e same
man who had once approached Eradicate. He also recognized him as the
man he had seen in the woods the day of the outing.

"He's one of the foreign spies," thought Tom "and he's got us and the
ship, too. They were too many for us!"

Tom's anxiety to speak, to hold some converse with the captor, was so
obvious that the Frenchman said:

"I am going to treat you as well as I can under the circumstances. You
and your other friends, who are also made prisoners, will be allowed to
be together, and then you can talk to your hearts' content."

The other man, who had remained with the evident ringleader of the
stowaways, asked a question, in French, and he used the name La Foy.

"Ah!" thought Tom. "This is the leader of the gang that attacked Koku
in the shop that night. They have been waiting their chance, and now
they have made good. But where did they come from? Could they have
boarded us from some other airship?"

Yet, as Tom asked himself that question, he knew it could hardly have
been possible. The men must have been in hiding on his own craft, they
must have been, as Koku had cried out--stowaways--and have come out at
a preconcerted signal to overpower the aviators.

"If you will but have patience a little longer," went on La Foy, for
that was evidently the name of the leader, "you will all be together.
We are just considering where best to put you so that you will not
suffer too much. It is quite a problem to deal with so many prisoners,
but we have no choice."

The two Frenchmen conversed rapidly in their own language for a few
minutes, and then there came into the cabin another of the men who had
helped overpower Tom and his friends. What he told La Foy seemed to
give that individual satisfaction, for he smiled.

"We are going to put you all together in the largest storeroom, which
is partly empty," La Foy said. "There you will be given food and drink,
and treated as well as possible under the circumstances. You will also
be unbound, and may converse among yourselves. I need hardly point
out," he went on, "that calling for help will be useless. We are a mile
or so in the air, and have no intention of descending," and he smiled
mockingly.

"They must know how to navigate my aerial warship," thought Tom. "I
wonder what their game is, anyhow?"

Night had fallen, but the cabin was aglow with electric lights. The
foreigners in charge of the Mars seemed to know their way about
perfectly, and how to mana