would not have known that -the most deadly sea-fight ever waged since men had first gone down to -the sea in ships was being fought out under that smiling May-day sky. - -One after another the flying transports were overtaken, rammed, or -blown up and sunk by the pitiless monsters which unceasingly darted -hither and thither a few feet below the surface of the water, and in -less than two hours after the first alarm had been given the last of -the hundred transports which had sailed that morning from Alexandria -had gone down a shattered wreck into the abysses of the Inland Sea. - -There was no chance of saving the drowning wretches who managed to -escape from the eddies of the sinking ships, as there would have -been in a naval battle of to-day. The air-ships could not do so -without sinking to the waves, and so making themselves marks for the -irresistible rams and torpedoes of their enemies, who themselves could -not be merciful, even if they would, shut up as they were in the steel -leviathans whose only use was destruction. - -Khalid the Magnificent, with a heart well-nigh breaking with rage and -shame and sorrow, watched in passionate helplessness the destruction -of his splendid fleet and the drowning, like rats in a pond, of the -soldiers who were to have borne the banner of the Crescent over the -conquered fields of Christendom. - -More than a million men had perished beneath his eyes, and he had not -been able to fire a shot to help them, although he was in command of -an aerial fleet which could have dispersed an army or wrecked a city -between sunrise and noon. - -But the strangest part of the strange battle was yet to come. After -the last of the transports had disappeared, the attack ceased and the -assailants vanished. In a few minutes the sea was as calm and bright as -ever, and only a few bits of broken wooden wreckage floating here and -there betrayed the fact that anything out of the common had happened. - -The remnant of the Moslem squadron rose to the surface and signalled -for instructions. Only twenty of them remained uninjured out of -the hundred that had gone into the fight. Before the signals could -be returned there was a loud hiss and a swirling noise as of some -huge body rushing at a furious speed through the water, and a great -battleship leapt up out of the nether waters, and hurled herself at -a speed of nearly two hundred miles an hour into the midst of the -floating squadron. - -[Illustration: A GREAT BATTLESHIP LEAPT UP OUT OF THE NETHER WATERS. -_Page 266._] - -Her gleaming ram of azurine tore its way through the sides of three -vessels in such swift succession that, almost before their fragments -had time to sink, her huge bulk vanished under the waves again. But -hardly was her work done than a second battleship charged into the -paralysed squadron, sending two of its members to the bottom and -crippling three more before she, too, vanished into the safe obscurity -of the depths. - -A third was met by a storm of shells from the air-ships, which burst -round her and under her just as she came to the surface, and blew her -out of the water in fragments. Heedless of this, a fourth plunged -fiercely through the foaming area of the explosion, and had wrecked -two more Moslem vessels before a shell smashed her propeller and laid -her helpless on the water. Two of the Moslems instantly backed out and -rushed at her, tearing two great ragged holes in her side and sinking -her instantly, only to be sunk themselves in turn by a fifth charge -from below. - -Scarcely had this last foe disappeared in safety than a swarm of -torpedoes, converging from all sides, encircled the remaining Moslem -battleships. Some plunged beneath the waves to escape them, but -these never reappeared. The remainder, torn and twisted and shattered -by a series of explosions that flung the water mountains high all round -them, sank like stones, and when the sea once more settled down, the -grim work of death had been completed. - -The fate which had so swiftly overwhelmed the expedition that had -set out from Alexandria had almost simultaneously befallen four -other expeditions which had started at the same hour from Tripoli, -Tunis, Algiers, and Oran. The one disaster had been an almost exact -reproduction of the others. - -The same order, formation, and tactics had been observed in each of the -five cases, and each of the five squadrons of transports and fleets of -submarine battleships had been overwhelmed and completely destroyed -by the same mysterious fate. Of five hundred transports and the same -number of battleships which Sultan Khalid had possessed at sunrise on -that fatal 16th of May not a single one remained by sundown, and of the -more than three million souls who had manned the five fleets not one -man survived. - -Of the strength or the losses of the enemy that had wrought this -appalling and unheard-of destruction within such a brief space of time -nothing could, in the nature of the case, be known by those who had -seen only some of its effects from the decks of the air-ships which -floated almost helplessly over the waves which were engulfing their -naval consorts. The work of annihilation had for the most part been -done in the dim and silent depths of the sea, and all that they knew -was the number of those of their own comrades who had gone to battle -and never returned. - -And yet to all practical intents and purposes these five stupendous -blows which had simultaneously crushed the Moslem sea-power and half -crippled the military strength of the Sultan had been struck by one -hand. In other words, the victory of the Mediterranean was due to two -inventions which had been made and perfected by Max Ernstein, who had -been transferred from Kerguelen and appointed Admiral in Command of the -whole Mediterranean forces of the Federation. - -One of these was a highly improved form of an apparatus which had -just come into use on board battleships and cruisers when the War of -the Terror broke out. This was an electrical contrivance which gave -warning, more or less reliable, of the approach of torpedoes, by -translating the aqueous vibrations set up by them into sound-waves, -which increased in intensity as the hidden destroyer came nearer. - -This invention had been lost sight of when all the warships of the -world were sunk in the South Atlantic after the proclamation of -the Universal Peace. Ernstein’s was therefore a new discovery, or -rediscovery, but the advantages of his position, far ahead of the -scientific skill of the nineteenth century, had enabled him to produce -a much more perfect instrument, and his apparatus, which was attached -to all the battleships of the Federation, not only gave warning of -the approach of an enemy, but indicated his direction, the number of -revolutions at which his propellers were working, and his distance at -any given moment. - -This not only enabled the commander of a Federation battleship to -detect the presence of an enemy, but it enabled him to distinguish -between friend and foe. As soon as the phonetic indicator showed that -another ship was approaching he stopped his own propellers, started -them, and stopped them again. - -The vibrations thus set up and interrupted would be conveyed to the -indicator of the approaching ship, if she had one, and she would at -once return the signal. If the signal was not returned it was safe -to conclude that the coming vessel was an enemy and could be rammed -accordingly. - -When this invention replaced the tell-tale needle that had been in -use a year before, an alteration in tactics became necessary, and the -fighting order became more extended. A mile instead of a thousand yards -was now the limit within which the Federation battleships were not -permitted to approach each other, save under special circumstances. -Every vessel acted as an independent unit, subject only to the general -instructions. - -Ernstein’s second invention was of a simpler but none the less -effective character. Knowing that the Moslem and Russian squadrons -would be forced to trust entirely to their tell-tale magnetised -needles, he had devised a plan for making these worse than useless. As -soon as the phonetic indicator told him that an enemy was coming, the -commander of each of his battleships dropped a thin rope of insulated -wire down thirty or forty feet into the water below him. - -The lower end of this cable was a powerful electro-magnet, through -which a current of electricity was kept passing along the wires. The -attraction of this magnet was far stronger than that of the hull of -the vessel, and consequently the needles of the enemy were deflected -downwards, and gave a totally erroneous idea as to the depth at which -the Federation ship was floating. - -Thus when the first division of the Moslem submarine squadron charged -at what its commanders thought were the hulls of their enemies, their -rams passed harmlessly underneath them, merely striking the magnet -and knocking it aside. The moment they had passed the magnet, its -attraction swung their needles back, and showed that some mysterious -mistake had been committed, but before they had time to turn and seek -the mark afresh the Federation ships were upon them, and their rams had -rent their way into their sides. - -In this manner every ship of the first division had been destroyed -within three minutes after it had made its first and last charge. -Then the Federationists had risen to the surface for an instant -to reconnoitre by means of the arrangement of mirrors previously -described, and sinking again had worked their way back towards the -transports, formed in a huge circle round them, and had sent torpedo -after torpedo into their midst. - -As soon as the flotilla had been thrown into confusion they had -converged until they could communicate with each other by means of -their submarine signals, and after that they had attacked the enemy -singly. Ship after ship charged into the _mêlée_, did her work, and -retired, if she escaped destruction, to give place to another. - -Only twenty Federation ships had been engaged in each of the five -battles, and of these forty in all had been destroyed, a loss utterly -disproportionate to the gigantic damage that had been done to the enemy. - -Khalid the Magnificent divined intuitively that the disaster -which had overwhelmed the expedition which he had commanded in -person was only a portion of a result achieved by some elaborate -and consummately-conceived scheme of defence which must have been -simultaneously put into operation against his other expeditions. What -had succeeded against his own might well have been expected to have -succeeded against them. - -He at once despatched four squadrons of ten air-ships each to Tripoli -and Tunis, Algiers and Oran, with orders to collect all attainable -information, and to return to Alexandria as soon after sunset as -possible. Then he turned the prows of the remainder of his fleet -towards his capital, and gave the signal for full speed ahead. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. WAR AT ITS WORST. - - -WITHOUT even pausing to see the effects of his charge upon the -three air-ships above Alexandria, Alan kept the _Avenger_ going at -full speed, soaring up into the higher regions of the atmosphere -with her prow pointed to the north-east. About three hours later -she was floating at an elevation of nearly five miles above Moscow, -not stationary, but sweeping round and round in vast circles on her -quadruple wings after the manner of the condors of the Andes, which -thus sustain themselves on almost motionless wings at vast elevations -and very small expenditure of force. - -Below an immense expanse of country lay in unclouded clearness under -the glasses of the captain of the ship and George Cosmo, late engineer -of the _Narwhal_, who was now chief engineer of the Aerian flagship. - -Not only Moscow, but a dozen other towns lay at the mercy of the -_Avenger’s_ twenty-four guns, and yet no shot was fired, for Alan, -despite the tremendous debt of vengeance that he owed to her who now, -at last in very fact crowned Tsarina of the Russias, held her court -at Moscow, was yet extremely loth to involve non-combatants in the -destruction which he knew must follow the discharge of his guns. - -Added to this, his present designs were rather to reconnoitre than to -destroy. He was in command of the fastest and most powerful air-ship in -the world, and the task that he had set himself was to supervise the -whole of the complicated arrangements that had been made for repelling -the coming attack upon the Federation by the Moslems and Russians. - -Thus he had started soon after midnight from Gibraltar, one of the -chief power-stations and depôts in Europe. Thence he had run along -the African coast over Oran, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, noting the -sleepless activity of the brilliantly-lighted towns, the swarming -transports and battleships in their harbours, and the crowds of anxious -watchers in their streets. Then he had got round to the south of -Alexandria, as has been seen, and there struck the first blow in the -war. - -Now, his object was to discover what disposition of troops were being -made for the invasion of Austria and Germany. Another scout-ship would -be by this time floating over St. Petersburg, and another over Odessa, -and these were to report to him at noon. - -He had kept the _Avenger_ moving with sufficient rapidity to make it -extremely difficult for her to be seen from the earth, as he wanted to -see without being seen, and he remained undiscovered until nearly noon. -All this time trains had been seen running in swift succession into -Moscow from the east and out to the west, evidently conveying troops to -the frontier. - -A large fleet of air-ships, numbering apparently between two and three -hundred vessels, were seen lying in four squadrons on the open space -about the Kremlin, and others were constantly flying into and out of -the city in all directions. - -A few minutes after half-past eleven, Cosmo, after a long look through -his glasses, called to Alan, who was looking out from the other side of -the deck-- - -“I fancy they must have seen us at last. Three ships are coming up on -this side as if they wanted to investigate.” - -Alan crossed over and soon picked out the Russian vessels rising in -long spiral sweeps from the earth about three miles to the northward -and coming up very fast. - -“They seem to have learned something in tactics during the year,” he -said. “They evidently know better than to rise perpendicularly while -they suspect we are up here. They think they’ll be much more difficult -to hit coming up like that.” - -“Yes,” said Cosmo. “But we can soon show them the mistake in that idea. -What are you going to do with them?” - -“Destroy them, of course,” replied Alan. “It doesn’t matter about -giving the alarm now. I think it’s pretty certain that the Russians are -going to concentrate at Kieff, Vitebsk, Dünaburg, and Vilna, and those -four squadrons down there are intended to cover them. We’d better let -them concentrate, and make the fighting as short and sharp as possible. -It would be a waste of time to destroy them here in detail, and the -moral effect wouldn’t be anything like as good. What do you think?” - -“I don’t think there’ll be any fighting,” replied Cosmo, “unless -between the air-ships. The most hardened troops of the nineteenth -century would have broken and run like a lot of sheep under our shells, -and these poor fellows, who have never seen a battle in their lives, -will do the same. - -“I don’t believe we shall have any land fighting at all to speak of -during the whole war. There will be nothing but massacres from the air -on both sides. Still, I think you’re both wise and merciful in waiting -until you can hit hard, though perhaps from the strictly military point -of view we ought to have Moscow in ruins by sundown.” - -“I won’t do that,” said Alan, shaking his head decisively. “There are -three or four millions of women and children in it who have done no -harm, and I’ll shed no more blood than I’m obliged to. We had better -destroy those fellows, however, before they get too close. You know -what to do.” - -“Very well,” said Cosmo. “You’ll take the deck, I suppose?” - -Alan nodded, and Cosmo saluted and went into the conning-tower. The -_Avenger_ now altered her course, so that her circling flight took her -to the northward, above the three Russian air-ships that were sweeping -round and round so fast that it would have been impossible to train a -gun upon them. - -As soon as she got over them the _Avenger_ quickened her course until -she was flying round in the same circles and at the same speed as the -Russians. This, of course, made her relatively stationary with regard -to them, and it was now possible to take aim. Two of the broadside -guns, one on each side, were much shorter than the others, and had been -specially constructed for firing almost vertically downwards. - -Alan stood by one of these and trained it on the first of the Russian -vessels, which were coming up in a spiral line. At the right moment -he pressed the button in the breech and released the projectile. The -shot struck the Russian amidships. They saw the glass deck of the roof -splinter, then the blaze of the explosion flashed out, the air quaked, -and the next moment the fragments of the Russian warship were falling -back upon the earth. - -A second and a third shot followed as the other two came into position, -and when Alan looked down towards the city again he saw that the four -squadrons had taken the alarm, and were rising from the earth and -scattering in all directions. This was just what he wanted, for it -relieved him of the scruples which had prevented him from firing on -them while they lay within the precincts of the city. - -In an instant the crew of the _Avenger_ were at their guns, and shell -after shell sped on its downward way after the flying ships. Although, -under the circumstances, the aim was necessarily hurried, for the -captains of the Russian vessels, seeing the terrible disadvantage at -which they were placed, had put on their utmost speed, the guns of the -_Avenger_ were so smartly handled that nearly a score of the Russians -were either blown to fragments or crippled before the squadron escaped -out of range. - -“Well done!” said Alan. “That will teach them to keep a little smarter -look-out next time.” And then he went on to himself--“I wonder whether -_she_ was on board one of those that are lying in little pieces down -there? I suppose that would be too good luck to hope for, and yet I -don’t know, I think her end ought to be something different to that. I -wonder what it really will be?” - -He ordered his men to cease firing now, and placed the _Avenger_ once -more in her old position over Moscow, keeping her at a great elevation -to guard against surprise from the squadron he had scattered. A few -minutes later two air-ships were reported coming from the south and -north. The flash of the sun on their blue hulls proclaimed them friends. - -They were the vessels bringing the reports from St. Petersburg and -Odessa, and these reports were to the effect that during the whole -of the morning trains had been pouring through from the eastward and -all the surrounding country towards the Austro-German frontier. Other -reports from the westward had been received by the commanders of these -two vessels to the effect that the Russian troops were massing along -the frontier and seemingly preparing to invade the Federation area from -the four points already selected by Alan. - -He at once despatched orders by these two courier-vessels to the -depôts at Königsberg, Thorn, Breslau, and Budapesth to assemble four -squadrons of fifty vessels each, which were to be over the points of -concentration at daybreak on the following morning. - -These ships were to maintain their greatest possible elevation--that -is to say, about three miles and a half--until the sun rose, then if -the sky were clear they were to bombard the towns at once from that -height; if not they were to use all precautions against surprise in -passing through the clouds, and then the commanders were to use their -own discretion as to the plan of operation, but Odessa, Kieff, Vitebsk, -and Dünaburg were to be destroyed at all hazards as soon as it was -certain that the invading forces were concentrated there, and preparing -to march eastward. - -As soon as these orders had been despatched the _Avenger_ left Moscow, -and started at full speed for Gibraltar, where she arrived about four -o’clock in the afternoon. - -Here Alan, after once more inspecting the land batteries and the -aerial defences of this important outpost of the Federation, received -news of the annihilation of the four Moslem expeditions, and heartily -congratulated Admiral Ernstein on the complete success of his -operations. - -It was at once apparent that the Sultan would not risk a second loss so -enormous as this even if he had sufficient transports left and could -persuade any more of his people to brave the terrors of such another -sea-fight. This being so, only two alternatives would be open to him, -either he must give up all idea of invading Europe by land or sea, or -else he must attempt to force the bridges across the Dardanelles and -the Straits of Gibraltar, and cross into Europe _viâ_ Turkey and Spain. - -Both these bridges, the main highways between Europe, Africa, and Asia -Minor, were guarded on the European side by batteries of enormous -strength, similar to those which guarded the Federation posts in the -Mediterranean. They were magnificent structures, each four hundred feet -broad, carrying twelve lines of railway as well as carriage drives and -promenades, and, once in the hands of the enemy, troops could be poured -across them in tens of thousands every hour. - -Alan, after a brief conference with Ernstein, decided to pursue the -same tactics here as he was going to make use of on the Russian -frontier. The bridges were to be left completely open, but their -supporting pillars were to be mined with torpedoes, connected by -electric wires with the batteries. - -If the Sultan attempted to force them, his men were to be allowed -to concentrate on the African and Asiatic shores and to occupy the -bridges, then the bridges were to be blown up and the forces on the -opposite side to be dispersed by the batteries and the air-ships. - -The message to the Dardanelles bridge was despatched by telephone over -the cables connecting Gibraltar with Candia and Gallipoli, and similar -instructions were sent on from Gallipoli to Constantinople, in case any -attempt should be made to force the bridge which spanned the Bosphorus. - -The Mediterranean patrol was to be maintained as before, and three -air-ships were sent out to reconnoitre the African coast from Ceuta to -Port Said during the night, and learn what they could of the Sultan’s -intentions. - -The rest of the evening and the greater part of the night were spent -by Alan receiving and answering reports from the northern coast of -the Mediterranean, the Russian frontier, and the principal cities of -Europe, and in assuring himself that everything was ready, so far as -was possible, to meet the storm that must infallibly burst over the -Continent within the next few days. - -What would have been in the nineteenth century a matter of weeks was -now only one of days and hours. The enormously-developed system of -intercommunication made transit, even for very large numbers of men -and between very distant points, rapid to a degree undreamt of in the -present century. - -Trains could travel at two hundred miles an hour along the hundreds -of quadruple lines which covered the Continent with their gigantic -network, aerial cruisers could fly at more than twice this speed, -and squadrons of submarine battleships could cleave their silent and -invisible way through the ocean depths at a hundred and fifty miles an -hour. - -It was, therefore, almost impossible to tell without certain -information where and how the blows of the enemy would be struck, -or from how many points the European area of the Federation might -be assailed at once, and vast indeed were the responsibilities and -anxieties which weighed upon the man whose single brain was the centre -of this vast and complicated system of defence, and on whose decisions -would depend the safety or the destruction of millions of human beings. - -Alan had managed to get four hours’ sleep in the afternoon between -Moscow and Gibraltar, and he snatched two hours more before midnight. -Then he was called, and the _Avenger_ was just about to take the air -to return to the Russian frontier, so that he might supervise the -operations there, when the look-out on the summit of the Rock of -Gibraltar saw and answered the Aerian private signal from the sky, and -a few minutes later a fleet of more than a hundred air-ships dropped -down out of the darkness and hovered over what is now called the -neutral ground between the Rock and Spain. - -One of these alighted at the signal station itself. It was the _Isma_, -and within three minutes after she had touched the ground Alan was -shaking hands with Alexis and asking him what brought him back so soon -from the East. - -“I have come back because there is nothing much more to do there,” said -Alexis. “Have you had any fighting here?” - -“Yes,” said Alan; “or, at anyrate, a big massacre.” - -And then he described what had befallen the Sultan’s expeditions. - -“Horrible but necessary, I suppose!” replied Alexis, not without a -shudder at the news. “I have been doing my damage on land. I didn’t -wait for the enemy to begin hostilities, so as soon as day broke we got -to work. We have wrecked Ekaterinburg, Slatonsk, Orenburg, and Uralsk, -and blocked the four roads into Russia from Asia. - -“The Tsarina’s Asiatic forces had concentrated there in large numbers -ready to come into Europe. We found some air-ships intended to cover -them, but we had the best of the elevation, and smashed them up. The -slaughter has been something perfectly frightful. I had a hundred and -fifty ships in action, and there isn’t a man left of the Asiatic troops -that is not getting back to where he came from as fast as he can go. - -“The towns are mere heaps of ruins and the railways utterly useless. I -left twenty ships to patrol the frontier and stop any further movements -into Russia, and twenty more are strung out in a line from the Caspian -to the head of the Red Sea to cut communications between Asia and -Africa. - -“We came westward over Odessa this afternoon, and had a skirmish, -in which, I am sorry to say, I lost five ships, but we destroyed -twenty Russians, blew up the dockyard, and shelled the city by way of -punishment. And now I’ve got myself and a hundred and thirty ships to -place at your disposal for the present. There is nothing more to be -feared from the East, for by to-morrow night, I think, the Asiatics -will be thoroughly terrorised.” - -“You have done more than I have in the way of slaughter and -destruction,” said Alan. “But there will be some fearful work along the -Russian frontier to-morrow morning. The Tsarina, as you call her, is -concentrating her forces at Kieff, Vitebsk, Dünaburg, and Vilna for a -descent upon Germany. I have ordered those four places to be destroyed -as soon as possible after sunrise, and I am just starting now, so you -had better come with me and order your ships to follow us.” - -Both the commanders felt, as their combined squadrons were winging -their way towards the