out unless he wipes it out with his big gun, and these will be the
other gentlemen, I presume, whom His Majesty has wired about."

"Yes," replied Lennard, after he had shaken hands. "This is Mr Parmenter
whose telescope enabled me to find the comet, and this is Mr--or I ought
now to say Admiral--Hingeston, who had the honour of receiving that rank
from His Majesty half an hour ago."

"What!" exclaimed the Duke. "Half an hour! Are you quite serious,
gentlemen? The telegram's only just got here."

"Well, your Royal Highness," said Mr Parmenter, "that may be because we
didn't come full speed, but if you would get on board that flagship,
sir, we'd take you to Buckingham Palace and back in half an hour, or, if
you would like a trip to Aldershot to interview the German Emperor, and
then one to Greenwich, we'll engage to have you back here safe by dinner
time."

"Nothing would delight me more," replied the Duke, smiling, "but at
present my work is here and I cannot leave it. Lord Kitchener, how would
you like that sort of trip?"

"If you will give me leave till dinner-time, sir," laughed K. of K.,
"there's nothing I should like better."

"Oh, that goes without saying, of course," replied the Duke, "and now,
gentlemen, I understand from the King's telegram that there are one or
two matters you want to talk over with us. Will you come inside?"

"If your Royal Highness will excuse me," said Admiral Hingeston, "I
think I'd better remain on board. You see, we may have been sighted, and
if there are any of those _Flying Fishes_ about you naturally wouldn't
want this place blown to ruins; so, while you are having your talk, I
reckon I'll get up a few hundred feet, and be back, say, in half an
hour."

"Very well," said the Duke. "That's very kind of you. Your ship
certainly looks a fairly capable protector. By the way, what is the
range of those guns of yours? I must say they have a very business-like
look about them."

"Six thousand yards point blank, your Royal Highness," replied the
Admiral, "and, according to elevation, anything up to fifteen miles;
suppose, for instance, that we were shooting at a town. In fact, if we
were not under orders from His Majesty to fly the flag of truce I would
guarantee to have all the Allied positions wrecked by to-morrow morning
with this one ship. As you will see from the papers which Mr Parmenter
and Mr Lennard have brought, nineteen other airships are coming south
to-night and, unless