the
_Ithuriel_, and about a mile astern of the Russian fleet, the vessels
of which were blazing away into the air with their machine guns, in
the hope of "bringing him down on the wing," as he afterwards put it.
He could hear the bullets singing along underneath him; but the
_Ariel_ was rising so fast, and going at such a speed through the
air, that the moment the Russians got the range they lost it again,
and so merely wasted their ammunition.

Neither the _Ithuriel_ nor the _Orion_ seemed to have taken any part
in the battle so far, or to have done anything to avenge the attack
made upon the _Ariel_. Mazanoff wondered not a little at this, as
both Arnold and Tremayne must have seen the fate of the Russian
flagship. As soon as he got within speaking distance of the
_Ithuriel_, he sang out to Arnold, who was on the deck--

"I got in rather a tight place down there. That scoundrel fired upon
us with the flag of truce flying, and when I gave him a couple of
shells in return I thought the end of the world was come."

"You fired at too close range, my friend. Those shells are sudden
death to anything within a hundred yards of them. Are you all well on
board? You've been knocked about a bit, I see."

"No; poor Volnow's dead. He was killed standing close beside me, and
I wasn't touched, though the explosion of the shell knocked the
senses out of me completely. However, the machinery's all right, and
I don't think the hull is hurt to speak of. But what are you doing? I
should have thought you'd have blown half the fleet out of the water
by this time."

"No. We saw that you had amply avenged yourself, and the Master's
orders were not to do anything till you returned. You'd better come
on board and consult with him."

Mazanoff did so, and when he had told his story to Natas, the latter
mystified him not a little by replying--

"I am glad that none of you are injured, though, of course, I'm sorry
that I sent Volnow to his death; but that is the fortune of war. If
one of us fell into his master's hands his fate would be worse than
that. You avenged the outrage promptly and effectively.

"I have decided not to injure the Russian fleet more than I can help.
It has work to do which must not be interfered with. My only object
is to recover the _Lucifer_, if possible, and so we shall follow the
fleet for the present across the North Sea on our way to the
rendezvous with the other vessels from Aeria which are to meet us on
R