Russian frontier, that the events of the next -twenty-four hours or so would go far towards deciding the issues of the -war, and therefore the fate of the world. - -Alexis had given up the command of the _Isma_ for the night to his -first lieutenant, and was travelling on board the _Avenger_, in order -that he and Alan might finally arrange their plans for the terrible -deeds that were to be done on the following day. Both of them were -serious almost to depression, for it must be remembered that neither -possessed that love of fighting and slaughter which distinguishes the -professional soldier of the nineteenth century. - -Armed with the most awful weapons ever wielded by human hands, they -had already, within the space of a few hours, hurled millions of their -fellow-creatures into eternity and made thousands of homes desolate -which a couple of days ago were happy. Now they were going to repeat -the tragedy, on how vast a scale neither of them knew. Before the next -sunset a red line of blood and flame would mark the frontier between -Russia and Germany. - -All the horrors of months of the older warfare would be concentrated -into those few fatal hours. Those who were to do battle in the air -would hurl their irresistible lightnings at each other more as gods -than as men, while on earth the unresisting swarms could only stand in -helpless agony of suspense waiting for the death from which there was -no possibility of flying. - -Within a hundred miles of the frontier the two fleets stopped, and -Alexis went on board his own vessel. It was then a few minutes after -three in the morning, that is to say, about an hour before sunrise, and -the warships were floating in a serene and cloudless atmosphere at an -elevation of nearly four miles, or about twenty thousand feet. It was -already quite light enough at that elevation for signals to be plainly -seen, and a rapid interchange of these took place, communicating the -final instructions from the flagships to the commanders of the smaller -squadrons into which the fleets were to be divided. - -Just as the last signal had been answered, and the vessels were about -to separate, a tiny speck of light was seen far away to the westward. A -hundred powerful field-glasses were instantly turned upon it, and soon -showed it to be a hostile air-ship coming up very fast at an elevation -of about three miles. The silvery sheen of her hull instantly betrayed -the fact that she was neither an Aerian nor a Federation vessel, for -the former were blue and the latter painted dull grey. A moment’s -reflection showed that she must have sighted the Aerian fleet, and if -she got past would take tidings of its presence to the frontier and -destroy all hope of a surprise. - -Within twenty seconds of her true nature being made out a signal was -flying from the mizzenmast of the _Isma_, which read, “Shall I stop -her?” “Yes. Cripple her if you can. Don’t fire unless necessary,” came -the reply from the _Avenger_, and the _Isma_ at once darted away on her -errand. - -Alexis, of course, understood that if he struck the enemy with a shell -her fragments would fall to the earth, and might probably give the -impression that a battle was being fought in the air, and, as they -were now so near to the Russian frontier, this was to be avoided if -possible. He therefore determined to cripple her without destroying -her, and, if he could manage it, to capture her in mid-air, a feat that -had never been performed before under similar conditions. - -He descended until the _Isma_ was only floating about a thousand feet -higher than the enemy, and then began to fly round and round in a wide -circle, at a speed which made it practically impossible for her to -be hit with a shell, save by the merest chance. The stranger, on -sighting the fleet, slowed down and swung round to the northward, so as -to have the advantage of being able to present her stern chasers to the -enemy. - -This gave Alexis the opportunity he wanted. The instant that her stern -was visible, the _Isma_ swooped down, and rushed at her at such a speed -that she looked more like a stream of blue light flashing through the -sky than a solid material body. Those on board her saw this flash dart -past their stern. Their ship shivered from stem to stern with some -shock that came so swiftly that not until the _Isma_ was almost out of -sight did they realise the damage that had been done. - -[Illustration: THE “ISMA” SWOOPED DOWN. _Page 281._] - -The ram of the Aerian had cut through the barrels of the two stern guns -and the shafts of the three propellers as cleanly as a razor would have -divided so many straws. Sustained and propelled only by her wings, she -dropped from two hundred miles an hour to about twenty-five, and then -the _Isma_ reappeared in the sky above her, flying the signal, “Will -you surrender?” - -Her commander saw that the brilliant and almost miraculous manœuvre of -the _Isma_ had placed him utterly at her mercy. If he refused, a single -shell would send him and his ship and crew in fragments to the earth, -while none of his guns could touch the Aerian, floating as she did a -thousand feet above him, so he bowed to necessity and sent the white -flag to his masthead. Alexis then signalled again, ordering him to -unload all his guns and leave the breeches open, and when he had seen -this done he sank down to a level with her, passed a steel-wire rope on -board her, and towed her away in triumph to the fleet. - -The brilliant achievement delighted the Aerians as much as it -confounded the crew of the captured vessel, especially when it was -discovered that she was the _Haroun_, a Moslem warship taking a message -from the Sultan to the Tsarina at Moscow. - -Khalid’s letter, which had been despatched the night before from -Algiers, informed Olga of the disaster that had overtaken the Crescent -in the Mediterranean, and of his determination to avenge it by -storming the bridges of Gibraltar, the Dardanelles, and the Bosphorus, -and pouring his remaining troops over them into Europe as soon as he -could concentrate them. - -Far more important than this, however, was a notification of his -intention to at once lead a fleet of two hundred and fifty air-ships to -the west of Europe, and there destroy city after city on his eastward -course until they joined forces and proceeded, if necessary, to -devastate the rest of the Continent. - -The Moslem’s guns were now rendered useless, and she was left to her -own devices to fall an easy prey to the first enemy that might attack -her. The Aerian fleet then divided into fifty squadrons of five vessels -each, and these winged their way towards the Russian frontier, ever -soaring higher and higher, until their wings were beating the rarefied -air at an altitude of over three miles. - -Odessa, Kieff, Gomel, Vitebsk, Dünaburg, and Riga were all covered by -the time the sun rose. Scores of Russian air-ships were seen by the -various squadrons darting about hither and thither along the frontier -at varying elevations, evidently on the look-out for an enemy. - -It was not many minutes before the Aerian squadrons were discovered -by these, and they instantly got away out of range, and then swerving -round sought to rise to a similar altitude so as to place themselves on -equal terms with the Aerians. - -But long before this attempt could be made the work of death had begun, -and two thousand guns were raining their projectiles, charged with -inevitable destruction, upon the devoted cities. They were swarming -with men who had come through the interior of Russia during the night -for the invasion of Europe, but there were no troops on land to oppose -them, for Alan had seen that there would be no need for these. - -Within an hour the six cities were so many vast shambles, and still -the relentless rain of death kept falling from the skies. Houses and -public buildings crumbled into dust under the terrific impact of the -explosions. - -The streets were torn up as if by earthquakes, the railways running in -and out were utterly wrecked, and the victims of the pitiless attack, -panic-stricken and mad with fear and agony, rushed aimlessly hither -and thither through the bloody, fire-scorched streets and amidst the -falling ruins until inevitable death overtook them and ended their -tortures of mind and body. - -There was no escape even as there was no mercy. Thousands fled out -into the country only to find the same rain of death falling upon the -villages. It seemed as though the unclouded heavens of that May morning -were raining fire and death from every point upon the devoted earth, -and yet no source of destruction was to be seen. - -But ere long new horrors were added to the desolation which had already -befallen the cities. Terrific explosions burst out high up in the air, -vast dazzling masses of flame blazed out, mocking the sunlight with -their brightness, and then vanishing in an instant, and after them came -showers of bits of metal and ragged fragments of human bodies, all that -remained of some great cruiser of the air and her crew. - -The Russian squadrons, numbering in all about three hundred warships, -by flying several miles to the eastward and then doubling on a -constantly ascending course had by this time gained a sufficient -elevation to train their guns upon the Aerians, and as soon as they had -done this the aerial battle became general along a curved line more -than a thousand miles in length, extending from Odessa to Riga. - -George Cosmo had been right when he said that there would be little or -no land fighting, for along that line, from the Baltic to the Black -Sea, there was scarcely a man left alive by midday who was not mad with -fear and horror at the frightful effects of the aerial assault. - -On land as well as on sea fighting was impossible. Armies and fleet -could exist only in the absence of the air-ships, and they were -everywhere. Cities lay utterly at their mercy, and nothing shaped by -the hand of man could withstand the impact of their projectiles. - -But all day long the fight went on in the skies above the Russian -frontier, yet not at all after the fashion imagined by the poet of the -nineteenth century, who wrote, as he thought prophetically, of - - Airy navies grappling in the central blue. - -The first and chief endeavour of the captain of every vessel was to -avoid the shots of his opponents and to get his own home. It was brains -and machinery pitted against brains and machinery, and grappling was -never thought of. - -The air-ship which could gain and maintain a greater elevation than her -opponent infallibly destroyed her, and so, too, did the one that could -fly unhurt at full speed along the line of battle and use her stern -guns upon those which became relatively stationary enough for her to -take aim at them. - -It would have been a magnificent spectacle for an observer who could -have followed the contending squadrons in their swift and complicated -evolutions. He would have seen the blue and the silver hulls flashing -to and fro as though apparently engaged in some harmless trial of -speed, then, without the slightest warning, without a puff of smoke or -the faintest sound of a report, the long, deadly guns would do their -work. - -The moment of vantage would come, and the silent and invisible -messengers of annihilation would be sped upon their way; then, with a -roar and a shock that convulsed the firmament, a mist of flame would -envelop the ship that had been struck, and when it vanished she would -have vanished too, falling in a rain of fragments towards the earth -nearly twenty thousand feet below. - -It was a battle not so much for victory as for destruction. There could -be no victory save to those who survived after having annihilated their -enemies, and this was the sole object of the struggle. High in air -above the contending squadrons, the _Avenger_ and the _Isma_ swept to -and fro along the line, raised by their superior soaring powers beyond -the zone of battle, and from their decks the two admirals commanded -the fight, and, like very Joves above the tempest, hurled their -destroying bolts from their terrible guns far and wide over the scene -of strife. - -From morning to night both Alan and Alexis sought in vain for the blue -hull of the _Revenge_ among the Russian squadron. Unless Olga was on -board one of the other ships she was either engaged in some work of -destruction elsewhere or was directing the operations of her forces and -learning the disasters that had overtaken them in her palace in Moscow -or St. Petersburg. - -It had been previously ordered that, as soon as it became too dark to -take accurate aim with the guns, those vessels of the Aerian fleet -which had survived the battle were to fly westward and rendezvous at -midnight on the summit of the Schneekoppe, one of the peaks of the -Giant Mountains to the north-east of Bohemia, whence, as soon as the -amount of damage had been ascertained, the remainder of it, if strong -enough, was to set out and if possible intercept the Moslem fleet -before it could form a junction with the Russians. - -When the last vessel had alighted on the summit of the mountain -it was found that out of a fleet numbering two hundred and fifty -warships only a hundred and eighty remained--the rest were scattered -in undistinguishable fragments along the Russian frontier. As for -the amount of damage that had been done to the enemy as a set-off to -this heavy loss, the Aerian commanders could form no even approximate -estimate of it. - -All they knew was that the six frontier cities, and a score or so -of smaller towns and villages, were now mere heaps of ruins, vast -charnel-houses choked with unnumbered corpses. The Russian army of -invasion must have been practically annihilated, and certainly its -remnants would be too hopelessly demoralised by the unspeakable horrors -it had survived to be of the slightest use for further fighting. - -As soon as the roll had been called, the fleet, in two squadrons of -ninety vessels each, took the air and crossed the mountains to Gorlitz, -which had been selected a year before as a convenient spot for the -establishment of an arsenal and power-station, standing as it does at -the angle of intersection of two great mountains which form the natural -bulwarks of Bohemia. - -Here the stock of motive-power and the ammunition of all the vessels -were renewed, and at daybreak the squadrons were just about to take -the air when a telephonic message was received from Paris that a -large fleet of air-ships had appeared above the city and had begun to -bombard it. This message had been sent in compliance with a system of -intercommunication which Alan had instituted between all the great -cities of Europe, and all the power-stations and rendezvous throughout -the Continent. - -The moment an enemy appeared over any town messages were to be sent to -all the stations simultaneously, and detachments of warships were to be -despatched to the threatened point as soon as the warning was received. - -It will be seen that this system would enable a very large force to -be concentrated upon any threatened point, and, in fact, before the -sun was two degrees above the horizon of Paris, eight squadrons of -Federation warships, including the two under the command of Alan -and Alexis, were flying at full speed from all four points of the -compass towards the city which for over half a century had been the -acknowledged capital of the Continent. - -Little more than an hour sufficed for the _Avenger_ and the _Isma_ to -pass over the six hundred miles which separated Gorlitz from Paris. -Flying at their utmost speed they left their squadrons to follow the -two admirals, knowing that every captain could be implicitly trusted to -do the work allotted to his ship without further orders. - -The object of Alan and Alexis was to get first to the scene of action, -and to avail themselves of the superior soaring powers of their two -vessels to deliver an assault upon the Moslems which they could not -reply to. - -A fearful scene unfolded itself before them as they swept up out of the -eastward over Paris. The vast and splendid city was surrounded by a -huge circle formed of at least two hundred Moslem warships floating at -an elevation of some three miles, and pouring a tempest of projectiles -from hundreds of guns indiscriminately into the area crowded with -stately buildings and nearly ten millions of inhabitants. - -[Illustration: A FEARFUL SCENE UNFOLDED ITSELF AS THEY SWEPT UP OVER -PARIS. _Page 286._] - -Nearly three miles above the centre of the city floated a solitary -scout-ship ready to signal warning of the approach of an enemy. Fires -were already raging in hundreds of places all over the city. The -streets were swarming with terrified throngs of citizens who had rushed -out to escape the flames and the falling buildings, only to meet the -hundreds of shells that were constantly bursting among them, rending -their bodies to fragments by scores at a time. - -Such was the beginning of Khalid the Magnificent’s revenge for the -disaster of the Mediterranean--a vengeance which proved that, in his -breast at least, the savage spirit of the ancient warfare was still -untamed. - -The _Avenger_ and the _Isma_ gained an altitude of four miles above the -doomed city, half a dozen shells from their guns struck the scout-ship -and reduced her to dust before she had time to make a signal in -warning, and then the forty-four guns began to send a radiating hail of -projectiles upon the Moslem fleet. Shell after shell found its mark in -spite of the vast range, and ship after ship collapsed and dropped in -fragments or blew up like a huge shell. - -But before the fifth round had been fired a strange thing happened. A -single Aerian warship rushed up at full speed out of the south, and as -soon as she sighted the _Avenger_ signalled, “Orders from the Council. -Come alongside.” The new-comer soared upwards as they sank to meet her, -and the three ships met and stopped some three miles and a half above -the earth. The stern of the _Azrael_, as the messenger-ship was named, -was brought close up to that of the _Avenger_, the deck doors were -opened, a gangway thrown across, and the captain boarded the flagship -and placed a sealed despatch in Alan’s hand. - -He opened it, and to his unspeakable astonishment read-- - - AERIA, May 16th, 6 P.M. - - All Aerians are to return at once with their ships to Aeria, and take - no further part in the fighting. The Federation fleets may be left in - the hands of foreign crews and commanders, to whom the power-stations - and batteries are to be given up. This order is to be obeyed with the - least possible delay. - - ALAN ARNOLD, President. - - To the Admirals in command of the Federation Fleets. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. A MESSAGE FROM MARS. - - -IN order to adequately explain the origin of the peremptory recall -which, although of course he obeyed it without question, seemed so -incomprehensible to Alan, it will be necessary to go back to the night -of the 12th of May. - -While all Aeria was rejoicing over the return of the exiles and -their restoration to the rights of citizenship, there was one of -the inhabitants of the Valley who took little or no part in the -festivities. This was Vassilis Cosmo, a man of between forty-six and -forty-seven, and elder brother of the George Cosmo who had been chief -engineer of the _Narwhal_, and was now first officer of the _Avenger_. - -A striking distinction of personality and temperament had, ever since -he had reached a thinking age, marked him as one apart from the rest of -his fellow-countrymen. - -He had little or none of the gaiety of disposition and social -cordiality that were the salient characteristics of the Aerians as a -people. He was serious almost to taciturnity, solitary and studious, -and wholly engrossed in a single pursuit--the study of astronomy in its -bearing on the great problem of interplanetary communication. - -After twenty years of constant labour, assisted by all the knowledge -and inventive progress which had placed the Aerians so far ahead of the -rest of the world, he had at length solved this problem and realised -the dream of ages six years before Olga Romanoff had dropped her -defiance from the skies. - -As yet, however, his success had been confined to one planet, and this, -as will have been learnt from the conversation between Alma and Isma on -that memorable night on which Alan’s letter had been received from the -island, was the planet Mars. - -After infinite toil and innumerable failures, he had at length -succeeded in establishing an intelligible system of what may here be -described as photo-telegraphy, in which the rays of light passing -between the earth and Mars were made to perform the functions of the -electric wires in modern telegraphy. - -His alphabet, so to speak, consisted of a hundred great electric suns -disposed at equal intervals on the mountain peaks round the great oval -of the Valley. These were in direct communication with the observatory -of Aeria, which was situated at a height of sixteen thousand feet on -Mount Austral, the highest of the two snow-capped peaks which stood at -the southern end of the Valley. - -A single switch key enabled him, when sitting by the huge telescope -which embodied all the highest optical science of Aeria, to light -and extinguish these brilliant globes as he chose, and it was by -lighting and extinguishing them at certain intervals that he was able -to transmit his signals to the Martian astronomer, who was waiting to -receive them, and to reply to them by similar means across the gulf -of thirty-four million miles which separates the two planets at their -nearest approach to each other. - -Momentous as were the events of the last few days, they were dwarfed -to utter insignificance by the irregular and apparently meaningless -recurrences of a tiny point of light in the centre of a great concave -mirror situated at the base of the huge barrel of the telescope, -through the side aperture of which Vassilis Cosmo was looking a few -minutes before midnight on that memorable 12th of May. - -The point of light appeared and vanished, and reappeared again at -irregular intervals, which the astronomer noted on an automatic -registering instrument beside him. The moment the flash appeared -he pressed a button, which he held down till it disappeared, then -he released it, waited till the flash reappeared, and repeated the -operation so long as the signals came. - -For nearly five hours he received and registered the signals recorded -by his reflector in silence, broken only by the monotonous ticking -of the clockwork which, working synchronously with the movements of -the two orbs, kept the image of Mars exactly in the centre of the -object-glass, and by the soft whirring of the registering instrument. - -Never before had human eyes read such a message as he read, sitting -that night in silence and solitude in his observatory amid the snows, -far above the lovely valley in which his countrymen were still holding -high revel. - -Well might his hands tremble and his eyes grow dim with something more -than long watching when he reversed the mechanism of the register and a -narrow slip of paper, divided by cross-lines into equal spaces a tenth -of an inch long, issued from a slit in one end, and began to run slowly -over a revolving drum. - -On the tape was a series of straight black lines running longitudinally -along it. They were of unequal length, and divided from each other -by unequal spaces. Before the exact import of the message could be -gained the length of each of these lines, and that of the space -which separated it from the next, had to be accurately measured, but -Vassilis knew his own code so perfectly that he had been able to read -the general drift of the communication that had been sent along the -light-rays from the sister world by approximately guessing the duration -of the flashes and the intervals between them. - -Day was beginning to dawn by the time the long tape had been unrolled -and pinned down in equal lengths on a board for measuring. For more -than five hours he had not uttered a syllable or even an exclamation, -although he had received from another world what appeared to be -tantamount, not only to his own death-sentence, but to that of the -whole human race. - -But when the slips were at length pinned out and he had run his -practised eye deliberately over the fatal marks, his white lips parted -and a deep groan broke from his chest. He was alone in the observatory, -or perhaps not even this sign of emotion would have escaped him. - -With his hands pressed to his temples as though his brain were reeling -under the frightful intelligence that had just been conveyed to it, he -stood in front of the board and gasped in short, broken sentences-- - -“God of mercy, can that be really true! Has the world only four months -more to live? Surely I have made some mistake--and yet everything -has worked as usual. There has been no hitch. It has been a splendid -night for transmission and they--no, they had not made a mistake for -a thousand years, they are past it. It must--but no, I can do nothing -more this morning. I should go mad if I did. I must think of it quietly -and sleep a little if I can, and then I will transcribe it.” - -He left the telescope tower and went out on to a little platform at the -rear of the observatory which commanded a view of the whole Valley. He -looked out over the lovely landscape lying calm and silent beneath the -paling stars, and involuntarily exclaimed aloud-- - -“Is it for this that we have conquered the earth and bridged the -abysses of space--for this that we have made ourselves as gods among -men and throned ourselves here in this lovely land, lords of the world -and masters of the nations? - -“How shall I tell them down yonder? And yet, has not the Master told -them already: ‘His shape shall be that of a flaming fire.’ ‘Your -children of the fifth generation shall behold his approach’? Yes, the -two exiles we welcomed back last night are the fifth generation from -the Angel, and _that_ will truly be a flaming fire, and truly it will -go hard with this world and the men of it in the hour of its passing, -as the Master has said.” - -After a vain attempt to seek refuge from his thoughts in sleep he -boarded his aerial yacht and went to the city to mingle with the -merry-makers, more for appearance’ sake than from inclination, but he -kept his own counsel strictly, for more reasons than one. The next -night, as soon as Mars was high enough in the heavens, about half-past -ten, the dwellers in the Valley saw the great lights on the mountain -tops flash out and darken at irregular intervals time after time and -hour after hour, until all but those in the sentinel ships went to -rest, saying-- - -“Vassilis is talking to our neighbours in Mars. He will have something -to tell us to-morrow.” - -But when the next day came he had nothing to tell. He had spent the -night repeating the message, sign for sign and word for word, and -asking for confirmation lest he should have made any mistake in -receiving it. Then in agonised anxiety he had waited for the reply on -which he now felt the fate of mankind depended. It came with a terrible -clearness and brevity, which left no room for doubt-- - -“Message read correctly. There is no error in our calculations. -Terrestrial humanity is doomed, and must prepare to meet its fate.” - -So far as he was concerned he was satisfied. He knew that a mistake was -impossible to the finished science of the Martian astronomers, compared -with whom he was but as a little child in knowledge. But still he kept -his own counsel, for there was no need for him to cast the sudden -shadow of death over the rejoicings of his countrymen. - -At length the fleets departed, and Aeria, armed at all points, was -awaiting the possible onslaught of her foes. These she would doubtless -hurl back in triumphant disdain from her bulwarks, but far, far away in -the depths of space, beyond even the range of the great equatorial on -Mount Austral, there was approaching an enemy whose assault men could -only meet with resignation or despair, as the case might be. Resistance -was as much out of the question as escape. - -Early on the morning of the 16th, soon after the _Avenger_ had struck -the first blow in the world-war, Vassilis presented himself at the -President’s palace and asked for an interview with him. - -The President received him a few minutes later in his private room. It -was the first time in his life that the silent, reserved astronomer had -ever asked for an official interview, and as the President entered the -room he held out his hand, saying-- - -“Good morning, Vassilis. We have seen very little of you lately, even -less than usual. Have you come to see me about the work which has kept -you from joining in the general rejoicings? I’m sure it must have been -very important.” - -“Yes, President, it was--the most important that a terrestrial student -of astronomy could be engaged upon,” replied Vassilis, speaking slowly -and very gravely. - -The President looked curiously for a moment into his clear, thoughtful -eyes, and noticed the lines of care on his pale, worn features, so -different to those of the rest of his countrymen. Then he said, with an -anxious ring in his voice-- - -“What is the matter, Vassilis? You look worn and ill, as though you had -just passed through some great sorrow. Have you been keeping too long -vigils with the stars? Tell me, what is it?” - -Vassilis was silent for a moment as though he might have been wondering -whether the President, strong as he was, would have strength to bear -the blow that he must strike in his next sentence. The awful news had -come to him slowly, sign by sign and word by word, and so he had been -in a measure prepared for it when its full meaning became clear. But -upon Alan Arnold it must fall at a single stroke. Still the words had -to be spoken, and after a good minute’s pause he said-- - -“President, I bring you the most terrible news that one man can bring -to another. The Master’s prophecy is about to be fulfilled. Three -nights ago I received through the photo-telegraph what I believe to be -the death-sentence of humanity upon earth. Here is the transcript of -the message.” - -Save for a sudden pallor and a quick uplifting of the eyelids, Alan -Arnold betrayed no more emotion as he took the roll of paper which -Vassilis handed to him, than he had done when he received his son’s -letter from the island. - -“It does not come to me unexpected,” he said in his firm quiet tones. -“Your children and mine, Vassilis, are of the fifth generation, and -it was foretold that they should see the sign in the sky. And so the -threatened doom is not to pass us by?” - -“No,” replied Vassilis. “Not unless some miracle happens, and there are -no miracles in the astronomy or the mathematics of Mars. The Martians -are long past the age of miracles or mistakes. These are the data and -the calculations upon which the conclusion is based. I have repeated -them back to Mars and received confirmation of them. - -“I have also verified the times and distances and velocities myself, -and have been unable to find the slightest error. As far as I can see, -there is not the remotest chance of escape. The human race has only -four months, five days, and twenty-three hours to live from midnight -to-night.” - -“It is the will of God!” said the President solemnly, slightly bending -his head as he spoke. “It is not for us to question the designs of -Eternal Wisdom, save in so far as we may strive to understand them. -Death has always been inevitable to all of us, and this will only be -dying together instead of alone. Do you wish anything done with these -calculations?” - -“Yes,” said Vassilis. “I would suggest that you appoint a committee of -our best mathematicians and astronomers to examine and verify them once -more, detail by detail, so that assurance may, if possible, be made -surer. I shall receive another message from Mars to-night, and it will -be well for the committee to be with me in the observatory. With the -public aspect of the question I have, of course, nothing to do, that -lies in the hands of yourself and the Council.” - -“Very well,” said the President, “what you wish shall be done at once, -and the Council will meet this morning to consider what public steps -are to be taken.” - -Within half an hour after the conclusion of the momentous interview the -Council had met, and the most immediate result of its deliberations -on the tremendous tidings that had come from the sister world was the -issue of the order for the instant return of all Aerians who were -abroad which had been delivered to Alan on the deck of the _Avenger_ on -the morning of the 18th. - -Immediately on receiving his father’s letter, Alan signalled, “Cease -firing and follow,” to the _Isma_, and the three Aerian vessels started -southward towards Gibraltar, leaving Paris to its fate. At Gibraltar, -which was reached in two hours and a half, he found that, in accordance -with the orders of the Council, messages had already been sent out to -all the stations within the European area of the Federation for all -Aerians to rendezvous at the Rock as soon as possible. - -The same orders had been transmitted along the telephonic cables -which connected the marine stations of the Mediterranean for all the -battleships on service to go into their respective harbours, so that -their crews might land and be picked up by air-ships which had already -been despatched for them. - -Before the evening Aerian vessels had begun to come in from all parts -of Europe, where they had been stationed, and their crews brought -terrible descriptions of the scenes of carnage and destruction they had -left to obey the summons. The Federation leaders were in despair at -their apparent desertion by their potent allies, while their enemies -were already rejoicing at the disappearance of the Aerian warships from -all points of the scene of war. - -By midnight the last Aerian vessel had come in, and, after the command -of the Rock, the last station of which the Aerians retained command, -had been handed over to the British forces, the flotilla, numbering -nearly four hundred warships, rose into the air just as two large -Moslem squadrons, one fresh from the destruction of Paris, and the -other from Alexandria and the east of Europe, converged upon the -Rock, and, without warning, opened a furious fire of shells upon it. -The great guns from the batteries replied, and the fleets, under the -command of Alan and Alexis, after sending a rapid hail of shells among -the Moslem vessels as a parting salute, soared into the upper regions -of the air and headed southward for home, leaving a fiery chaos of -death and destruction behind them. - -Two hours after daybreak on the 19th the fleet crossed the Northern -Ridge, and sank to earth on the sloping plateau behind the city. Alan -at once disembarked, and went to his father’s palace to report himself. - -The sudden and unexpected return of the fleet, which had left to do -battle for the empire of the world but three days and a half before, -filled all the inhabitants of the Valley with amazement, for no one -outside the Council and the committee appointed to verify the message -received from Mars yet knew of the doom that was menacing the world. - -Alan was received at the door of his palace by his father, who, after -their greetings had been exchanged, took him at once to the room in -which the Council were already assembled, and there in the presence of -his colleagues made him acquainted with the reason for his recall. - -Inured as he was to the unsparing warfare in which human life had to be -counted as almost a negligible quantity, a warfare in which there was -no middle course between life and death, Alan, after the first shock -of surprise and horror had passed, faced the tremendous crisis with a -calmness and resignation worthy of the traditions of his family and his -race. - -For years he had carried his life in his hands, and now that the end of -all things seemed near he was prepared to look inevitable death calmly -in the face. He heard the reading of the message in silence, and then, -when he saw that they were waiting for him to speak, he said quietly-- - -“What is to be must be! We cannot argue with the workings of the -universe.” Then he paused for a moment, and went on--“I have come back -with my comrades in obedience to orders. May I now ask why, if death is -coming to the whole human race, we were not permitted to die in battle -for the right against the wrong rather than to wait here in inaction -and suspense until we are burnt to death on the funeral pyre of the -world?” - -He spoke the last words almost hotly, for the first thought that had -risen in his mind after hearing the doom that was about to overtake -humanity was that the debt he owed to Olga Romanoff must now for ever -remain unpaid at his hands. This thought was so unbearable to him that -before any reply could be made to his question he broke out again, this -time speaking rapidly and almost angrily-- - -“If, as you tell me, the world has only a few weeks to live, why should -I wait here for death when I have work to do elsewhere? What does it -matter whether I die scorched to a cinder in the fire-mist or am blown -to pieces by a Russian shell? I have a debt to pay, a stain upon my -honour and my manhood to wipe out before I die. - -“And so, too, has Alexis. Will you not give us an air-ship and let us -find a crew of volunteers that we may go back to the war and hunt our -enemy, and the enemy of humanity, down, and either destroy her or find -an honourable death in the attempt to do so?” - -As he ended his impassioned appeal his father rose from his seat, and -laid his hand upon his shoulder and said gravely, and yet not without a -note of admiration in his voice-- - -“My son, those are brave and honourable words, and they prove that you -are no unworthy son of the race you belong to. But they are still the -words of passion rather than reason. Remember that in the presence -of the universal doom that now overhangs the human race not only -private vengeance but even the strife of nations sinks into utter -insignificance. A heavier hand than yours will punish the sin for which -she who has wronged you will soon have to answer at the bar of Eternal -Justice. Remember how it was said of old, ‘Vengeance is mine, saith the -Lord. I will repay.’” - -“That is true, father,” replied Alan, now speaking in his habitual tone -of respect. “But why should not the instrument of that vengeance be the -hand of him whom she has so bitterly wronged? You know what I mean, and -so do all in this room. - -“Has she not so polluted my manhood and stained my honour that I must -meet, apart from Alma, the fate that I could have shared with her with -no more regret than that we had to die instead of live together? Is -it not better that she should know I died in the attempt to wipe that -stain away than see me waiting for death with it still upon me?” - -“That is for Alma as well as for you to decide,” said Francis Tremayne, -rising from his seat as he spoke. “How do you know that she is -unwilling to meet her end hand-in-hand with you?” - -“I have looked into her eyes and seen no love in them,” replied Alan, -flushing to his temples with shame and anger. “Her old love for me is -dead, as it may well be. How could I expect her purity to mate with -my”-- - -“Stop, Alan!” exclaimed his father before he had time to utter the -shameful word that was on his lips. “Those are no words for you to -speak or for me to hear, especially at such a time as this. If any -stain ever rested upon you you have more than purged it already. The -man who is found worthy the confidence of the rulers of Aeria is worthy -the respect, if not the love, of any woman in the State. Whether Alma -loves you still or not is a question for her own heart to answer, but -you must not call yourself unworthy in my hearing.” - -“Nor yet in mine,” said Alma’s father warmly. “If the shadow of death -had not fallen across all our life-ways as it has done, there is no -man who wears the Golden Wings that I would so willingly see Alma join -hands with as yourself. If I, her father, hold you worthy to live with -her, surely you cannot hold yourself unworthy to die with her.” - -As he spoke he held out his hand to Alan, and he, unable to find words -to answer him, grasped it in silence, broken only by a murmur of -approval from the assembled members of the Council. - -“Thank you, my friend, for saying that!” said the President to -Tremayne. “Alan can ask no better assurance unless he has it from -Alma’s own lips. But now I have something more to say, something -that will give the true reason for my recall of all the Aerians who -were beyond our borders. Let the words you are now going to hear be -heard with all respect, for they are not mine but those of the Master -himself.” - -Amidst an expectant silence he now resumed his place at the head of the -Council table, and bidding Alan and the Vice-President to be seated, -took a long parchment envelope brown with age from the breast of his -tunic and said-- - -“This contains the last words of him who prophesied the doom with -which humanity now stands confronted, and who thus speaks to us from -the past, and gives us good counsel and comfort in the hour of our -perplexity and sorrow. It has been handed down with its seal unbroken -from father to son for four generations, and now it has fallen to me to -break the seal and read what no eyes but those of Natas and my own have -ever seen. This is the endorsement upon the cover-- - - ‘_To the son or daughter of my line who shall be the head of the - House of Arnold in the fifth generation from me:--When the world is - threatened with the final ruin that I have foreshadowed, open this - and read my words to all who are then dwelling in Aeria._ - - NATAS.’” - -The President paused, and everyone waited with most anxious expectation -as he opened the envelope and took from it four square sheets of -parchment. He unfolded them and went on-- - -“When Vassilis Cosmo brought me the transcription of the message from -Mars I saw that the time had come to obey the injunction endorsed on -this envelope. I opened it, and this is what I read:-- - - ‘The interpretation of the prophecy concerning the possible - destruction of the world in the fifth generation from now, written by - me in the twenty-fifth year of the Peace, and commanded to be read - every fifth year in the ears of the descendants of those now dwelling - in Aeria. - - ‘When the War of the Terror was over, and there was peace on earth, - I devoted the declining years of my life to the study of that - noblest of all sciences which teaches the lore of the stars and the - constitution of the universe. In the fifteenth year of the Peace, - that is to say, in the year of the Christian Era 1920, a new star - appeared towards the constellation of Andromeda, which shone with - great brilliancy for thirty-five nights, and then faded gradually - away into the abysses of space. - - ‘Seeking into the causes of this phenomenon, I found that it was due - to the collision of two opaque bodies beyond the bounds of the solar - system, which doubtless had been travelling towards each other for - centuries through space. So enormous was the heat evolved by the - conversion of the motion of the two bodies, that their materials - were resolved into their component elements, and what had been two - bodies as solid as the earth, though immensely larger, now became an - enormous fire-mist, a chaos of blazing storms and burning billows of - incandescent matter. - - ‘I observed it closely from the time of its first appearance until - the most powerful telescope at my command could no longer detect it. - I found that, vastly remote as it was, the course which it pursued - until it was lost to view proved that it was still within the sphere - of the sun’s attraction, and that therefore a time must come when it - would reach its point of greatest distance, and return. - - ‘Such calculations as I was able to make during the brief period - of my observation, showed that it would re-enter the confines of - the solar system in one hundred and twelve years from then, and, - travelling with constantly accelerated motion would become visible to - the inhabitants of the earth five years later. I learnt, too, that - unless it should be deflected from its path by the attraction of - bodies unknown to terrestrial astronomers it would cross the orbit of - the earth in the month of September in the year 2037, that is to say, - in the fifth generation of men from my own day. - - ‘If my calculations are correct, the earth will during that month - pass through an ocean of fire that will destroy all living things - upon its surface, both plants and animals. - - ‘For the space of ten hours, or, it may well be, more, while the - planet is passing through the fire-mist, there will be no water upon - the face of the earth, but the whole globe will be surrounded with a - vast nebulous mantle of steam. At the end of this time it will emerge - from the fiery sea, the steam-cloud will be recondensed and fall in - a deluge upon the land, and the world, with a changed face, with new - oceans and new continents, will pursue her impassive way, lifeless, - through space. - - ‘But even in the face of so tremendous a cataclysm as this, it is - not for human genius to despair or human faith to be confounded. The - new earth may be repeopled, and you may be the parents of the new - humanity. Though innumerable millions shall die, yet the chosen few - will be saved, if the Master of Destiny shall permit, and from among - you the chosen few shall come. - - ‘The caverns of Mount Austral are deep and cool, and enclosed by - walls of living rock, deep rooted in the foundations of the world. In - those days, if you shall have made good use of the heritage we leave - you, you shall be almost as gods in skill and knowledge, and you - shall find a means to make this a fortress whose strength shall defy - the convulsions of the elements and preserve a remnant of human life - upon the earth. - - ‘When you have done this, you that remain shall prepare to meet - the inevitable end, for only a few among your many thousands can - be saved. Yet, if you have grown in wisdom and faith as well as in - knowledge and skill, you shall not disquiet yourselves about this, - for sooner or later death is certain to all, and you will but pass - together through the shadows instead of singly. - - ‘When the final hour comes, and the breath of the blazing firmament - is hot upon your brows, may He in whose Hand the fate of worlds and - races lies, give you strength and wisdom to compose yourselves for - death as men who know that it is but the dreamless sleep that parts - to-morrow from to-day.’ - -“Those are the words of the Master,” said the President, reverently -laying down the parchment sheets on the table before him. “And it is -for us to hear and obey. You will now see why it was necessary for all -our sons that had gone forth to battle to be recalled, for among them -there are many who can justly lay claim to be of the flower of Aerian -manhood. - -“To-morrow I will read the message from Mars and the commands of the -Master, in the temple, to a congregation of all the fathers and mothers -in Aeria, and then it shall be their task to prepare their children for -the doom which awaits them in common with the rest of humanity. The -remainder of to-day we will devote to the task of considering how the -commands of the Master may be best obeyed.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. SENTENCE OF DEATH. - - -AT ten o’clock on the following morning the great temple of Aeria was -filled by a congregation of men and matrons who had been summoned -together to hear what may, without exaggeration, be described as the -death-sentence of the world and the funeral oration of the human race. - -As had been previously decided by the President and Council, only the -heads of families were present. Of these, some had but just welcomed -their first-born into the world, while others, standing almost on the -brink of the grave, could see their children of the fourth generation -growing up from infancy to youth. - -When the President commenced his address by reading in solemnly -impressive tones the prophecy of Natas, those present knew -instinctively what they had been called together to hear. The -possibility of the world being overwhelmed by some tremendous -catastrophe in the fifth generation from the year of the Peace was no -new or unawaited prospect to the Aerians. - -Therefore there was no panic, no sudden outburst of sorrow or dismay, -among the grave, earnest congregation assembled in the temple when the -President, having read the prophecy, went on to say-- - -“It is now my solemn duty as Chief Magistrate of Aeria to tell you, the -heads of the families of our race, that, in the mysterious workings -of destiny, which we can only accept with reverence and resignation, -the time has come for us to prepare to meet, with the fortitude worthy -of our position among the races of mankind, the doom which is as -inevitable as it is universal. The confirmation of the prophecy of -Natas has come to us across the abysses of space from one of those -sister worlds which, as the Master said, should see with fear and -trembling the passing of the messenger of Fate. - -“On the night of Tuesday last, Vassilis Cosmo received from the planet -Mars a photogrammic message, the transcription of which into our -language reads thus-- - - ‘A cometary body, primarily formed by the meeting of two extinguished - astral spheres at 10 hrs. 38 min. 42 sec. on the night of the 13th - of October, in the year 1920, terrestrial reckoning, will cross the - orbit of the earth at 11 hrs. 55 min. 22 sec. on the night of the - 23rd of September next, time corrected to the meridian of Aeria. - - ‘At this hour the earth will arrive at the point of intersection, - and will pass obliquely through the central portion or nucleus of - the body. This portion is composed of incandescent metallic gases - interspersed with semi-fluid masses, which on contact with the - earth’s atmosphere will probably be vaporised. - - ‘The constituents of the incandescent nucleus are iron, gold, - tellurium, chromium, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon, with smaller - quantities of many other substances which spectrum analysis will - disclose to you on the appearance of the comet which will become - visible from Aeria at 8 hrs. 13 min. P.M. on the 15th of July, - when its right ascension will be 15 hrs. 24 min. 17 sec, and its - declination north 10 deg. 42 min. 17 sec. Here follow the detailed - calculations upon which the foregoing conclusions are based.’ - -“With these calculations,” continued the President, “this is neither -the time nor the place to deal, for I know that all here will be -satisfied when I say that for the last three days they have been -submitted to the critical examination of our best astronomers and -mathematicians, and that not the slightest flaw has been found in them. - -“This being so, the only course left open to us as reasonable beings is -to prepare to look the inevitable in the face, and to play our part in -the closing scene of the life-drama of humanity as men and women who -believe that the life we are living here is but a stage on our journey -through infinity, and that the fiery sign which will soon appear in the -heavens will be to us but a beacon light on the ultimate shore of Time -casting a guiding ray over the ocean of Eternity.” - -He paused for a moment and looked down upon the hushed throng at his -feet. The instantaneous silence was broken by a long, low, inarticulate -murmur. Thousands of pale faces were upturned towards him, from -thousands of eyes there came one appealing upward glance, and then -every head in the great assembly was bowed in silence and resignation. - -The death-sentence had been passed. There was no appeal from it, and -there was no rebellion against it. The voice of Fate had spoken, and it -was not for such men as the Aerians to sacrifice their reason or their -dignity by cavilling at it. - -The President bent his head with the rest, and for several moments -there was silence throughout the vast area of the temple. Then he took -up from the desk in front of the rostrum the four sheets of parchment -which contained the last message and commands of Natas, and read them -out to the assembly. - -The perusal was listened to in breathless silence. It was like his -voice speaking across the generations from the urn containing his ashes -and standing there in their midst. When the President had finished, he -laid the sheets down again and said-- - -“Thus the eye of the Master, looking across the years which separated -his day from ours, has seen one gleam of light, one ray of hope -piercing the black pall of desolation which is about to fall upon the -world, and it is for us to follow where he has pointed the way. - -“I have now discharged the first part of the solemn and terrible duty -which has devolved upon me. It is now for you to communicate the -tidings you have heard to your families, a task which, however awful -it may be for loving parents to be charged with, you will yet find -strength to perform, even as your children shall find strength to hear -their inevitable doom from those lips which will best know how to -soften the tidings of death to them. - -“When you have done this we will set about making the choice of those -who, if it shall please the Master of Destiny, shall be the Children -of Deliverance and the parents of the new race that shall repeople the -earth when cosmos once more succeeds to chaos. - -“If that shall be permitted, then we, who shall never see the new -world, may yet go down to the grave knowing that we shall live again -in our children, for these will be the children, not only of a few -families among us, but sons and daughters of Aeria, the most perfect -flower of our race, and in them, if we choose them wisely, the world, -purged by fire of the dross of human wickedness, will find a new -destiny, and the Golden Age shall return to earth once more.” - -As the President finished speaking, he held up his hands as though in -blessing, and once more every head was bent. Then the great doors of -the temple swung open, the assembly divided into four streams, and -passed silently as a congregation of shadows out of the building. - -That night the story of the world’s approaching doom was told in every -home in Aeria. Children on the threshold of youth learnt that for them -youth would never come; youths and maidens on the verge of manhood -and womanhood learnt that the bright promise of their lives could now -never be fulfilled; and lovers just about to join hands for life saw -the grave opening at their feet, and parting them in their earthly -personalities for ever. That they would meet again upon a higher plane -of existence was the first and most firmly held article of their