cil inspected the aerial
warship lying on the great lawn in the gardens, and with his own hands
King Edward ran the White Ensign to the top of the flagstaff aft; at the
same moment the Prince of Wales ran the Admiral's pennant up to the
masthead. Everyone saluted the flag, and the King said:

"There, gentlemen, the _Auriole_ is a duly commissioned warship of the
British Navy, and you have our authority to do all lawful acts of war
against our enemies. Good-morning! I shall hope to hear from you soon."

"I'm sorry, your Majesty," said Mr Parmenter, "that we can't fire the
usual salute. These guns of ours are made for business, and we don't
have any blank charges."

"I perfectly understand you, Mr Parmenter," replied His Majesty with a
laugh. "We shall have to dispense with the ceremony. Still, those are
just the sort of guns we want at present. Good-morning, again."

His Majesty went down the gangway and Admiral Hingeston, with Mr
Parmenter and Lennard, entered the conning-tower. The lifting-fans began
to whirr, and as the _Auriole_ rose from the grass the White Ensign
dipped three times in salute to the Royal Standard floating from the
flagstaff on the palace roof. Then, as the driving propellers whirled
round till they became two intersecting circles of light, the _Auriole_
swept up over the tree-tops and vanished through the clouds. And so
began the first voyage of the first British aerial battleship.

The Duke of Connaught had his headquarters at Amersham Hall School on
the Caversham side of the Thames, which was, of course, closed in
consequence of the war, and half an hour after the _Auriole_ had left
the grounds of Buckingham Palace she was settling to the ground in the
great quadrangle of the school. The Duke, with Lord Kitchener and two or
three other officers of the Staff, were waiting at the upper end where
the headmaster's quarters were. As the ship grounded, the gangway ladder
dropped and Mr Parmenter said to Lennard:

"That's Lord Kitchener, I see. Now, you know him and I don't, so you'd
better go and do the talking. We'll come after and get introduced."

"Ah, Mr Lennard," said Lord Kitchener, holding out his hand. "You're
quite a man of surprises. The last time I went with you to see the
Kaiser in a motor-car, and now you come to visit His Royal Highness in
an airship. Your Royal Highness," he continued, turning to the Duke,
"this is Mr Lennard, the finder of this comet which is going to wipe us
all