first object, I confess. I also wished to know
whether this is the same air-ship which crossed the Mediterranean
yesterday, and if not, how many of these vessels there are in
existence, and what you mean to do with them?"

"Before I answer, may I ask how you know that an air-ship crossed the
Mediterranean yesterday?" asked Arnold, thoroughly mystified by this
astounding piece of news.

"We had it by telegraph at Queenstown during the night. She was going
northward, when observed, by Larnaka"--

"Oh yes, that was one of our despatch boats," replied Arnold, forcing
himself to speak with a calmness that he by no means felt. "I'm
afraid my orders will hardly allow me to answer your other questions
very fully, but I may tell you that we have a fleet of air-ships at
our command, all constructed in England under the noses of your
intelligent authorities, and that we mean to use them as it seems
best to us, should we at any time consider it worth our while to
interfere in the game that the European Powers are playing with each
other. Meanwhile we keep a position of armed neutrality. When we
think the war has gone far enough we shall probably stop it when a
good opportunity offers."

This was too much for a British sailor to listen to quietly on his
own quarter-deck, whoever said it, and so the captain of the
_Andromeda_ forgot his prudence for the moment, and said somewhat
hotly--

"Confound it, sir! you talk as if you were omnipotent and arbiters of
peace and war. Don't go too far with your insolence, or I shall haul
that flag of truce down and give you five minutes to get out of range
of my guns or take your chance"--

For all answer there came a contemptuous laugh from the deck of the
_Ithuriel_, the rapid ringing of an electric bell, and the
disappearance of her company under cover. Then with one mighty leap
she rose two thousand feet into the air, and before the astounded and
disgusted captain of H.M. cruiser _Andromeda_ very well knew what had
become of her, she was a mere speck of light in the sky, speeding
away at two hundred miles an hour to the westward.

As soon as she was fairly on her course, Arnold gave up the wheel to
one of the crew, and went into the saloon to discuss with Tremayne
and Natas the all-important scrap of news that had fallen from the
lips of the captain of the British cruiser. What was the other
air-ship that had been seen crossing the Mediterranean?

Surely it must be one of the Terro