faith, -but so far as the affairs of this world were concerned the end was in -sight. - -In a less highly developed, a less perfectly organised, state of -society, the almost immediate result would have been the end of all -control, and the dissolution of all but the most elementary bonds of -interest or affection that exist between men and men. - -But in Aeria this was not possible. The firm belief, ingrained into -the very being of all who had reached the age of thought, that where -men left off here, whether in good or evil, they would begin their -lives again hereafter, precluded even the thought of such a lapse into -social anarchy and individual sin. - -For, happily for them, the union of true religion with true philosophy -had now been accomplished in a national faith, and the result was that -even the terrors of the universal end which was so near failed to shake -the fortitude that was founded on a basis firmer than that of the world -itself. - -Though every home in the valley had its tragedy that night, a tragedy -too sacred in its unspeakable solemnity for any mere words to describe -it, when the next morning came the first bitterness of death had -already passed. - -Saving only the little children, who, too young to understand, laughed -and played and sang in the sunlight as usual, in happy unconsciousness -of their coming fate, the dwellers in Aeria rose with the next sunrise -from their sleepless couches and went about their daily associations -much as they had done the day before. - -They did so rather as a matter of routine and discipline than of -necessity, for now nothing more was necessary on earth. They had ample -supplies of food to last them beyond the time when they would have no -more need of it. It was of no use to dress the gardens and vineyards, -or to till the fields that would be blasted into wildernesses before -the harvest could be reaped. - -There was no need to pursue further the triumphs of creative art and -science which had transfigured Aeria into a paradise and a fairyland, -for in a few weeks all these would be crumbled to dust with their own -sepulchres--and yet they took up the work that lay nearest to their -hands and went on with it as though they believed that there were still -ages of life before humanity, and that the empire of Aeria was to -endure for ever. - -They knew that in work only lay the refuge from the torment of -apprehension which might in the end drive even their highly disciplined -minds into the delirium of despair and transform their orderly paradise -into a pandemonium of anarchy and terror. - -As soon as the first shock of inevitable horror had passed, as it did -during that first terrible night when the death-sentence went from lip -to lip throughout the land, their proud spirits rose superior to their -physical fears and conquered them, and they resolved that, until the -fatal hour came, nothing short of the dissolution of the world should -put an end to social order in Aeria. - -They were the royal race of earth, and when death came they would meet -it crowned and sceptred in the gates of their palaces, and die as men -who had solved the secret of life and death and so had no fear. - -With the war that was raging beyond their borders they had now -no personal concern. The quarrels of men and nations were as the -bickerings of children in the presence of the fate that would so soon -involve the world in ruin. And yet the rulers of Aeria were not willing -that this fate should overtake their fellow-men in the delirium of -blood-drunkenness. - -They recognised that their duty to the nations bade them send the -warning of the world’s approaching fate far and wide through the earth -and call for the cessation of strife, so that humanity might set its -house in order and prepare to meet its end. - -Whether the warning would be received or not was another matter. It was -possible that both the Tsarina and the Sultan would laugh it to scorn, -and pursue their path of now certain conquest through carnage and -devastation to the end. That, however, was their concern. - -As soon as the Council decided to despatch an envoy to summon the -warring nations to cease their strife for the now more than ever -worthless prizes of earthly empire, and to prepare for the cataclysm -which would so soon dissolve all empires and kingdoms to nothing in the -fiery crucible of the coming chaos, Alan at once renewed his petition -and asked to be allowed to man the _Avenger_ with a crew of volunteers -and convey the warning to the Sultan and the Tsarina. - -Since his second return to Aeria no word of love had passed between -him and Alma. He was still too proud to become a suitor even to her, -knowing as he did that she had looked upon him as polluted by his -involuntary relations with Olga. As before, they had met as friends -whose friendship was warmed by the memory of an early but bygone love. - -They had talked calmly and dispassionately of the coming end of earthly -things, but neither of them had let fall any hint of a desire to meet -it hand and hand with the other. His lips were sealed by the pride and -anger of humiliation and hers by a spiritual exaltation which in the -presence of approaching death raised her above the consideration of -earthly love to the contemplation of even more solemn and holier things. - -Then there happened an entirely unexpected event, which completely -changed their relationship in an instant. On the third day after the -delivery of the message in the temple a company composed of twenty -old men, the heads of the noblest families in Aeria, presented to the -President in Council, a petition, signed by every father and mother -in the nation, praying that all in whose veins flowed the blood of -Natas, Richard Arnold, and Alan Tremayne should, irrespective of all -other considerations, be included among those who were destined to -seek in the caverns of Mount Austral the one chance of escape from the -universal doom. - -So obvious and so weighty were the reasons advanced in support of the -petition that when, like all other matters of State, it was put to the -vote of the Council, the only dissentient voices were those of the -President and the Vice-President. - -The immediate effect of this decision--from which, by the laws of -Aeria, there was no appeal--was that Alma, Isma, and Alan were exempted -from the ordeal of selection and numbered beforehand among the Children -of Deliverance. - -The President took upon himself the duty of communicating this decision -to those whom it so deeply concerned. He told Alan first, and this was -the half-expected reply that he received-- - -“No, father, I have never disobeyed you or the Council, as you know, -but I tell you now frankly that I will not take advantage of what is -after all only the accident of birth to save my life in such a crisis -as this. - -“Not only are there thousands of others in Aeria as good as I am, but -I have already told you that, save under one condition, which you know -as well as I do can never be realised, I have not the slightest desire -to survive the ruin of the world. You may call this disobedience, -rebellion, if you will, but it is my last resolve, and in such a time -as this one does not make resolves lightly.” - -Alan said this standing facing his father in his private study. The -President looked at him for a moment or two with eyes which, though -grave, were neither reproving nor reproachful. Then he said with the -shadow of a smile upon his lips-- - -“It is both disobedience and rebellion, my son, but though the Chief -Magistrate must condemn it, your father cannot. I know, too, that not -even the Council of Aeria can now enforce its commands. After all, the -last penalty is but death, and that is a mockery now. - -“I fully understand, too, the spirit in which you refuse the reprieve -from the general doom, and prefer instead a mission which can scarcely -end save in honourable death. It is the most noble one that you can -choose, and you of all other men are the man to perform it. - -“You have shown our enemies that you can strike hard in battle, so if -they believe anyone they will believe you when you go to them with a -message of peace enforced by such a solemn warning as you will take.” - -“Thank you, father,” replied Alan simply, “not for what you say of me, -but for the consent that your words imply. But what about the air-ship -and her crew? I can do nothing without them, yet I cannot have them -without the consent of the Council. Can you get that for me?” - -“I believe so,” said the President. “And if I can I will, since you are -resolved to go, and since the honour of our name compels me to consent. -But I must tell you that I feel sure that it will only be given -conditionally.” - -“And what will the condition be?” - -“That if you survive your mission you will return to Aeria before the -end comes. They will have a right to demand that, for it is no part of -your duty to deprive your companions of the chance of life, slender -though it may be, that will remain for those who may be among the -chosen.” - -“That is true,” replied Alan, bending his head in acquiescence. “If we -escape with our lives they shall return, though I shall not”-- - -“You will not return, Alan? Why, where are you going? Surely you are -not going to leave Aeria again, and at such a time as this; you, who -are already one of the chosen, a first-born son of the Master’s line!” - -It was Alan’s mother who spoke. She had entered the room just as he -had uttered the last sentence, and the ominous words struck a sudden -chill to her heart. She came towards him with her eyes full of tears of -apprehension and her hands stretched out pleadingly towards him. - -Now that the first terror of the crisis was past, and there was -one definite, however slender, hope of safety, she clung to it -passionately for Alan’s sake with a faith that made light of all the -fearful difficulties which lay in the way of its realisation. In the -sublime egotism of her mother-love the fate of a world shrank into -insignificance in comparison with the one chance of safety for her only -son. - -“Yes, mother,” replied Alan, taking her hands in his and bending down -until his lips touched her upturned brow. “I am going to leave Aeria -again to proclaim the Truce of God against the hour of His judgment, -and I have just told my father that I shall not return”-- - -“No, no, my boy, you must not say that. You must not rob us of the one -ray of light in this awful darkness that is falling upon us--of our -one hope in all the world’s despair!” cried his mother, letting go his -hands and laying her own upon his shoulders as she looked up into his -face with eyes that were now overflowing with tears. - -“You will not leave us now, surely, for if we lost you we could not -even take the chance of life ourselves, for it would not be worth -having.” - -“Nor would it be worth having, my mother, either to you or to me,” he -replied, gently laying his hand on hers, “if I lived and left untried -the attempt that it is my plain duty to make. You would see me a lonely -and unmated man among the parents of the new race, a man with a shadow -upon his name, and the memory of an unfulfilled duty behind him. - -“Remember that it is I who have brought the guilt of blood back -again upon earth. Would you have me outlive all the millions of my -fellow-creatures with the knowledge that I had not made one effort to -bring back that peace on earth which was lost through me before the -last summons comes to all humanity?” - -“Alan is right, wife,” interrupted the President, before she could make -any reply to her son’s appeal. “It is his duty to save, if he can, his -fellow-creatures from being overwhelmed in the midst of their madness -and their sin. Remember that, according to our faith, as all these -millions, who are now drunk with battle and slaughter, and mad with the -rage of conquest and revenge, end this life, so they must begin the -next. - -“There is time for him to speak and for them to hear, but whether they -hear him or not, if he has spoken he has done his duty. Is it not -better that if needs be he should die doing it than live and leave it -undone?” - -The weighty words, spoken as they were in a tone of blended affection -and authority, found a fitting echo in his wife’s breast. She stood -for a moment between her husband and her son, looking from the one to -the other. Then she dried her tears, and replied in a tone of gentle -dignity and resignation-- - -“Yes, I see. You are right and I was wrong. It is his duty to go, and -he must go. But,” she continued, turning to Alan with the sudden light -of a new hope in her eyes, “if I bid you ‘God-speed,’ my son, you will -promise one thing, won’t you?” - -“Yes, mother, I will--whatever it is.” - -“Then promise me that if it shall be proved possible for you to live in -happiness as well as in honour, you will come back.” - -“Yes,” he replied, smiling gravely as he once more took her -outstretched hands. “I will promise that as gladly as I would promise -to enter Heaven if I saw the gates open before me.” - -“Then you shall go, and God go with you and bring you back in safety -to us!” she said. Then, turning abruptly, she went out of the room, -leaving them both wondering at her words. - -This took place early on the morning of the 21st of May. An hour later -the President had applied in Alan’s name for the permission of the -Council for him to select a crew of twenty volunteers and to take -the _Avenger_ to Europe on his mission to the warring peoples and to -proclaim peace on earth and breathing space for humanity to prepare for -its end. But then a new difficulty presented itself. Alexis, in spite -of all Alan’s remonstrances to the contrary, declared that he should -never leave Aeria without him. - -“I have shared in your exile and your return,” he said, in answer to -all arguments, “and, by the honour of the Golden Wings, I swear that I -will either go with you now or you shall see me fall dead the moment -that you leave the earth!” - -This was the only oath that ever was heard upon the lips of an Aerian, -and it was irrevocable, so, as there was no choice, Alan was forced to -consent, and Alexis made ready to bid a last farewell to Aeria and all -its dear associations. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. ALMA SPEAKS. - - -THAT night Alan, with his heart too full even for the society of his -own home, went out of the city a little before midnight and walked down -towards the western shore of the lake, where there still stood the same -grove of palms in which, more than a hundred and thirty years before, -Natasha and Richard Arnold had plighted their despairing troth and -under the shadow of what threatened to be an eternal separation spoken -the first words of love that had ever passed their lips. - -It was not altogether accident that guided his steps in this direction, -for all day he had been reviewing the strange chain of events which -united the fate of his ancestors with his own, and it was natural that -the most romantic episode in their lives should inspire him with a -desire to see the scene of it once more. - -So it came about that he stood, on what he believed to be his last -night in Aeria, beneath the self-same ancient palms which five -generations before had heard Natasha confess her love for the man who -had sworn to give her in exchange for it that empire of peace which he, -their descendant, had been the means of losing. - -The story was, of course, familiar to him in its minutest details, -and as he stood there, his own heart heavy with a hopeless sorrow, he -pictured his great ancestor standing on the same spot, holding the -means of universal conquest in his hands, and yet accounting all things -as worthless because the empire within his grasp must lack the supreme -crown of a woman’s love. - -Then, looking back through the mists of the years that had gone by -since then, he seemed to see the very shape of the Angel moving over -the soft green sward where now the broad marble-paved roadway gleamed -white beneath the trees, and to hear the musical murmur of her voice -even as Richard Arnold had heard it on that eventful night. - -“Alan!” - -Was he dreaming, or was it the voice of his ancestress speaking to his -soul in that hour of his lonely sorrow? A pale, shimmering, ghostly -shape flitted across the quivering plumes of the palm-trees, dropped -softly to the ground, and Alma stood before him in the well of her -aerial boat. - -Before his amazement had permitted him to utter a word she had stepped -out and was coming towards him with outstretched hands, saying-- - -“They told me I should find you here. Alan, I have come to ask you to -forgive me if you--before you go upon this mission of yours, if go you -must.” - -“To forgive you, Alma!” he exclaimed, recoiling a pace in sheer -astonishment at her presence and her words. “What can I have to forgive -_you_? Is it not rather”-- - -“No, Alan, it is not,” she said quickly, still holding out her hands to -him and looking up at him with faintly flushed cheeks and shining eyes. -“I see it all clearly now. Isma was right. It is I who have sinned -against you, and it is for me to ask forgiveness.” - -“How can you ask that of me, Alma? How have you harmed me?” he asked, -still bewildered by her beauty and the enigmas that she spoke in, yet -taking her hands, and, as if by instinct, drawing her towards him. - -“I will answer that afterwards,” she said quickly, as though inspired -by some sudden thought. “But tell me, first, are you quite resolved to -go upon this mission?” - -“Yes,” he said with an almost imperceptible quiver in his voice. “Have -I not had a great, if not a guilty, share in bringing this curse upon -the world, and is it not fitting that I should give my last days to the -task, however hopeless, of bringing back peace on earth so that men may -die sane and not mad?” - -“But, Alan, is that a higher duty than you owe to your family and your -people? You know that in you centre all their hopes for the future, -if there is to be one. With you would die the name of Arnold, and the -direct line of Natas and Natasha.” - -“And with me they would die even if I went with the Children of -Deliverance into the caverns of Mount Austral and survived the ruin of -the world. How can you mock me like that, Alma? Have I not suffered -enough for my weakness and my folly that you would condemn me to wander -an exile in the wilderness that the world will be when it has passed -through its baptism of fire? - -“What is the swift death of battle or the short agony of the -conflagration of the world compared with the long death-in-life that I -should drag out alone in the new world that may arise from the ruins of -this one?” - -“And why alone, Alan?” - -“Why alone? Can you ask me that, Alma? Surely you are mocking me now. -Can you ask why I should be alone if I survived with the remnant of our -people? Do you not even yet know why I choose the certainty of death -rather than the chance of life?” - -“But, Alan, what if I were to tell you that you would not go alone to -the caverns, and that if the chosen few survive you will not wander -alone on the wilderness of the new world?” - -“I should tell you, Alma, that you meant to sacrifice yourself to save -me, and that I would not accept the sacrifice even at your hands.” - -“Sacrifice! No, Alan, I would not outlive the world, even with you, -on those terms. A woman of Aeria does not sell herself even for -sentiment. This is no time for secrets or false shame, and I tell you -frankly that if you had accepted the order of the Council, you should -have lived and I would have died. - -“But your rebellion proved to me that Isma was right when she rebuked -my false pride by saying that the man who has fallen and risen again is -better and stronger than he who has never suffered”-- - -“But, Alma, remember”-- - -“No, you must not interrupt me now, or what ought to be said may never -be spoken. I know what you were going to say. You were going to tell me -to remember that Olga Romanoff is still alive. Let her live--and let -God judge her for her sins in the judgment that is so soon to come! -What have we to do with her?” - -“Nothing, Alma, after you have said that, for it tells me that in -your eyes the stain is purged and the fault forgiven. I will take the -message to her as to the rest of the world. If she receives it in peace -then there shall be peace, and God shall judge between us”-- - -“And if not?” - -“Then I will pit my single ship against hers and her fleet and only one -of us, if either, shall see the end.” - -“And if that is you--what then?” - -“Then it will be for you--under Heaven--to speak the words of life or -death, for only you can bid me live, Alma.” - -[Illustration: “ONLY YOU CAN BID ME LIVE, ALMA.” _Page 317._] - -As he spoke the great lights on the mountain tops suddenly blazed -out, shone for a few moments, and were extinguished again. It was the -answering signal to one from Mars; but it joined two souls as well as -two worlds, for by its light Alan saw on Alma’s face and in her eyes -the one reprieve from death that honour would permit him to accept. - -Without waiting for the words that her now smiling lips were opening to -utter, he took her unresisting in his arms. Then her proudly carried, -wing-crowned head drooped at last in sweet submission, and rested on -his heart; and as he turned her face up to his to take his kiss of -re-betrothal, he said-- - -“That tells me that I may live. Now we are immortal, you and I, for -this kiss is our eternity!” - -Then their lips met, and for the instant Time had no more beginning -or end. The impending ruin of the world was forgotten; for Love had -spoken, and the very voice of Doom itself was silent amidst the -happiness of their heedless souls. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. THE SIGN IN THE SKY. - - -WHEN the news of what had happened at midnight in the palm grove was -published the next morning far and wide through the valley of Aeria it -would have been impossible to imagine that an irrevocable sentence of -death was overhanging the land and all its inhabitants, save those who -were to be selected to take the one chance that remained of surviving -the chaos that was to come. - -There was no one in the valley to whom Alan’s story was not familiar in -all its details, there was not a single heart that had not in the midst -of its own happiness sympathised with him and Alma in their sorrow, -and so, when that sorrow was at last turned into joy, everyone forgot -for the moment the fate whose approach was so near and so certain, and -rejoiced with them in the happiness that was great enough to raise them -above the gloom that was already stealing over the world. - -But in the midst of the general rejoicing came the decision of the -Council upon the request which Alan had submitted to his father, and -this, though he was forced to confess it wise and just, was by no means -what, in his enthusiasm, he could have wished. The rulers of Aeria -absolutely refused to permit any of the air-ships to leave the valley -for at least two months to come. - -They recognised with perfect approval the nobility of the resolve which -Alan had taken to carry the message of the world’s approaching end to -those nations which he had been, partially at least, responsible for -plunging into the horrors of war, but they insisted that the concerns -of Aeria must, in their eyes, take precedence of those of the outside -world. - -There was much to do, and the time for doing it was short. What was -perhaps the greatest engineering task in the history of the world had -to be conceived and completed within the next four months, and as Alan -and Alexis were admittedly the two most skilful practical engineers in -the State, the Council declined to allow them to run the almost certain -risk of death at the hands of their enemies when their knowledge and -skill ought to be devoted to the work of ensuring, as far as possible, -the preservation of that remnant of the human race who should be -destined to seek safety in the caverns of Mount Austral. - -When the completion of that work was made certain, then permission -would be freely given to them and their companions to go forth and -proclaim their warning to the world, subject only to the condition that -they were to take every precaution consistent with the honour of their -race to return while there was yet time for them to take their places -among the Children of Deliverance should the selection fall upon them. - -Meanwhile, telephonic messages were to be sent to all those portions -of the world with which Aeria was still in communication, conveying -the exact terms of the warning that had been received from Mars, and -calling upon the astronomers in all the observatories on the globe to -verify the calculations for themselves, and publish their conclusions -to their respective nations as quickly as possible. - -With these terms Alan was of necessity obliged to be content. Indeed, -when he came to review them in sober thought, he saw that, while -nothing was to be lost, much was to be gained by submission to them. - -Though he still refused, even in spite of the knowledge that he would -share with Alma the future if there was to be one, to obey the order of -the Council which exempted him from the ordeal of selection, he thought -and worked with just as much ardour as though the safety of the whole -of the dwellers in Aeria, as well as his own, hung upon his efforts. - -The caverns of Mount Austral, like those of other limestone formations -in various parts of the world, had been formed in some remote -geological period by the solvent action of water charged with carbonic -gas upon the limestone rocks. - -The entrance to them, discovered very soon after the valley had been -colonised by the Terrorists in the first decade of the twentieth -century, was situated on the inner slopes of the mountain about eight -hundred feet above the level of the lake, which occupied the central -portion of the valley. - -This lake, although fed by hundreds of streams from the surrounding -mountains, always preserved the same level, in spite of the fact that -it had no visible outlet. Those who first explored the caverns found -the explanation of this phenomenon. - -Below the floors of the vast chambers which penetrated the heart of the -mountain for a distance of nearly three miles there ran a deep chasm, -through which rushed in a black, swift, silent stream the surplus -waters of the lake. This stream was nearly a thousand feet below the -entrance to the caverns and half that distance below the floor of the -lowest chambers and galleries. - -The scheme conceived by Alan and Alexis and their fellow-workers was -in fact nothing less than the damming of this subterranean stream by a -mighty sluice-gate composed of one huge sheet of metal which, running -down into grooves cut in the solid rock and metal-sheathed, should -completely close the inner mouth of the tunnel by which the waters -entered the caverns. - -This, once successfully fixed in its place, would deprive the lake -of its only known outlet. The streams would go on flowing from the -mountains and the waters of the lake would rise. The upper entrance -would, when the fatal moment came, also be closed, not by one such -door, but by three that would slide down one behind the other in the -upper tunnel, which, with a diameter of about thirty feet and a height -of almost fifty, ran for nearly a quarter of a mile from the side of -the mountain to the first of the chambers. - -The spaces between these doors would be filled with ice artificially -frozen, and shafts to allow for expansion should the ice melt and the -water boil would run from them vertically, piercing the mountain-side. -When the waters rose to the level of the entrance the doors would be -lowered and the space filled with water and frozen. Then the waters -would go on rising, the entrance would be submerged, and the defences -of the fortress in which the remnant of humanity was to make its last -stand for life would be complete. - -But in addition to these outer defences there was an enormous amount of -work to be done in fitting the interior of the caverns to receive those -for whom they were to form an asylum. - -They were already lighted by myriads of electric lamps, but the source -of light was outside, and this had to be replaced by power-stations -inside. Provision had to be made for keeping the air pure and vital, -for supplying food and drink for an almost indefinite time, and for -storing up a sufficiency of seeds and roots and treasures of art and -creative skill, so that the new world might be clothed again with -verdure and nothing essential of the splendid civilisation of Aeria be -lost. - -Such, in the briefest outline, was the momentous task to which the -Aerians devoted all their splendid genius and unconquerable energies, -and day by day and week by week they toiled at it, while the fatal hour -which was to witness the last agony of man upon earth swiftly drew -nearer and nearer. - -The messages to the outside world had been sent and replied to. Those -to the astronomers and to the governments of the Federation had been -acknowledged in formal terms, which thinly concealed the incredulity -with which they had been received. - -Olga had treated the message with the silent disdain of a conquering -autocrat--such, as in sober truth, she now was. The Sultan had replied -to it in a despatch in which the dignity of a victorious despot and the -fatalism of the religious fanatic were characteristically blended. -Then one by one the telephonic communications with the various parts of -the world ceased; messages were sent out and repeated, but no answer -came back. - -First Europe, then Britain, then South Africa, America, and Australia, -ceased to respond to the signals; and by the beginning of July Aeria -was completely isolated from the rest of the world--probably the only -stronghold that now remained unsubdued by the conquering fleets of the -Sultan and the Tsarina. - -Still the sentinel ships, hanging high in air over the valley, and -constantly patrolling the outer slopes of the mountains, saw no sign -of hostile approach. The last messages that had been received from the -great cities of the Federation had told brief but fearful stories of -the desolation that was following in the path of Moslem and Russian -conquest. - -The bridges of Gibraltar and the Bosphorus had been forced, and -thousands after thousands of Moslem troops had been poured into Europe. -Frenzied by fanaticism and the new-born lust of battle and conquest, -the hordes of Asiatic tribesmen who had escaped the one terrific -onslaught of the fleet under the command of Alexis had, now that the -guardian ships were withdrawn, been hurried through Russia, and hurled -upon the wealthy and almost defenceless cities of Western Europe. - -The Federation was on the point of utter collapse, divided in its -counsels, confused in its plans of defence, its armies undisciplined, -and its fleets disorganised and daily diminishing in number and -effectiveness. - -In America, Australia, and Southern Africa there was anarchy on earth -and terror in the air. Cities had been terrorised into capitulation -by aerial squadrons, and then looted and burnt, and their ruins given -up to be the miserable prey of the revolutionaries who now, as ever, -had taken advantage of the universal panic to revolt against all -government, and deny all rights but that which they claimed to prey -upon the helpless, all liberty that was not license, and all property -that was not plunder. - -The last tidings of all that came from Europe were received from -Britain, and, after recounting the destruction of London and the -collapse of the Government, concluded with the news that Olga had -publicly embraced the faith of Islam, and, in conjunction with the -Sultan, whom she was to marry as soon as the conquest of Europe was -finally complete, was forcibly converting her Russian subjects to the -creed of the Koran. - -So the affairs of the world stood when the sun went down on the 15th -of July. On the meridian of Aeria it set at nine minutes to eight; at -thirteen minutes past eight, according to the calculations made by the -Martian and verified by the Aerian astronomers, the herald of Fate -would approach within the range of terrestrial vision. - -Before the brief period of tropical twilight had passed every telescope -in the valley was turned to that spot in the constellation of Andromeda -at which it was predicted to become visible. As the revolving earth -swept Aeria into the shadow of night every light was extinguished, for -it was known that the astronomers of Mars would be anxiously watching -for a signal that would announce the correctness or the error of their -calculations. - -Vassilis Cosmo, seated at the eye-piece of the great equatorial -telescope on Mount Austral, with his hand on the switch which -controlled the electric currents that were waiting to do his bidding, -watched the fields of space darken, and the stars of Andromeda shine -out. Just a little below the line which joins the Square of Pegasus -with the constellation of Cassiopeia, he saw, as usual, the oval, -luminous cloud of the great nebula in Andromeda. - -Four degrees towards the zenith, above the centre of the star-cloud, -a tiny fan-shaped spray, faint and pale as a dissolving puff of white -smoke, was floating in the black abyss of space. Precisely at the -thirteenth minute of the hour he turned the switch, and the great -suns on the mountain-tops blazed out and flashed the signal to the -sister-world to tell its inhabitants that their prediction had been -fulfilled to the second. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. THE TRUCE OF GOD. - - -BY the 30th of July the work in the caverns was so far advanced that -the Council was able to authorise the departure of Alan and his -companions for the outside world. The great vertical sluice-door, a -huge sheet of steel forty feet long, twenty wide, and eighteen inches -thick, and footed with a great indiarubber pad, was in its place, -suspended at the top of the steel-lined grooves, which had been sunk -three feet into each of the rock walls of the chasm into which the -water-tunnel from the lake opened. - -On the morning of the 30th it was sent down into its final position. -The momentous experiment proved completely successful. The huge mass -of metal descended slowly over the mouth of the tunnel into the black, -swift stream at the bottom of the chasm. As its enormous weight crushed -the indiarubber pad down into all the inequalities of the floor the -outrush of the waters instantly stopped, and the channel ran dry save -for the fierce jets of water which spouted out over the top of the -plate. - -The crevices through which these came were easily plugged, and when -this was done it was found that the waters of the lake were rising at -the rate of three feet an hour. This proved that, whether the lake had -another outlet or not, the damming of the subterranean channels would -be quite sufficient to flood the whole valley. - -The gate was then raised again, and the waters permitted to flow as -before. The triple doors at the entrance to the cavern were already -in position when this was done, as the task of placing them had -necessarily been much easier than the construction of the water-gate. -Nothing but details now remained to be completed, and there was -therefore no reason for any further postponement of Alan’s mission. - -Alexis had also succeeded in carrying his point, and getting permission -to accompany Alan in the _Isma_. He had had no difficulty in satisfying -the Council that the risk would be enormously diminished by sending -two air-ships instead of one, for while Alan descended to the earth to -convey his message to a hostile city, he would be able to remain in the -air, dominating it with his guns, and ready to lay it in ruins if the -flag of truce were not respected. - -But the two friends had gained even more than this, for in answer to -their earnest pleadings, in which it may be suspected they were not -altogether unsupported by those as vitally concerned as themselves, -a joint family council had decided that, under the unparalleled -circumstances of the case, there was no valid reason for refusing -consent to their immediate union with the two faithful brides who had -waited so long and so patiently for their lords. - -Therefore, on the morning of the 31st, it came to pass that they stood -upon the spot sanctified by the ashes of their great ancestors, and -took each other for man and wife, for life or death, as the hazard of -the world’s fate might decide, in the presence of a vast congregation -of those who stood with feet already touching the brink of the valley -of the shadow of death. - -No bridal so strange or solemn had ever been celebrated in the world -before. It was human love and hope and genius, serene and confident -in the presence of the most awful catastrophe that had ever befallen -humanity, defying the fate that was about to overwhelm a world in -destruction. - -That evening, as the sun was touching the tops of the western -mountains, the last preparations for the voyage were completed, the -last farewells exchanged, and the _Isma_ and the _Avenger_, now renamed -the _Alma_ by the hands of her name-mother, rose into the air amid -salvoes of aerial artillery, and winged their way northward over the -Ridge. - -As they sped out over the plains of Northern Africa the sun sank, -and out of the north-western heavens shone the luminous haze of the -Fire-Cloud, which had now grown in visible magnitude until the two -fan-like wings which spread out from its central nucleus spanned an arc -of twenty degrees in the heavens. - -As the two air-ships sped on their northward course towards Alexandria, -where Alan had decided to make his first attempt to stay the progress -of the world-war, the two pairs of new-wedded lovers watched with -anxious eyes from the decks of their flying craft the terrible portent -in the skies whose meaning they above all others on earth were so well -qualified to read. - -There could be no doubt now, even apart from all the elaborate -calculations which had been made, that the prediction of the Martian -astronomers was far more likely to be fulfilled than contradicted by -the event. - -Yet, so great was the happiness they found in this strange fulfilment -of the faint hopes of years of almost hopeless waiting that, even -as they journeyed on through the night with this threatening sign -of approaching ruin pouring its angry light out of the skies, their -talk was still rather of love and life and hope than of the death and -desolation which they knew to be overhanging their race with such -remorseless certainty. - -They had lived and loved, and their love had found fruition. What -more could they have asked of Fate than this, even if they could have -prolonged their lives indefinitely by a mere effort of will? As Alan -had said to Alma at the moment of their re-betrothal in the palm-grove, -they were immortal now, and for them the death of a world was but an -accident on the onward progress of an evolution in which such souls as -theirs, veritable sparks of the divine fire itself, were the dominating -factors. - -As the Fire-Cloud paled in the West, and the eastern heavens brightened -with the fore-glow of the coming dawn, the captains of the two vessels -were roused by the signals from the conning-towers which told them that -Alexandria was in sight. - -As soon as he got on deck Alan signalled to the _Isma_ to come close -alongside. As she did so and the morning greetings were exchanged, Alma -appeared on deck, and suggested that Alexis and Isma should come and -have breakfast on board the flagship, so that the two captains could -discuss their final plans before descending to the city. - -The invitation was of course accepted, and an hour later the _Alma_ -commenced her descent towards the Sultan’s palace, above which, from a -lofty flagstaff, the banner of Islam was floating lazily in the early -morning breeze. She flew no other ensign save a broad white flag of -truce that streamed out from the signal-mast at her stern. - -The whole city seemed asleep, secure in the conquests that had already -been won. A single air-ship floated two thousand feet above the palace, -and as he approached her Alan, keeping her well under his guns, flew -from his mainmast the signal--“We come in peace. Will you respect the -flag?” - -The Moslem captain saw at a glance that a single shell would annihilate -his vessel, and that the _Alma_ was perfectly protected by her consort, -circling two thousand feet above him, so he signalled, “Yes, come -alongside.” The _Alma_ descended and swung round until she came on a -level with the Moslem vessel, then she ran alongside within speaking -distance, the doors of the deck-chambers were opened, and Alan, after -exchanging salutes, asked her captain whether the Sultan was in his -capital. - -“Yes,” replied the Moslem. “He is down yonder in his palace awaiting -the coming of the Tsarina, for they are to join hands to-day and reign -lord and mistress of the world they have conquered.” - -“Is the world, then, conquered?” asked Alan, with a smile on his lips -and a note of scornful pity in his voice. - -“Yes,” said the Moslem. “East and west, north and south, the world is -ours, saving only your own little land, and for that, I suppose, you -have come to make terms of peace.” - -“I have not come to make terms of peace for Aeria, but for the world,” -replied Alan gravely. “But of that I must speak with your master. When -will he be able to give me an audience?” - -“That I cannot say,” was the reply, “or even that he will hear you -at all. But, pardon! I did not know that the angels of Paradise -accompanied the Aerians on their voyages. Descend in peace, my master -will receive you.” - -As he was speaking Alma, crowned with her crystal wings, and radiant -with a beauty which, to the Moslem’s eyes, seemed something superhuman, -had come from the after part of the vessel to Alan’s side. It was the -first time that he had ever seen a woman of Aeria; and, with the innate -chivalry of his race, he paid his involuntary homage to her as he would -have done to an incarnation of one of the poetic dreams of his faith. - -Then salutes were exchanged again between the two captains and the -_Alma_ sank swiftly downwards until she hovered twenty feet above the -terrace on which Alan had first spoken with the Sultan on the night -that he captured the _Vindaya_. - -The approach of the Aerian warship had already summoned a party of -guards to the roof, and after a brief parley a message was carried to -the Sultan from Alan. A few minutes later Khalid stepped out of the -doorway leading from the interior of the palace, magnificently attired -as though for some great ceremonial. - -He looked up and saw Alan standing with Alma by his side on the -after-deck of his ship. He saw, too, that the flag of truce was flying -from the stern and that the guns were laid alongside instead of being -pointed down upon the city. He raised his hand in salute and said-- - -“I see you come in the guise of peace. If that is so you are welcome.” - -“It is peace if your Majesty will have it so,” replied Alan, returning -his salute, and at the same time making a sign for the _Alma_ to -descend to the roof of the palace. As her keels touched the floor of -the terrace, the steps fell from the after doorway, and he came down, -leaving Alma standing on deck by the open door. - -“Will not your companion honour my palace by touching its roof with her -foot?” said Khalid, looking up at Alma as he exchanged greetings with -Alan. - -“My companion, Sultan, is the wife of the man whom you turned your back -upon on this very spot as a liar, a traitor, and a murderer,” said -Alan, looking him straight in the eyes. “How, then, could she honour -your palace by setting foot on its roof?” - -For a moment the Sultan was abashed into silence by the directness of -the rebuke, and then his Oriental subtlety and quickness of thought -came to his aid, and, bending his head with royal dignity, he said-- - -“The angels do not mate with such men as that. The Tsarina must have -been misled by appearances, perhaps, indeed, carried away by her -hereditary hatred of your people. It is impossible that any but a true -man could have won the love of such a woman. You tell me that you come -as friends and not as enemies, so, for the hour, let there be peace, -not war, between us. While you are my guests my city is yours, and -all that it contains. I pledge my honour for your safety, so let the -Daughter of the Air descend that I may hear from her lips the music of -her voice.” - -Turning aside, half to hide a smile at the Oriental metaphor of the -Sultan’s speech, Alan went to the foot of the steps and held out his -hand to Alma. As she alighted on the terrace he led her towards him, -saying-- - -“This is my wife. Yesterday morning she was Alma Tremayne, a daughter -in the fifth generation of the first President of the Federation. Her -ancestor and yours made terms of peace after the War of the Terror. It -is, therefore, more fitting that you should hear from her lips than -from mine the message that we bring.” - -“My ears are waiting,” said Khalid, bending low over the hand that Alma -held out to him as Alan spoke. “It would be a strange message that -would not be welcome from such lips.” - -From one whom she could have looked upon as an equal such language -as this would have jarred sorely upon Alma, accustomed as she was to -the frank directness of her own people’s speech. But from Khalid she -tolerated it as she would have tolerated the extravagance of a child, -and as he raised his head again she looked at him with eyes that -dazzled him afresh, intoxicated as he already was with her, to him, -strange and almost unearthly beauty, and said in a voice such as he had -never heard before-- - -“Thank you, Sultan, for your welcome, but surely there is little need -for me to tell you what message we bring. Last night you saw it written -in letters of fire across the heavens. Has not the voice of God spoken -bidding you and your people to cease the cruel warfare that you are -waging upon the world and to prepare for the end of which that is a -sign?” - -As she spoke she raised her hand and pointed to where the shape of the -Fire-Cloud now hung in the sky like a white mist paling before the -light of the rising sun. - -“You rejected our first warning, as perhaps was natural, but now that -you have seen the confirmation of it shining among the stars, surely -you will no longer reject it.” - -The last words were spoken in a gentle, pleading tone, which no man -could have heard without being moved by them. - -“Daughter of the Air,” replied the Sultan, following her hand with his -eyes, “I have seen, and in a measure I believe, your message, though -my interpretation of it may be other than yours. If the end of the -world is at hand, the Commander of the Faithful will know how to meet -it as a true believer should. It is not impossible that there may be -peace between us yet in the last hours of earthly life, for I would not -willingly make war on a people that has daughters such as you.” - -“Not for our sake, Sultan, but for the sake of all who have survived -this terrible warfare of yours we are come to plead with you for -peace,” said Alma. “This is no time for hate and strife and bloodshed. -There will be horrors enough upon earth before long without any made -by the fury of man. It is in your power to give peace to the world and -breathing space to meet its end. Why will you not give it?” - -“You forget it is not I alone who can give peace,” replied Khalid. “If -that were so”-- - -Before he could speak another word a salvo of aerial artillery shook -the air above the city. All looked up towards the northern sky, whence -the sound proceeded, and saw a squadron of twenty silvery-hulled -air-ships flying the Moslem and Russian flags, and escorting in two -divisions a warship, from whose flagstaff flew the imperial standard -of Russia, and whose shining hull of azurine proclaimed her the lost -_Ithuriel_. - -Alan grasped the perilous situation in an instant, and was just about -to tell Alma to go back on board their own ship when the Sultan, -divining his intention, took a step forward and said-- - -“Do you think that Khalid cannot protect his guests or that his ally -will not respect the hospitality of his house? You are safe. If a hair -of your head were harmed the Tsarina and I would be enemies and she -would come to her death instead of her bridal, for that is what brings -her here. There is truce between us for this day at least, and she -shall not break it.” - -As he ceased speaking the twenty air-ships opened out into a long line -and remained suspended five hundred feet above the palace, while the -_Revenge_ continued her downward flight and alighted at the farther end -of the terrace from where they were standing. - -The after door of the deck-chamber opened as she touched the marble -pavement, the steps dropped down, and Olga descended, attired as usual -in a plain robe of royal purple, over which hung a travelling mantle -of pearl-grey cloth as fine and soft as silk and lined with the then -almost priceless fur of the silver fox. - -Her head was uncovered save for a plain golden fillet, from which rose -a pair of slender silver wings so thickly encrusted with diamonds -that they seemed entirely fashioned of the flashing gems. The golden -fillet shone out brightly yellow against the lustrous black of her -thickly-coiled hair, and the diamond wings blazed and scintillated in -the sunlight with every movement of her head. - -As she descended the steps she was followed by Orloff Lossenski and -a guard of honour of twelve of her officers, splendidly dressed, and -armed to the teeth, who, as soon as they landed, drew their swords, -which were now only used as ornamental insignia of rank, and ranged -themselves in two lines, one on either side of her. - -Before the _Revenge_ had alighted the Sultan had made a sign to one of -the sentries, who blew a long, clear blast on a silver bugle, which -was instantly answered by a hundred others from various parts of the -city. At the sound the Moslem metropolis seemed to wake from sleep into -universal activity. - -Thousands of soldiers in brilliant uniforms poured into the empty -streets, the Moslem and Russian flags ran up to a thousand flagstaffs, -squadron after squadron of aerial cruisers soared up from the earth and -saluted with salvoes of artillery, which shook the very firmament and -brought Alexis down to within three thousand feet of the palace roof -in the belief that Alan and Alma had fallen victims to some treachery, -and that the time had come for him to avenge them by laying the city in -ruins, as he had promised to do in such an event. - -A single glance through his field-glasses showed him the true state of -affairs, so he contented himself with keeping his crew at quarters with -every gun trained on a Russian or a Moslem air-ship and ready to spread -death and ruin far and wide should any harm happen to the _Alma_ or her -crew. - -While this was taking place the Sultan’s bodyguard had filed out on to -the terrace resplendent with gorgeous uniforms and glittering weapons, -and between the two long lines that they formed Khalid advanced to -meet his bride, leaving Alan and Alma interested and not unanxious -spectators of the strange and unexpected scene. - -They met half-way down the double line, and as Olga held out the hand -over which Khalid bowed low as he raised it to his lips, she said, with -a glance of undisguised hate towards Alan and Alma and a mocking smile -on her lips-- - -“Your Majesty’s generosity is unbounded! I see that you have invited -to our wedding-feast the only enemies with whom we have yet to measure -swords!” - -“They have not come as enemies, Tsarina,” replied Khalid, as he raised -his head and looked with but half-restrained ardour on the beauty that -was so soon to be his. “Nor yet have they come at my invitation. Alan -Arnold and his wife”-- - -“His what!” interrupted Olga, her cheeks burning and her eyes flashing -with a sudden blaze of uncontrollable anger. - -“His wife, Tsarina,” replied Khalid, somewhat coldly. “The son of -Natasha and Richard Arnold has mated with the daughter of Alan -Tremayne, and they have come in the fifth generation to warn you, the -daughter of the House of Romanoff, and me, the son of the line of -Mohammed Reshad, to cease our warfare upon the nations and prepare for -the universal end which, they tell us, is at hand.” - -Khalid spoke, as Olga thought, half in jest and half in earnest, so she -continued in the same mocking tone in which she had first spoken-- - -“Then if that is so, if all human enmities are soon to be purged by the -all-destroying fires, we may as well meet in peace for the moment. Will -your Majesty honour me by presenting me to your uninvited guests?” - -“Uninvited, but still my guests, Tsarina,” replied Khalid gravely, “and -therefore I need not ask you”-- - -“No, Sultan,” said Olga, interrupting him, “you need ask me nothing. -You need not fear that I shall not respect the hospitality of your -house, even when extended to them.” - -As she spoke she gave him her hand again and he led her between the -silent, rigid ranks of his guards to where Alan and Alma were standing. - -Since men and women had learned to love and hate there had been no -such strange meeting between two women as that which now took place -between Alma and Olga. It was the first time that Olga had ever seen a -woman of the race to which Alan belonged, and Alma, for the first time -confronted with a daughter of the “earth-folk,” saw in Olga Romanoff -at once the most beautiful woman outside the confines of Aeria and the -incarnation of everything that she had been trained to look upon as -evil. - -While the Sultan was speaking the words of presentation their eyes met, -and Alma thought of that sentence in Alan’s letter to his father, “She -is as beautiful as an angel and as merciless as a fiend,” while Olga -looked back to the time when she first heard Alma’s name and hated -her for the sake of him who now stood beside her, her lover and her -husband--the man _she_ had held in bondage for years without winning -one voluntary caress from him. - -Alma’s first emotion was one of wonder. Hitherto, she had seen nothing -beautiful that was not at the same time good, for in Aeria the -conceptions of beauty and goodness were inseparable. But here was a -woman of almost perfect physical loveliness, after her own type, who -was beyond all doubt guilty of the most colossal crime that a human -soul had conceived or a human hand had carried out since men first -learned to sin. - -The world, which ten years before had been a paradise of peace, -prosperity, and enlightened progress, was now a wilderness of misery -and an inferno of strife, fast lapsing back into barbarism--and all -this was her doing. - -As this thought came to Alma’s mind, standing out distinct among all -the others that were forcing themselves upon her, wonder gave place to -unspeakable horror, and as Olga approached, with the light of hate -still burning in her eyes and the same mocking smile upon her lips, she -instinctively shrank back as though to avoid contact with some unclean -thing. As she did so her hand slipped through Alan’s arm and a visible -shudder ran through her form. - -Marvellous as Olga’s power of self-control and dissimulation was, she -failed entirely to restrain the passion which such a reception aroused -within her. It was the first time in her life that she had ever stood -in the presence of a woman untainted by a spot of sin or shame, and -this woman recoiled from her in visible loathing, beautiful and mighty -as she was, at the very zenith of her conquering career and on the -morning of her promised union with the man who, as she believed, would -before many days share the empire of the world with her. - -Hardened as she was, the mute rebuke cut her to the quick. The flush -on her cheeks died out and left her so pale for the moment that her -face looked almost ghastly with its grey lips and black burning eyes. -This daughter of a higher race had at a single glance pierced the -splendid mask which covered the fearful deformity of her true nature. -She thought of the night long ago in the bedroom at St. Petersburg when -by the light of the unearthly flame hovering above her poison-still she -had seen her image in the mirror. - -Then pride and anger came to her rescue. The blood returned to her -cheeks and lips, she drew herself up to the full height of her queenly -stature, and as the Sultan spoke the words of presentation she slightly -inclined her head, and then raising it again said, in low, even tones, -whose wonderful music sent a chill to Alma’s heart-- - -“This is a pleasant surprise, Alan Arnold. I little thought that after -our last parting we should meet again, save in battle, much less did I -think that you would honour my bridal by bringing your own bride to it. -Still, as the Sultan tells me, there is truce for to-day, and, so far -as to my enemy, you are welcome.” - -“We have not come as guests to your bridal, Tsarina,” said Alan -coldly and gravely, “nor have we come to make truce as between mortal -enemies. The enmities of men and nations are but as child’s-play now. -We have come to proclaim the Truce of God against the hour of His final -judgment.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. THE SHADOW OF DEATH. - - -“AH, I see,” said Olga. “You have come to tell us this wonderful story -about the comet, and the message you say you have received from Mars, -over again. You are not the first who have prophesied the end of the -world by such means, nor will you be the last to be discredited by the -event. - -“Once for all, then, let me save misunderstanding by telling you that I -don’t believe a word of it, and therefore nothing that you can say will -have any effect on the course of action that I have determined upon. -You are of course at liberty to preach your truce elsewhere and at your -own risk, though I fear it will be but the voice of one crying in the -wilderness.” - -“Yes, truly in the wilderness,” said Alma before Alan could reply, “but -a wilderness that you have made with your own hand, Tsarina. You who -have been the evil genius of the world, have you not done harm enough, -now that the world has only a few more weeks to live?” - -“According to the idle tale you bring us,” interrupted Olga, repressing -with a barely successful effort the anger aroused afresh within her by -the serene tone in which Alma spoke. It sounded rather like the voice -of an angel speaking to a mortal than of one woman addressing another, -and even to herself Olga was forced to admit that there could be no -question of equality between this daughter of the air and herself. - -“It is no idle tale,” replied Alma, almost in the same tone which -she might have used in reproving a wayward child, “it is not even a -prophecy, it is a mathematical certainty, and if you understood you -would believe.” - -“You are wasting time and your own breath,” said Olga scornfully. “You -are not my guests but the Sultan’s, yet he may allow me to say that we -have other demands upon our attention more important than listening to -such sentimentalism as this.” - -Before Alma could answer, Alan turned to the Sultan as though not -deigning to reply to Olga’s insulting speech. - -“Your Majesty, I see that this is no time to perform the mission upon -which I came. We did not expect the presence of the Tsarina here. -Had we done so we should not have come, for I know how vain it would -be to reason with her. I came prepared to satisfy the most skilful -astronomers in your kingdom that what I say is absolutely true, and I -ventured to hope that you, if satisfied by their assurances, would give -peace to the world for the remnant of its days. - -“But even so it is not for us to interrupt or even to introduce an -unpleasant element into the doings of to-day, so, with your Majesty’s -permission, I will leave the calculations with your minister and -relieve you and the Tsarina of our unwelcome presence.” - -All this time the Grand Vizier, Musa al Ghazi, had been standing a -little to the rear of the group stroking his beard nervously and -looking anxiously from one to the other. He seemed about to speak, when -Khalid said to Alan with a courtesy which contrasted strongly with -Olga’s contemptuous demeanour-- - -“I thank you, Prince of the Air. As matters stand I think that will be -the most reasonable as well as the most convenient course. Though I am -far from convinced that you are not mistaken, yet I can assure you that -the best skill in my domains shall examine what you leave us. Musa!” - -The old man turned pale as his master pronounced his name, and stepped -forward with a visible agitation, which was by no means accounted for -by the circumstances of the strange situation. Instead of waiting for -Khalid’s commands he said as he made his obeisance before him-- - -“Commander of the Faithful, I am here; but before your Majesty bids me -take these papers from the hands of Alan Arnold I would ask permission -to say a word that must be said in private.” - -“In private, Musa?” said Khalid, frowning slightly and passing his hand -down his beard. “This is hardly a time for State secrets.” - -“It is but my duty to my master that bids me speak,” replied the old -man, again bending before him. “A moment will suffice for the speaking -of what I have to say.” - -Musa’s tone was so earnest and his anxiety so palpable, that Khalid -without more ado made his excuses to the Tsarina and his unexpected -guests and stepped aside out of earshot with his Vizier. - -“Well, Musa, what is it that is so pressing and yet so private?” he -asked, a trifle impatiently. - -“My master,” replied the old minister, in a voice that now trembled -with emotion, “there is no need to examine the calculations from Aeria. -An hour before daybreak Hakem ben Amru, your chief astronomer at the -observatory of Memphis, came to me and told me that he had completed -his own calculations of the curve and period of the comet, and that, -allowing for difference in longitude between our meridian and that of -Aeria, the prediction from Mars will be fulfilled beyond all doubt at -midnight on the 23rd of September.” - -This was testimony which it was impossible for Khalid to question. -Musa’s sincerity was beyond all question and Hakem ben Amru was the -most renowned astronomer in the world outside Aeria. Khalid recoiled -a pace as though he had been struck, and said in a voice hoarse with -sudden emotion-- - -“Why did you not tell me this before, Musa?” - -“Because I would not mar my master’s happiness for this day at least,” -replied Musa. “If it be true that the end of earthly things is at hand -a day is of but small account. To tell you would neither hasten nor -delay the end. But Alan Arnold’s words forced me to speak, for I knew -that Hakem would speak if I did not.” - -Khalid laid his hand upon the old man’s shoulder and said gravely but -kindly-- - -“It was well thought, Musa, and I thank you for your consideration, -evil as your news is. It is Kismet, and the will of Allah must be done!” - -So saying he turned away and walked with slow steps and downcast eyes -to where Olga was standing talking to Orloff Lossenski with her back -turned in open contempt upon Alma and Alan. A single glance at his face -told her that Musa had had no pleasant tidings to impart. - -“Your Majesty looks grave,” she said. “Has Musa given you news of some -disaster to our forces?” - -“More than that, Tsarina,” replied Khalid. “He has brought me -confirmation that I cannot doubt of the truth of the message from -Aeria.” - -“What!” exclaimed Olga in a quick passionate tone that all standing -near could hear. “The confirmation of that thrice-told tale with which -these people are trying to impose on our fears! Surely your Majesty is -jesting now?” - -“No, Tsarina, it is no subject for jesting but only for earnest and -solemn thought,” answered Khalid seriously. - -“I neither can nor _will_ believe it!” cried Olga passionately, her -long-restrained anger completely overcoming her prudence and her whole -soul rising in ungovernable revolt. “Believe or not as you will, I will -not. It cannot be possible; it is too monstrous for all credence! - -“Why, one would think the very Fates themselves were fighting against -us if that were true, and were bringing the world to an end just as we -have conquered it for our own! - -“As for these Aerians,” she continued, turning upon Alan and Alma and -taking a couple of steps towards them, “they have come here with this -wild story to cover an attempt to make terms with us before it is too -late. It is a trick to deceive you, but it shall not succeed in my -presence. Do you not remember how, upon this very spot little more than -a year ago, I showed you this same Alan Arnold, who now comes preaching -about his Truce of God, as the shameless liar and traitor that he is.” - -She had thrown off all disguise and all restraint now. Hatred was -shining out of her eyes and open scorn was upon her lips. She waved her -hand with a contemptuous gesture towards them and went on-- - -“If you have come to ask for terms of peace, be honest and say so. You -need not fear to speak, for there may be conditions on which we will -let you live.” - -Khalid was about to utter some reproof, and Alan’s hand had gone -instinctively to the hilt of his rapier, when Alma stepped forward and -faced Olga, her own eyes now burning dark with anger and her cheeks -flushed with the hot blood which Olga’s insult had called to them. - -“Make terms with you!” she said, looking down upon her from the height -of her splendid stature. “With you, who have laid the earth waste and -made the habitations of men desolate--with you, whom I could strike -dead at my feet without staining my hand by laying it upon you! It is -for you to make terms, if you can, not with us but with the Heaven -whose justice you have outraged and whose patience you have scorned! - -“Cease this idle talk of battle and conquest, this impious defiance of -the decrees of Fate! Can you make terms with God? If so, then when you -see His sign blazing in the heavens to-night cause it to change its -path and pass aside from the earth. If not kneel down and pray, not for -your life, for that would be useless, but for strength to meet your end -in the midst of the desolation that you have created!” - -Olga heard her in silence to the end, her whole being shaken with the -tempest of passion that Alma’s words set raging in her breast. For -a moment she stood speechless, white to the lips, and trembling in -every limb from very rage. Then she suddenly stepped back a pace, and -cried in a voice more like the cry of a wild animal in pain than human -speech-- - -“Whether the world lives or not _you_ shall not, whatever comes!” and -as she spoke she snatched a pistol out of her girdle and levelled it at -Alma’s heart. Before she could spring the lock Alan had snatched Alma -up in his arms and Khalid, with a cry of horror and anger, had sprung -forward and grasped Olga’s wrist. - -The bullet flew high, cutting one of the wings off Alan’s coronet in -its flight. Half a dozen strides took him alongside his ship, and in -another instant he was standing on her deck, his left arm round Alma’s -waist holding her behind him and his right hand grasping one of his -pistols. - -He raised his arm and the pistol flashed. At the same moment he stamped -on the deck and the _Alma_ leapt a thousand feet obliquely into the -air. The second before the pistol flashed Olga turned her head as -though she were going to fire again, and the motion saved her life, for -Alan’s bullet, instead of piercing her brain, as it was meant to do, -cut a straight red gash across her forehead from temple to temple and -buried itself in the breast of Orloff Lossenski as he sprang forward to -snatch his mistress out of the line of fire. - -He pitched forward and dropped, and Khalid, forgetting everything else -in the horror of the moment, caught Olga in his arms as a rain of blood -streamed down over her face and a shrill scream of pain and rage burst -from her lips. - -Although there were nearly three hundred warships floating in the air -above Alexandria, and though the rapidly-enacted tragedy on the roof -of the palace could be distinctly seen from their decks, the _Alma_ -escaped scathless, for the simple reason that, so terrible was the -energy developed by the projectiles in use, that had one struck her as -she left the terrace the palace itself would have been wrecked, and -every living being within a radius of two hundred yards from the focus -of the explosion would have been instantly killed. - -Consequently, the captains of the Russian and Moslem ships had to look -on in angry impotence as she leapt out of range, joined her consort, -and with her soared away westward until a height of fifteen thousand -feet was reached, and so vanished from the sight of their discomfited -enemies. - -From Alexandria they crossed the Mediterranean and Europe to Britain by -way of Italy, the Valley of the Rhone, and Paris, at a height of some -five thousand feet from the land. What they saw more than justified the -reports which had reached Aeria. The fairest countries of Europe were -now only blackened deserts and wasted wildernesses. - -They flew all day over deserted fields and towns and cities that were -little better than heaps of blackened ruins, and when night fell and -the Fire-Cloud blazed out of the sky, its glare was answered by flames -rising from the earth, and huge patches of mingled smoke and flame -which marked the sites of other towns which were only now falling -victims to the destroyers. - -Society had practically come to an end. People who a few weeks before -had been wealthy watched almost with apathy the plunder of their homes -and the burning of their palaces by the armed bands of robbers which -sprang up everywhere. There was no longer any protection for life and -property. If anarchists on the earth did not burn and slay and plunder, -their enemies in the air would, and even if they did not, what did -it matter if friends and foes, plunderers and plundered, were to be -consumed together in the fire that was about to fall from heaven? - -Amidst the universal terror Alma, with her almost unearthly beauty, -the calm dignity of her bearing, and the sweetness and gentleness of -her loving counsels, passed through the devastated lands rather like -an angel of mercy than a woman of the same flesh and blood as the -distracted panic-stricken crowds through which she moved by Alan’s -side, speaking her message in a voice that seemed to be an echo from -some other world. - -When the _Alma_ and the _Isma_ reached London ten days after leaving -Alexandria, they found the vast and once splendid metropolis of the -world a wide waste of broken, blackened, and in some places still -smoking ruins. Of its fifteen millions of inhabitants barely three -millions remained to people its fragments. All the rest had either fled -soon after the first assault, or had fallen in the pitiless carnage -that had been let loose upon them. - -They remained three days amidst the ruins of London, listening to -the most heartrending tales of suffering and cruelty, and giving in -return such consolation as they could. Then they took the air again, -and journeyed on westward over the once fair and smiling English land -that was now a wilderness amidst which plague and famine, anarchy and -destruction, stalked triumphant, while the few who listened to their -message waited in despairing terror for the fate that could hardly be -worse than what they had passed through since the fatal 16th of May. - -From England they crossed the Atlantic to America, and from America -they sped over the Pacific to Australia, finding everywhere the same -desolation upon the face of the earth, and the same terror and despair -in the minds of men. But for the awful reality before their eyes, it -would have been impossible for them to believe that the civilisation -which had seemed so strong and splendid four months before, could have -collapsed as it had done into such utter chaos. - -In those four short months the whole tragedy of human life on earth -seemed to have been re-enacted. The frenzy and panic of war had -degenerated into a universal delirium. Men, women, and children had -gone mad by millions. Religious fanatics, impostors, and enthusiasts, -if possible more insane than their hearers, preached the wildest and -most blasphemous doctrines, and uttered the most hideous prophecies, -not only as to the approaching end of the world, but of the imaginary -eternal horrors that were to follow it. - -The art and science and culture of five hundred years had been -forgotten in those few weeks of madness, and mankind had sunk back -wholesale into the grossest superstitions of the Dark Ages. Every -night, when the flaming shape of the Fire-Cloud blazed out among the -stars, millions fell down on their knees and greeted it with prayers -and invocations, as savages had once been wont to worship their -fetishes. - -By the end of August, when the fiery arc overarched more than -two-thirds of the heavens and rivalled the sunlight itself in -brightness, the degeneration of humanity had advanced to such a fearful -stage of intellectual and moral depravity, that even human sacrifices -were offered to appease the wrath of the deity who was believed to have -taken the shape of the Fire-Cloud. Under the influence of delirium the -human mind had gone back through twenty-five centuries, and the worship -of Baal and Moloch had returned upon earth. - -Only a small minority of men and women preserved their senses amidst -the universal madness. These greeted the Aerians as friends, and heard -their message, and promised to remain steadfast to the end, but as -day after day went by and the terror grew and the nations plunged -deeper and deeper into the saturnalia of frenzy and despair, the task -undertaken by Alan and Alma grew more and more hopeless, and when the -last day of August came, they at length confessed to themselves that it -was useless to pursue it any further. - -This, too, was the day on which the term of absence granted by the -Council expired, and so at nightfall, after having carried their -message round the whole world and passed it, by the mouths of those -who were willing to listen, through many lands, they at length -reluctantly turned their prows homeward, and, with hearts sickened by -all the unspeakable horrors they had witnessed, soared upward into -the luridly-lighted heavens, leaving the world to the fate which -in twenty-three days more would overwhelm the conquerors and the -conquered, the few sane and the many mad, in universal and inevitable -destruction. - -Alan timed his arrival so that the _Alma_ and her consort crossed the -Ridge a few minutes after sunrise on the 1st of September. As they -alighted in the central square of the city and disembarked to greet -the group of friends and kindred who were waiting to receive them, a -strange stillness struck their ears and sent a mysterious chill to -their hearts. - -The splendid capital of Aeria seemed like a city of the dead. Its broad -white streets and squares were empty, there were no boats on the lake, -and no aerial yachts in the air as there were wont to be at sunrise. -The gardens were deserted and silent, even the songs of birds which had -welled up from them in a chorus of greeting to the coming sun were now -hushed, and the birds themselves were flying restlessly from branch -to branch, twittering and calling to each other, frightened sharers -in the universal fear. It was not long before Alan learnt from his -father the explanation of this strange and mournful change in the life -of the valley. A few days after their departure a mysterious epidemic -had appeared among the people of Aeria. First the old, then the -middle-aged, and then the young had been silently and swiftly stricken -down, first in hundreds and then in thousands. - -There was no sign of physical disease, no apparent source of physical -infection, and none of the horrors which characterised the plagues that -were decimating the outside world. Those attacked by it went to bed -in apparently robust health, and in the morning they were found dead -with an expression of perfect peace upon their features and no marks of -disease upon their bodies. - -That was all that was publicly known. There had been, and, as the -President told his son, there would be no inquiry into the cause or -origin of the epidemic. Whether those who died died voluntarily, or -whether the visitation was a merciful release from the torment and -terror of the general doom, it was not for those who survived to ask. - -It was enough for them that the Shadow of Death had begun to steal -silently and swiftly over the land of the royal race who had raised the -dignity of humanity to a height untouched before in the story of man. -They were content to know that their friends and kindred were permitted -to die in painless peace rather than forced to writhe out their last -hours in torture amidst the conflagration of the world. - -All day and all night for nearly a month the fires of a hundred -crematoria had burned, and day and night the funeral processions had -never ceased passing through their gates. The population of Aeria, -which had been over a million at the end of July, was now little more -than a hundred thousand, and these were hourly dwindling under the -mysterious epidemic. - -Those who had returned in the _Alma_ and the _Isma_ accepted all -without question and applied themselves with all their energy to the -performance of the solemn duties that remained to them. - -The work in the caverns of Mount Austral was now almost completed, and -the minute calculations which had been made had shown that it would be -possible for two hundred and fifty souls to find a refuge in them for -ten days if necessary. - -Sufficient supplies of food had been already stored, the machinery for -lighting the caverns was complete, and solid oxygen had been enclosed -in steel reservoirs to supply what would be consumed by respiration, -while provision had also been made for continually abstracting the -carbonic acid and other injurious constituents from the respired air. - -Everything that human genius and skill at their best could do to ensure -the preservation of this remnant of humanity, had been done, and by -the 15th of September the caverns were finally ready for occupation. -Only one more task now remained to be completed, and this was the -selection of those who were to survive, provided that the precautions -taken proved adequate. Unspeakably pathetic as this work of selection -was, it was performed with a calm and apparently passionless precision -worthy of the unparalleled solemnity of the occasion and the splendid -traditions of those who accomplished it. - -The field of selection was first narrowed by confining it to those -who had been regularly betrothed when the first message was received -from Mars. From these first the physically perfect were chosen, then -the strongest and the fairest of these, and finally those who to -their physical perfections added the highest intellectual and moral -qualities. - -The work was performed by the Ruling Council assisted by a council of -an equal number of matrons who had what had once been accounted the -misfortune to be childless. Neither joy nor sorrow was shown, at least -in public, either by those who were chosen or by those upon whom the -joint Council was forced to pronounce sentence of death by rejecting -them. - -The natural joy of the chosen was lost in the universal sorrow of the -now inevitable parting, and those who were destined not to survive, -satisfied with the perfect justice with which the selection had been -made, consoled each other with the knowledge that they would die hand -in hand and be spared the sorrow of surviving all who were nearest and -dearest to them. - -On the morning of the 18th, the temple of Aeria witnessed the last -ceremony that would ever take place within its walls. This was -the marriage of those who, unless their last refuge shared in the -destruction that was about to bring chaos upon earth, were to be the -parents of the new race that was to repeople the world. - -The survivors of the whole nation now barely filled the vast interior -of the temple. The solemn words which bound youth and maid together as -man and wife to face side by side the last ordeal that humanity would -ever have to pass through were spoken in the midst of a silence which -reigned not only in the temple but now throughout the whole valley. - -All the sentinel ships had now been withdrawn save one, which, from a -height of fifteen thousand feet, still kept watch and ward against the -coming of the foe that was even yet expected. But this was the only -sign of life within the confines of Aeria, and when the solemn ceremony -was ended and the assembly filed out of the doors, the members of it -betook themselves almost in silence to their homes, there to make their -final preparations for life or death as Destiny had selected them to -live or die. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. THE LAST BATTLE. - - -AT sunset on the 15th the sluice-door had been finally lowered into -its place and the pent-up waters of the lake of Aeria had risen nearly -forty feet by the next morning. Only the upper parts of the villas on -its banks were visible and its area was so enormously increased that -the whole appearance of the valley was altered. - -Rising at first at the rate of three feet an hour, a rate which of -course decreased as the area became greater, the waters would reach the -entrance to the caverns soon after sunset on the evening of the fatal -23rd. - -A little before midnight on the 21st the _Orion_, the sentinel ship -that was on guard at the time, sank swiftly down with the news that she -had made out by the light of the Fire-Cloud which, lurid and ghastly as -it was, was as brilliant and penetrating as that of the sun at noonday, -a large fleet of air-ships approaching from the northwards. The city -was by this time almost entirely submerged. Only a few minarets and -towers and the top of the great golden dome of the temple surmounted by -its crystal-winged figure, showed above the surface. - -The remnant of the people of Aeria, now reduced to less than seven -thousand souls, including those chosen to take refuge in the caverns, -were occupying the villas on the slopes of Mount Austral about the -entrance to the caverns. Six thousand of them were men who had lived -solely in the hope of such an attack as was now about to be made and -which would enable them to die fighting the common enemy of mankind to -the last in defence of their beloved native land. - -Not even now, when the hand of Destiny had set a definite limit to all -human hopes and fears, and when the remainder of their own lives could -be counted by hours, could this faithful remnant of the Aerians endure -the thought that what had been their paradise and their home should be -violated and polluted by the appearance of their foes. - -Therefore they had lived for this last battle, and five hundred -air-ships were waiting to carry them into the air to engage in the -last fight that ever would be fought on earth. All their friends and -kindred, saving only the Children of Deliverance, as in fond fancy they -had called the little band of the chosen ones, were now dead, and the -few hours of life that were left to them had nothing more to give them. - -So they received with a grim joy the summons to battle which had been -so long expected. Four thousand of them manned the air-ships, the rest -occupied the mountain batteries, and within a quarter of an hour of the -bringing of the news the war-ships had mounted into the air, and the -great guns of the batteries were ready to hurl their projectiles upon -the advancing foe. - -It was a spectacle to make angels weep and devils laugh, this last -marshalling of the forces of human hate and hostility in the closing -hours of the life of humanity and on the threshold of eternity. It -seemed that the Tragedy of Man was to be played out to the bitter end, -and that human strife was only to cease on earth with the destruction -of the world. This, too, was the work of a single woman inspired by -quenchless hatred and insatiable ambition and a pride of spirit which, -in its haughty incredulity, still refused to believe that the end of -her conquering career had come. - -Pitiless and without scruple to the end, Olga, while she was recovering -from her wound under the shelter of the Sultan’s roof, had managed, -with the aid of her waiting-woman Anna, not only to poison the Grand -Vizier Musa and Hakem the astronomer, but also to bring Khalid himself -into the same state of moral slavery in which she had so long held Alan -and Alexis. - -It was she who had brought this fleet from Alexandria to Aeria. Once -under the fatal spell of her will-poison, she had commanded Khalid -to revoke the orders that he had given for peace, and he had obeyed. -A fleet of more than five hundred air-ships had been collected, and, -taking Khalid with her on board the _Revenge_, so that there should be -no chance of his recovering his volition, she had come to fulfil the -prophecy which Paul Romanoff uttered when in the last hour of his life -he had declared that one day the Eagle of Russia should fly over the -battlements of Aeria. - -All the materials for constructing ten air-ships had been taken into -the caverns, so that in the event of the remnant surviving the empire -of the air should still be theirs, but the _Alma_ and the _Isma_ still -lay outside the entrance when the other ships had risen into the air. - -At the supreme moment a controversy had arisen as to whether or not -Alan and Alexis--the latter of whom had been placed without question -among the chosen, not only because of his unequalled engineering skill, -but also because without him a daughter of the House of Arnold would -have died of her own will--should or should not take part with their -companions in the near approaching conflict. - -This dispute was brought to a sudden close by Alan, who, with a sudden -inspiration, cut short all the loving entreaties that were being made -to him to take refuge in the caverns and avoid the chance which in -the heat of the conflict might destroy with him the male line of the -descendants of the first conqueror of the air. - -“Do you not see,” he said, “that it is quite possible that their fleet -may be twice as strong as ours, and that in spite of all our gallant -forlorn hope can do they may cross the mountains and send their shells -into the valley? - -“What if one of them exploded here and wrecked the outworks and the -entrance to the caverns? All hope, even for us, would then be lost, -the doors could not be lowered, and we should either have to let the -waters of the lake flow out or they would flow into the caverns by the -upper entrance and ruin all our labours. - -“We have proved that the _Alma_ and the _Isma_ are the two best -air-ships in existence. They can soar higher and travel faster than -any others. Would it not be madness to deprive our defending force of -them, and would it not be cowardice in us not to do all we can to save -all that is left for us to hope for on earth? I for one shall go, and I -don’t believe that I shall go alone.” - -“If the _Alma_ goes the _Isma_ goes too,” said Alexis. “Alan is right. -We should be cowards to turn our backs on the enemy at the last moment.” - -“And if you go, we go,” said Alma and Isma in a breath. “If you live we -will live with you, but we will not live without you.” - -There was no answer to such reasoning as this, nor was there any longer -any law on earth save that of individual will. The first motive power -that had swayed the world was the last that survived and would be the -last to die. Those of the old crews of the two air-ships who were found -among the chosen at once came forward to take their places, and with -them came too those who had elected to take the hazard of life or death -with them. - -“There shall be no widows in the new world,” said they. And so every -man who rose into the air on board the two great warships carried with -him the woman without whom the one last chance of life would not have -been worth taking. - -As they left the earth the remainder of the little company retired into -the caverns, leaving two sentinels posted at the outer door ready to -give the alarm in case it should be necessary to lower the doors. As -they did so a long, dull, distant roar came from the northward telling -that the last battle of man with man had begun. - -In accordance with a plan hastily arranged before they rose, the _Alma_ -was to guard the northern end of the valley, while the _Isma_ kept -watch over the southern. They soared up and up until the peaks of the -mountains were a good five thousand feet below them. - -From this elevation those on board the _Alma_ could see the enemy’s -fleet stretching out in a huge crescent, made up of tiny points of -light which shone in the unnatural glare that illumined the earth and -sky, and ever and anon they saw enormous spheres of flame blaze out -along the line as the projectiles from the land batteries burst in -front of them. The gunners were only trying their range and the enemy -were still beyond it. - -The explosion of the projectiles told the assailants that Aeria was -on the alert, still prepared for battle and still, for all they knew, -as impregnable as ever. Seeing this, they ceased their advance and a -battle of tactics preceded the pitiless struggle which only the victors -would survive. - -Hour after hour the Moslem and Russian air-ships strove to out-soar the -Aerians, or to make a rush in twos and threes that would bring them -within range of the charmed circle of the mountains. But no sooner -did one of them sweep up at full speed out of the distance and slow -down sufficiently to train her guns than the atmosphere about her -was convulsed with a mighty shock and changed instantly into a mist -of fire, and when this vanished she had vanished too, shattered to -fragments which dropped in a rain of molten metal thousands of feet to -the earth below. - -Morning came, the flaming arch of the Fire-Cloud sank lower and lower -in the heavens until it stretched a broad band of lurid light round -the western horizon, and an unclouded sun brought the last dawn but -one that the terror-maddened myriads of earth would ever see. Still -the fight went on at long ranges; still ship after ship of the hostile -fleet made its desperate effort to cross the invisible barrier which -was drawn all round Aeria by the range of its protecting guns, only -to be overturned and hurled to the earth by the shock of an exploding -projectile or to be fairly struck and dissolved to dust. - -[Illustration: STILL THE FIGHT WENT ON AT LONG RANGES. _Page 354._] - -No matter how high they attempted to soar, the _Alma_ and the _Isma_ -were still above them, and if the shells from the land batteries failed -to do their work the guns of the air-ships did it for them and the -result was the same--annihilation. - -The night of the 22nd was spent in incessant attack and defence. The -crews of the Aerian ships, grown desperate in their supreme despair, -now left the mountains and sallied forth into the open, engaging the -enemy ship for ship and gun for gun in a last determined effort to -destroy them, or be destroyed, and far out from the still untouched -battlements of Aeria the fight raged fast and furious. - -There now was no thought of safety in the hearts of the Aerians. They -had come forth to kill and be killed. The rules of aerial tactics were -utterly neglected. They laid their guns alongside and, rushing through -the air at their utmost speed, they hurled themselves with the ram -upon every Moslem or Russian vessel that they could meet or overtake, -crashing into her with irresistible force and going with her into -annihilation as their two cargoes of shells exploded under the shock. - -The last sun rose and saw the fight still going on. What had begun as -the greatest battle in the history of war had now dwindled down to a -series of single combats. At length the end came. It was a few minutes -after midday that the last blow in the battle was struck. Ten Russian -and Moslem air-ships, all that remained of the great fleet that Olga -had brought against Aeria, formed in line ten miles from the Ridge and -made a last attempt to break through the defences. - -Flying through a storm of shells from the land batteries, seven of -them were torn to pieces and the other three, just as they reached the -Ridge, were met obliquely by the five remaining vessels of the Aerian -fleet. The same moment the _Alma’s_ broadside was discharged upon them, -friend and foe vanished together in a mist of flame--and so ended the -assault and defence of Aeria. - -“We can go down now!” said Alan in a broken voice to Alma, who was -standing white and speechless with horror at his side in the bows of -the air-ship. “It is all over! God rest their gallant souls, for they -left the world like brave men and true Aerians!” - -“Amen!” sighed Alma. Then, after a brief pause, she said--“I wonder -whether Olga Romanoff is alive or dead?” - -The two air-ships now sank together and alighted close to the entrance -to the caverns. - -There the splendid fabrics were reluctantly abandoned, their crews -disembarked, taking with them everything they wished to preserve, and -a minute inspection was made for the last time of the triple doors and -the machinery for lowering them and filling the spaces between them -with water to be frozen as soon as they were in their places. - -This occupied the time until the evening, and then all went once more -into the open air to take what might be their last look at the sun. The -waters of the lake were now within a few feet of the entrance, creeping -more and more slowly upwards, and across the vast expanse of water, -lying unruffled by the lightest breeze, fell the mingled rays of the -sinking sun and the brightening Fire-Cloud. - -There was not a cloud in the heavens and no breath of wind relieved -the almost suffocating heat of the inert and sultry air. It seemed as -though all terrestrial nature lay paralysed in a stupor of terror, -waiting for the fire-blast that would wither it into death and ruin. - -As the sun sank down behind the veil of flame his disc loomed redly -and dully through it. Long streams of fire, blue and green and orange, -darted across the disc and leapt and played round its circumference -until it sank finally out of sight. The little group on the shore of -the lake gazed at each other in silence as it disappeared. - -Their faces looked wan and ghastly in the awful light that now reigned -supreme in the heavens. Most of them turned away in grief and horror -too deep for words, and with one last look at earth and sky, crept into -the caverns, unable any longer to support the terror of the scene. - -But a few remained, determined to see the fearful drama played out to -the end, if they could, and among these were Alan and Alexis, whose -duty kept them by the doors, the President and Francis Tremayne, and -Alma and Isma, whom nothing could persuade to leave their husbands’ -sides. - -No human eyes had ever beheld so magnificent or so awful a display of -celestial splendours as they beheld during the three hours that they -stood in the doorway after sunset. The Fire-Cloud now covered almost -the whole heavens, and its enormous nucleus blazed like a gigantic -sun down out of the zenith with a heat and radiance that were almost -insupportable. - -Huge masses of flame leapt out continuously, as though hurled from its -fiery heart, and were projected far beyond its circumference, while -the incandescent cloud-mass which surrounded it was torn and convulsed -by internal commotions which spread out and out in enormous waves of -many-coloured fires until they disappeared below the horizon. - -Still there was neither sound nor breath of wind upon earth, only the -awful stillness in which the world waited for the hour of its doom -to strike. At last, towards ten o’clock, the water began to lap the -threshold of the entrance, and Alan, pointing to it, said-- - -“Come, we must take our last look at the world! It is time to lower the -doors.” - -The words were scarcely out of his mouth before a low dull booming -sound came echoing down the gorges of Mount Austral. They looked up -and saw huge masses of snow and ice loosened from its upper heights -gliding, at first slowly and then more and more swiftly, down towards -the valley beneath, a mighty avalanche which in a few minutes more -would carry irresistible ruin in its path. - -“In with you all!” cried Alan. “Quick! That is the beginning of the -end; the snows are melting and the waters will be over us in another -hour.” - -All but he and Alexis hurried in, and they, grasping the levers on -either side of the door, pulled them, and the enormous sheet of steel -descended quickly along its grooves and shut them in from the outer -world, upon which chaos was about to fall. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. THE SHE-WOLF TO HER LAIR. - - -IN the mysterious revolution of human things it came about that the -only spectator of the closing scene of the tragedy of humanity who -endured and survived its final terrors was the woman to whom it had -been due that the fire from heaven had fallen upon a world mad with the -frenzy and agony of war instead of sane and calm with the sanity and -calmness of peace and reason. - -On the issue of the Battle of Aeria, Olga and, under her unnaturally -acquired influence, the Sultan, had staked the empire of the world -and lost it. Before the fight had been raging many hours even she was -forced to admit that Aeria was impregnable to any assault that she -could deliver. But when the Aerians began to practise the desperate -tactics of the second day it became manifest that nothing but -annihilation awaited the invading fleet, out-matched as it was in speed -and gun-power by the new Aerian warships and the land batteries. - -With eyes burning with rage and envy she had watched through her -glasses the incomparable _Alma_ floating serenely at her unattainable -altitude far above the battle-storm, and she had pictured Alan, her -former slave, standing upon her deck perhaps--bitterest thought of -all--with his wedded love beside him, and like a very arbiter of war -hurling his destroying lightnings far and wide upon her ships until -the supreme moment came in which he would descend like a very god from -the upper air, and, hand in hand with Alma, strike the last terrible -blow which would end the last conflict of man with man and leave -neither friend nor foe alive to tell what the issue had been. - -It would be a glorious end, worthy of him and the splendid traditions -of his race, and she loathed herself for the craven fear that had -seized upon her in the fateful hour of battle, and made her incapable -of challenging the same fate at his hands. Khalid himself would have -done so without hesitation, but she had robbed him of his manhood and -debased him, as she had debased every other human being that had fallen -under her influence. - -She had spent nearly the whole of the night of the 22nd on deck, -and when the awful radiance of the Fire-Cloud was for the last time -succeeded by the light of day, even her haughty spirit had at last -bowed before the supernatural terrors that were multiplying about her. -For the first time since she had brought bloodshed back into the world -a thrill of panic shuddered through her soul, and, for the first time, -she learnt the meaning of fear. - -Then, too, came a longing which for the time being overmastered -all other considerations. The elementary animal instinct of -self-preservation rose up within her with irresistible force and -conquered the hate and the ambition whose objects would have vanished -when another sun had risen. - -Her thoughts went back to her old stronghold in the snowy solitudes -of Antarctica, to the deep dark caverns of Mount Terror. Surely those -mighty walls of living rock, shrouded in eternal ice and snow, would -give her an asylum in which she could defy the fate that was about to -overwhelm humanity--and what then? For a moment an awful vision of -the unspeakable loneliness of such a survival amidst the ruins of the -world struck such terror to her heart that she almost resolved to head -the _Revenge_ into the thick of the fight that was still raging round -Aeria, and die rather than face it. Then the vision passed, and the -terrors of the present blotted out the fear of the future. - -The last sun that the human race would ever see was just rising when -she sent for Boris Lossenski, who was still commanding the _Revenge_ -under her, and said abruptly, and without even consulting Khalid, who -was standing by her side-- - -“There is nothing but death to be found here. We will escape if we can. -Head the ship for Mount Terror and make her fly as she has never flown -before. Don’t spare either the engines or the power. We must be there -before nightfall if possible.” - -Boris saluted and obeyed in silence, and Olga turned to Khalid and said -in a tone of weariness and almost of despair-- - -“It is no use fighting any longer. The Fates themselves are against -us, and I--yes, I have been frightened into belief at last. A shameful -confession is it not?” - -“Not shameful but only reasonable,” he replied. “All I regret is that -you did not believe sooner, and save this last slaughter of these -gallant people.” - -“What is done, is done!” she said with a half-regretful glance at the -mountains of Aeria, which were now rapidly fading away into the blue -distance; “it is only a question of sooner instead of later. Indeed, it -seems hardly worth while even for us to attempt to live when, even if -we survive, only the ruins of the world can be ours. And yet”-- - -“Yet sweeter would be life with you even in a wilderness of death than -destruction that might be eternal parting,” replied Khalid in low tones -that thrilled with passion. “Nay, what dearer destiny could man desire -than to be the Adam of a new world of which you were the Eve?” - -The words of her husband--for Khalid was her husband now as well as her -slave--brought a sudden flush to Olga’s face, and this was succeeded by -an almost deathly pallor. She put up her hand to the broadened circlet -of gold which concealed the terrible scar of the wound made by Alan’s -bullet, and said almost in a whisper-- - -“You and I--yes, you and I may live. We _will_! But if we do we must -save ourselves alone.” - -And with that she left him abruptly and went to her own room with the -plan of her last crime already shaped in her mind. - -She was the only woman on board the _Revenge_. Her maid Anna had been -left behind at Alexandria, a maniac driven mad by the universal terror. -What of Boris and the twenty-five men who formed the air-ship’s crew? -If they were permitted to survive to the time when there would be no -law but might, she would be the one woman in the world--one woman, -beautiful and almost defenceless, among those who, though now her -servants, would then be ready to slay each other in the dispute as to -which of them should be her master. - -Such a thought in such a mind as hers could have but one outcome. When -the hour for the midday meal arrived, she bade Boris invite the whole -crew into the main saloon, saying that, as this might be the last meal -that any of them would eat, they would take it together. Then, as -though moved by some sudden gracious fancy, she filled for every man -with her own hands a glass of the best and oldest wine that had been -reserved for her own use. - -Khalid, rigid Moslem as he was, refused it, and she only touched it -with her lips, but the others drained their glasses and drank death at -her hands, even as the Aerians had drunk it in the same fashion and at -the same table seven years before. - -But this time it was fated that her sin should find her out more -quickly. Later on in the afternoon Boris, to his amazement and alarm, -found every man of his crew succumbing to an irresistible drowsiness, -and soon this began to affect himself. A terrible thought at once -flashed into his ever-suspicious mind. Fighting against the stupor that -was stealing over his senses, he took a deep draught of strong spirit. - -This conquered the poison for a time and cleared his intellect -sufficiently for him to see what his pitiless mistress had done, and -then there rose up in his mind a desperate longing for vengeance on -the murderess who had used him and his companions as long as they were -useful and then poisoned them like so many rats. - -He took out his pistol and examined it to see if it was charged, and -then, with the poison and the spirit fighting in his brain for mastery, -he made his way from the engine-room to the quarter-deck, where Olga -and Khalid were standing, watching with strained, fascinated eyes and -faces that looked livid and corpse-like in the unnatural light of the -Fire-Cloud, the long tongues of many-coloured flame that were shooting -like so many gigantic serpents down from the zenith, as though they -would lick the life-blood out of the world that now lay panting for -breath and paralysed with fear beneath them. - -Just as he reached the top of the companion-way a mist swam before -Boris’s eyes, his brain reeled, and he stumbled forward on to the deck, -discharging his pistol aimlessly as he did so. The bullet struck and -broke to fragments against the bulwarks. Khalid and Olga turned round -to see him lying on his side with savagely-gleaming eyes, livid face, -and foam-flecked lips, trying to raise himself on one hand and take aim -at them with the other. - -As Khalid sprang forward Olga’s ever-ready pistol came out of her belt. -She cried to Khalid to get out of the line of fire, but just as she -spoke Boris made his last effort, and, taking what aim he could, pulled -the trigger. Khalid stopped short and clasped his hand to his right -side. Then Olga, with a low cry of fury breaking from her white lips -through her clenched teeth, sent a bullet through Boris’s brain just as -he was struggling to bring his pistol up again. - -“Are you hurt, Khalid?” she asked with a deadly fear at her heart as -she crossed the deck to where he was standing with his hand still -pressed to his side. - -“Yes,” he gasped. “He has shot me through the lung.” - -Then he coughed, and Olga saw drops of blood on his black beard and -moustache. Without wasting any time in useless words she helped him -down into the saloon and set herself at once to examine and dress his -wound. The bullet had entered between the fourth and fifth ribs on the -right side, drilled a clean hole through the lower lobe of the right -lung, and passed out at the back without touching any bone. - -With perfect rest and quiet there was nothing to prevent recovery from -such a wound, but Olga shuddered as she thought of its consequences in -their present situation. If Khalid succumbed, as he well might do under -the unknown terrors and dangers of the night that was now so near, she -would have to choose between killing herself beside him, or, if the -rock-chambers of Mount Terror proved a safe asylum, living mateless and -alone until she starved to death on the wilderness that the world would -be when it had passed through its baptism of fire. - -She satisfied Khalid’s whispered request for an explanation of Boris’s -attempt on their lives by saying that he had probably made himself -drunk in an attempt to fortify himself against the terrors that were -multiplying around him. Then she went through the ship and in a few -minutes came back and said-- - -“I shall have to take the ship to Mount Terror myself. It was not only -Boris, for every man of the crew is dead drunk. Think of them making -such brutes of themselves at such a time! - -“No,” she continued, putting her hand on his shoulder as she saw him -make an attempt to rise. “You must not move yet; you will want all your -strength when we get there, for you will have to regulate the engines -while I am in the conning-tower. As for these animals, we will leave -them to their fate.” - -A couple of hours later she went on deck to see whether Mount Terror, -or at anyrate the smoke-crest of Mount Erebus, was in sight, for the -_Revenge_ had now been flying almost long enough to have reached the -confines of Antarctica. The speed was, however, so great that nothing -was distinctly visible. There was only the flaming heaven above and a -grey blur beneath, so she went to the engine-room and slowed down to a -hundred miles an hour. - -Then she helped Khalid to the engineer’s seat in front of the -controlling levers and took her place in the conning-tower. She had -scarcely been at her post half an hour before she saw the huge white -cones of the twin mountains of Antarctica shining against the dull -grey sky beyond, one of them crowned as she had last seen it by a long -stream of smoke that rose almost vertically in the windless air. - -She signalled to Khalid to reduce the speed, first to fifty and then -to thirty miles an hour, allowing the _Revenge_ at the same time to -sink gently down towards the ice-covered continent. She crossed the -well-remembered bay in which the _Narwhal_ had performed her terrible -exploit, swept over the ice-wall at an elevation of a hundred feet, -swung the ship round and stopped her in front of the great cleft in the -side of Mount Terror. - -No human foot seemed to have trodden the Antarctic solitude from the -day she left it to crown herself Tsarina of the Russias to this one on -which she brought her flagship back with its crew of murdered men to -seek her last chance of life amidst the general doom which she could -now almost bring herself to believe she had directly brought upon the -world. - -She ran the _Revenge_ slowly into the vast portal that yawned black -and deep before her between the snow slopes of the mountain, and then, -turning on the search-light, took her along the great gallery which -led to the shore of the subterranean lake, and there lowered her for -the last time to the earth. Then she and Khalid disembarked, he moving -slowly and painfully, and she supporting him as well as she was able, -and watching him with the intense anxiety of a supreme selfishness -which had now centred itself upon him as the one possibility of making -her life endurable. - -Thus did Tsarina Olga and Khalid the Magnificent, conquerors of the -earth and sharers of the world-throne, come back, one wounded almost to -death, and the other half distraught with fear and perplexity, to take -refuge at the uttermost ends of the earth from the assault of the foe -that had confounded all their schemes of conquest. - -Leaving the _Revenge_ in the great gallery, she led him to the council -chamber and laid him on the cushions of the luxurious divan on which -she had been wont to hold her audiences. There she examined and -redressed his wound, and then for the next three hours she busied -herself bringing supplies of food and drink from the ship and preparing -for the final siege which their last stronghold would so soon have to -endure. - -Then the fancy took her to go once more into the air to take one more -look at the world and the splendours of the fate that was menacing -it. Nineteen hours had passed since she gave the order to head the -_Revenge_ for Mount Terror. Sixteen of these had been consumed in the -most rapid flight that the air-ship had ever accomplished. So fast had -the _Revenge_ flown westward and southward that the sun had almost -seemed to stand still waiting for her journey to be accomplished, but -still it had slowly sunk farther and farther down into the luminous -mist that now seemed to fill the whole sky. - -The difference between the longitude of Aeria and Mount Terror had -lengthened the last fateful day by nearly five hours, but now the end -was very near at hand, and here even, on the very confines of the -world, life had little more than four hours to live. To the north the -whole sky was flaming out into indescribable splendours, and the long -fire-streams radiating from the nucleus now seemed to be literally -holding the planet in their clasp. Enormous meteors were bursting out -from the heart of the flaming cloud and exploding without a sound in -the ever-silent abysses of space. - -She stood rooted to the spot by the weird and awful glories of the -spectacle, and for the time being seemed to forget even Khalid and the -indescribable dangers that were threatening them both. Instead of being -daunted, her spirit rose as though in response to the splendours before -her. She felt that she was standing upon Nature’s funeral pyre watching -the conflagration of the world she had ruined. Saving only Khalid there -was not another human being within thousands of miles of her, and in -her loneliness her soul seemed to expand and rise to a nobility that it -had never known before. - -She saw the utter insignificance and contemptibility of the human -strife which had been superseded and silenced by this majestic assault -of the primal forces of Nature, and for the first time in her life she -thought of herself and her sins with a disgust and shame that humbled -her in her own eyes to the dust. - -So she stood and watched, oblivious of everything but the celestial -glories above and around her, until a rapid series of frightful -explosions seemed to run roaring round the whole horizon. She looked -up with shaded eyes towards the zenith. The central mass had suddenly -become convulsed and expanded until it looked as though the whole sky -had been transformed into an ocean of fire torn by incessant storms. - -Huge masses of many-coloured flame were falling from it in all -directions on the devoted earth, and as each of these entered the -atmosphere it burst into myriads of fragments which fell in swarms -until the blazing sky was literally raining fire over sea and land. - -[Illustration: THE BLAZING SKY WAS LITERALLY RAINING FIRE OVER SEA AND -LAND. _Page 367._] - -The Fire-Cloud had at last invaded the outer confines of the earth’s -atmosphere. - -All this while there had been no change in the Antarctic cold of the -air, but soon after the first storm of explosions roared out Olga felt -a puff of warm tainted air blow across her face. Then came another and -another, and then she heard what had never been heard before on the -slopes of Mount Terror--the sound of running water. The snows were -melting, and soon there would come avalanche and deluge. - -She hurried back into the council chamber, convinced that it was no -longer safe to remain in the open air. She made the great bronze doors -fast and covered them with layer after layer of thick heavy curtains. -Every other opening into the chamber she closed up as tightly as -possible. In the nature of the case they were compelled to trust to the -supply of air already in it to last them through the ordeal. - -Then she went and sat down on the divan by Khalid’s side, and, taking -his hand in hers, bent over him and kissed him on the lips, saying-- - -“Now we must wait for life or death together!” - -And so they waited--waited while the ages-old snow and ice melted from -the bare black rocks under the fierce breath of the fire-storm; while -the ocean of flame seethed and roared and eddied about them, licking up -the seas and melted snows and fighting with them as fire and water have -fought since the world began; while the foundations of the Southern -Pole quivered and rocked beneath their feet, and the walls of their -refuge quaked and cracked with the throes of the writhing earth, and -cosmos was dissolved into chaos once more. - - - - -EPILOGUE. “VENGEANCE IS MINE.” - - -“THE temperature has been normal now for three hours. Don’t you think -we may venture to raise the sluice-gate?” - -“I see nothing against it. If the world is not habitable again now it -never will be. It is a good two days since the contact now, and if the -atmosphere had been burnt up or carried away by the attraction of the -comet it would either be much colder or much hotter than that.” - -“Very well then, up it comes, and then we shall get our last question -answered.” - -It was Alan who thus questioned and answered his father. All had gone -well with the refugees of Mount Austral and the remnant of the Aerian -race. Their science and their faith in themselves had been triumphantly -justified by the event and had carried them safely through the sternest -ordeal that man had ever been called upon to face. - -And now there was only one more chance to be met, one more problem to -be solved. The temperature showed that the earth still possessed an -atmosphere, but was that atmosphere capable of supporting human life? -If yes, all would be well and they could go forth into the wasted world -and possess and replenish it. If no, then all their labour would have -been in vain and they might as well have died in battle or with those -friends and kin who had taken their silent and dignified farewell of -the world in the last days of the State of Aeria. - -They had a calorimeter and a pressure-gauge communicating with the -outer world to tell the temperature and the height of the water in the -valley. The former, after rising for a few hours to over a thousand -degrees, had now sunk back to normal, while the latter stood at thirty -feet above the entrance doors to the cavern. - -The machinery for raising the sluice-gate was put into motion and -they watched it with almost breathless anxiety lest the straining or -shifting of the rocks, which had been very perceptible during the -terrific convulsions which had apparently lasted for nearly ten hours, -should have so dislocated the grooves that the gate could not be raised. - -There were a few preliminary creaks and groans, a hitch and an -increased strain on the lifting chains, and then the great sheet of -steel rose easily and smoothly to the top of the channel and the -pent-up waters rushed forth in a black boiling flood through the narrow -opening and roared away, foaming and tossing along the bottom of the -crevasse, once more on their way to their unknown destination. - -Very soon after this it was discovered that the waters were subsiding -much more rapidly than could be accounted for by the volume that -escaped through the subterranean channel. It was therefore necessary -to conclude that there must have been some convulsion in another part -of the mountains which had opened a fresh channel from the lake to the -outer world. - -The next step was to raise the two inner of the three doors which -guarded the entrance to the caverns. The raising of the first one -showed the ice still intact between it and the second, and this had to -be broken up and removed before the second could be reached. Then the -middle door was raised an inch or so and the water spurted out from -beneath it. - -Was this the water of the melted ice or was it that which filled the -valley? Had their outer door stood firm or had it cracked or shrivelled -up under the heat of the furnace through which the earth had passed? It -flowed for ten minutes and then slackened and stopped. The outer door -had held fast. Then, in case of accidents, the middle one was lowered -again and they waited until the waters should have sufficiently -subsided to enable them to challenge the last hazard on which their -fate depended. - -The sluice-gate had been raised at what would be four o’clock on the -morning of the 26th of September, if the cataclysm through which the -earth had passed had not so far affected the terrestrial economy -as to alter the relations of day and night. Twelve hours later the -pressure-gauge ceased to act, showing that the rapidly-sinking waters -of the lake had reached the threshold of the outer door. The time had -now come to ask the question on the answer to which the lives of the -remnant of humanity depended--was the atmosphere breathable or not? - -That was the one question which occupied, to the momentary exclusion of -all others, the mind of every Aerian who was in the caverns. The middle -gate was lifted, and every heart stood still as Alan and Alexis strode -forward into the dark passage and grasped the levers which actuated the -lifting mechanism of the outer one. - -They took one glance back at the anxious faces which showed so white in -the gleam of the electric lamps, and then they pulled. The machinery -creaked and groaned as the power was applied. Then came a rending sound -and a dull crash. The door lifted a little, quivered and dropped again, -and remained immovable. - -“The machinery has broken down!” said Alan, going back into the -gallery. “There must have been a land-slip over the doorway.” - -“What will you do then?” said Alma. “Surely we have not escaped the -conflagration of the world to be buried alive after all!” - -“No,” he said, looking down at her with a reassuring smile. “It can -hardly be as bad as that. Unless a whole mountain has fallen in front -of the door, we shall soon find a way out.” - -The first thing to be done was to get rid of the door, and this Alan -accomplished in summary fashion by undermining it with drills, and -then, after he had sent everyone into the inner recesses of the -caverns, tearing it to fragments with a small quantity of the explosive -used in the shells. - -A mass of earth and stones came rolling into the gallery immediately -after the explosion, then an excavating machine was run up on -hastily-laid rails and was soon boring its way into the obstructing -mass. A distance of ten yards was tunnelled and then there was a rattle -and whir in front of the machine, which told that the work was done. -There was a cloud of dust from pulverised stones and earth and then -came a rush of fresh warm air and a gleam of sunlight through the -opening. - -“Thank God the atmosphere is still there and the sun is still shining!” -cried Alan, as he drew the machine back and ran out into the open air. - -He looked about him for a few moments and then turned and walked back -to his companions, who were already crowding towards the opening with -faces glad with new hope and drawing deep breaths of the life-giving -air, which the mysterious alchemy of Nature had restored unchanged to -the earth. He stopped them with a gesture and said-- - -“Don’t go out yet till we have made the tunnel safe. You will find an -awful change out yonder. Aeria is no longer a paradise. It is only a -swamp surrounded by naked rocks!” - -And so they found it to be when they at length passed out through the -tunnel and stood upon the black oozy shores of the dreary lake which -still half filled what had once been the lovely land of Aeria. - -The once verdure-clad mountains rose up bare and gaunt and blackened, -a vast circle of ragged rock, unrelieved by a blade of grass or a -single tree of all the myriads that had clothed their slopes three days -before. It seemed as though the clock of Time had been put back through -countless ages and the world was once more as it had been before the -first forms of life appeared upon it. - -But still the air that fanned their cheeks was fresh and warm and -sweet, and the afternoon sun was shining across the western peaks out -of a cloudless sky of purest blue. The calm had come after the storm -and the world was waiting to begin its life anew. The _Alma_ and the -_Isma_ had utterly vanished, and were probably buried deep in the black -slimy mud. Of the city of Aeria not a vestige was visible. - -The first thing that Alan did as soon as the last momentous question -had thus been asked and answered was to ask his father to order one of -the smaller air-ships, which had been stored in sections in the cavern, -to be put together and charged with motive-power as rapidly as possible. - -“Certainly if you wish it,” he replied; “but what is your reason for -being in such a hurry to reassert your empire of the air?” - -“I can tell you now,” said Alan in reply, “what there would have been -no need to tell you if, well, if we had not been able to leave the -caverns. Just after sunrise on the last day of the battle Bruno Vincent -brought the _Orion_ as near as he could to the _Alma_ and told me by -signal that he had seen the _Revenge_ leave the fight and head away at -full speed to the southward and westward. That means, I think, that -Olga’s courage failed her at the last and that she meant to try the -forlorn hope of saving herself in her old stronghold at Mount Terror. I -am going to see whether she is alive or dead.” - -“And suppose by a miracle you should find her alive. What then?” said -Alma, who had overheard his request, coming up to him and looking up -into his face with melting eyes as she slipped her hand caressingly -through his arm. - -“The world is beginning its life anew in us, dear,” he replied with -tenderness in his eyes but none in his voice, “and there shall be no -snake in our Eden if I”-- - -“If you have to be the Cain of the new world to prevent it!” -interrupted Alma, reading his dark meaning at a glance, and -interpreting it with a directness and force that startled him. “No, -Alan, that must not be! If she has escaped the vengeance of God you may -well forego yours. I can hardly think that she is still alive, but it -is right that we should go and see”-- - -“We!” echoed Alan before she could finish. “Do you mean that you will -come with me? No, Alma, you must not do that. Remember that if she has -by any chance escaped, the crew of the _Revenge_ may be alive too, and -then we may have to fight”-- - -“No, no, Alan, not that! not that!” she cried with a gesture of horror. -“The world has done with fighting, for there is nothing left to fight -about. We will go as friends with open hands to them, and the new life -of the world shall be begun with the forgiveness of our enemies. Who -are we that we should judge after the Voice of God has spoken?” - -In the end she had her way, and so it came to pass that soon after -sunrise on the following day an air-ship, which a hundred skilled and -willing hands had toiled all night in fitting together and equipping -for her voyage, rose into the air above the ghastly wilderness that had -once been Aeria, and winged her way towards the southern pole. - -Twenty hours later she sank down on to the ice that had already -re-covered the rocks in front of the fissure in the side of Mount -Terror, and as she did so a figure came forth out in the darkness into -the half light of the polar morning. - -“Look! There she is!” said Alma in an awe-stricken whisper to Alan. -“Alone in this awful place! Come, let us go to her.” - -As she spoke the gangway steps were lowered and she descended them -first, followed by Alan, his father, Alexis, and Isma. Some strange -influence held the others back as she advanced with outstretched hands -and words of kindly greeting on her lips towards the piteous wreck of -womanhood that slowly emerged from the gloom of the chasm. - -Olga Romanoff had survived the doom of the world, but the hand of a -just vengeance had fallen heavily upon her. Her once splendid form was -shrunken as though three score years had passed over her in as many -hours. Her left side was half paralysed and her shaking limbs hung -loosely as she tottered along. - -[Illustration: OLGA ROMANOFF HAD SURVIVED THE DOOM OF THE WORLD. _Page -374._] - -Her golden fillet and jewelled wings had been cast away, leaving bare -the great livid scar that crossed her forehead; her white, drawn face -was seamed with deep lines marked by agony and terror, and the thick -masses of the once glorious hair that hung about her head and shoulders -were streaked with grey and clotted with blood. - -The fire had died out of her eyes and the red from her shrivelled -lips, and the weak broken voice in which she answered Alma’s greeting -quavered like that of an old woman in her dotage. - -“I have been expecting you,” she said as Alma took her trembling hands -in hers. “I thought you would come. You have come for Alan, haven’t -you? He is yonder, but he is dead. I kept him alive as long as I could -but he was wounded, and when the world was changed to hell for my sins -the fire choked him. - -“I tried to die too, but it wouldn’t kill me. There was air enough for -me and I wanted to give it to him to breathe but he wouldn’t take it. -I suppose you have been dead and are an angel now like those others -behind you. Come, I will take you to him. It is dark but I know the -way.” - -The moment she began to speak Alma saw the awful calamity that had -befallen her. The haughty daring spirit that had essayed and almost -achieved the conquest of the world was dissolved in the bitter waters -of the Marah of Madness. The soul that had quailed before no human fear -had collapsed into imbecility under the superhuman terrors which she -alone had witnessed and survived. Without a word she suffered her to -lead her into the gloom, beckoning to the others to follow. They turned -on the electric lamps they had brought with them and entered the chasm. - -They reached the black ash-strewn floor of the gloomy subterranean -lake in the heart of the mountain, and Alan, pausing for a moment, -flashed the light of his lamp round the vast chamber that had once been -so terribly familiar to him. The walls were burnt and blackened, and -here and there masses of rock and boulders had been calcined to dust -as though the long pent-up lava that had once flowed in fiery torrents -over them had again been let loose. - -Then the light fell upon something that was not rock and which gave -back a dull metallic sheen. He took a few strides towards it and soon -recognised it as all that was left of the once shapely and beautiful -_Ithuriel_, the old flagship of the Aerian fleet with which he had lost -the mastery of his own manhood and his people the empire of the air. - -The crystal dome of the roof was gone and lay in patches of congealed -glass about the blackened and shrivelled-up deck. The wings were burnt -away and the transverse ribs of azurine stood out bare and twisted like -the bones of a skeleton, and in the fore part of the hull a great gap -showed where her magazine had taken fire and burnt with such terrific -heat that it had melted even the azurine plates of which she was built. - -“The poor old _Ithuriel_ has flown her last flight!” he said to himself -with a sigh as he turned away and followed the others, thinking sadly -of all that had come to pass since he had last trodden her deck. - -Olga, holding Alma by the hand, led the way from the lower gallery to -the council chamber. As she pulled the curtain aside from the doorway a -puff of foul air that seemed to bear a faint smell of blood was wafted -in their faces. Alan called Alma back, fearing that she would faint in -the sickening atmosphere, and at the sound of his voice Olga stopped -short and looked back with a reawakened gleam in her eyes. - -“Who is that?” she cried, pressing her hand to her brow. “Why, it is -Alan! But no, Alan is here--here. He has been with me all the time -since Khalid shot him. My God, can he have come to life again?” - -Her voice rose to a shrill wavering scream as she said this. She -dropped Alma’s hand and ran with faltering, stumbling steps towards a -divan on which lay the form of a man whose black beard and moustache -were thickly clotted with blood. She stopped and bent over it for a -moment, then she raised herself and faced them with her hands locked in -her hair and the light of frenzied insanity blazing in her eyes. - -“No! No!” she cried in a voice, half a scream and half a wail, that -rang weirdly through the great chamber. “He is dead still and that is -only his ghost. Oh, Alan, my love, Alan! Why could I not die with you? -Curse the hand that wounded you. Curse”-- - -In the one syllable her voice died away from a scream to a whisper, and -at the same instant the paralysis, which had already smitten her once, -laid its swift icy hand on her heart and brain. She swayed to and fro -for a moment and then fell forward across the corpse of the man whose -love for her had plunged the world into madness on the eve of its doom. - -“What an awful end!” gasped Alma, shuddering in the close embrace she -had sought in Alan’s arms. “And yet, Alan, she loved you to the end -through all. That love for you was the one true thing in her life, and -for its sake I will say God forgive her! Come, let us go!” - -THE END. - -MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. - - * * * * * - -Now ready, Eighth Edition, price 6s. post free, - -_With numerous Illustrations by Fred. T. Jane and Edwin S. Hope_, - -THE ANGEL OF THE REVOLUTION. - -A TALE OF THE COMING TERROR. - -BY GEORGE GRIFFITH. - -In this Romance of Love, War, and Revolution, the action takes place -ten years hence, and turns upon the solution of the problem of aerial -navigation, which enables a vast Secret Society to decide the issue of -the coming world-war, for which the great nations of the earth are now -preparing. Battles such as have hitherto only been vaguely dreamed of -are fought on land and sea and in the air. Aerial navies engage armies -and fleets and fortresses, and fight with each other in an unsparing -warfare, which has for its prize the empire of the world. Unlike -all other essays in prophetic fiction, it deals with the events of -to-morrow, and with characters familiar in the eyes of living men. 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Most of -the influential daily papers have also eulogised it strongly, amongst -them the _Times_, _Standard_, _World_, _Sketch_, _Nottingham Daily -Guardian_, _Scotsman_, _Glasgow Herald_, _Yorkshire Post_, _Aberdeen -Free Press_, _Bradford Argus_, _Manchester Courier_, _Western Morning -News_, _Bristol Mercury_, and the _Liverpool Courier_. _The Newcastle -Daily Chronicle_ devoted a column to a review of a most commendatory -character. _The Daily Graphic_ says it is “=the most comprehensive -and thrilling of anything yet attempted=.” Three of the most powerful -papers on the Continent, the Paris _Figaro_, the Milan _Secolo_, and -the Rome _Opinione_, have devoted leading articles to the problems put -forward by the Author, all three journals declaring that =the work -is unique=, while _The Sheffield Daily Telegraph_ says it is “=the -sensation= as well as =the success= of the book season.” That it is -phenomenally successful is proved by the fact that =Five Editions were -sold within four weeks=. - - * * * * * - -Now ready, Fourth Edition, price 6s. post free, - -_Demy 8vo, handsomely bound in cloth gilt_, - -THE CAPTAIN OF THE MARY ROSE. - -_A TALE OF TO-MORROW._ - -BY W. LAIRD CLOWES, - -U.S. NAVAL INSTITUTE. - -With 60 Illustrations by the Chevalier de Martino and Fred. T. Jane. - -This work has been truly described by the public press as an intensely -realistic and stirring romance of the near future. It describes the -wonderful adventures of an armour-clad cruiser, built on the Tyne, -which takes part in a great Naval War that suddenly breaks out between -France and Great Britain. The dashing way in which the vessel is -handled, her narrow escapes, the boldness of her successful attacks -upon the enemy, and the heroic conduct of her commander and crew, form -altogether a narrative of most absorbing interest, and full of exciting -scenes and situations. - -THE FOLLOWING ARE A FEW PRESS OPINIONS. - -“Deserves something more than a mere passing notice.”--_The Times._ - -“Full of exciting situations.... Has manifold attractions for all sorts -of readers.”--_Army and Navy Gazette._ - -“The most notable book of the season.”--_The Standard._ - -“A clever book. Mr. Clowes is pre-eminent for literary touch and -practical knowledge of naval affairs.”--_Daily Chronicle._ - -“Mr. W. Laird Clowes’ exciting story.”--_Daily Telegraph._ - -“We read ‘The Captain of the Mary Rose’ at a sitting.”--_The Pall Mall -Gazette._ - -“Written with no little spirit and imagination.... A stirring romance -of the future.”--_Manchester Guardian._ - -“Is of a realistic and exciting character.... Designed to show what the -naval warfare of the future may be.”--_Glasgow Herald._ - -“One of the most interesting volumes of the year.”--_Liverpool Journal -of Commerce._ - -“It is well told and magnificently illustrated.”--_United Service -Magazine._ - -“Full of absorbing interest.”--_Engineers’ Gazette._ - -“Is intensely realistic, so much so that after commencing the story -every one will be anxious to read to the end.”--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -“The book is splendidly illustrated.”--_Northern Whig._ - -TOWER PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED, - -95 MINORIES, LONDON, E. - - - - - * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - -Footnotes have been moved to the end of each chapter and relabeled -consecutively through the document. - -Illustrations have been moved to paragraph breaks near where they are -mentioned. - -Punctuation has been made consistent. - -Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in -the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have -been corrected. - -The following changes were made: - -p. 40: himself changed to herself (correct herself, she) - -p. 46: of changed to so (and so the) - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLGA ROMANOFF*** - - -******* This file should be named 54096-0.txt or 54096-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/4/0/9/54096 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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