ockall Island, and wait our opportunity. Should the opportunity not
come before then, we must proceed to extremities, and destroy her and
the cruiser that has her on board.

"And do you think we shall get such an opportunity?"

"I don't know," replied Natas. "But it is possible. I don't think it
likely that the fleet will have coal enough for a long cruise in the
Atlantic, and therefore it is possible that they will make a descent
on Aberdeen, which they are quite strong enough to capture if they
like, and coal up there. In that case it is extremely probable that
they will make use of the air-ship to terrorise the town into
surrender, and as soon as she takes the air we must make a dash for
her, and either take her or blow her to pieces."

Arnold expressed his entire agreement with this idea, and, as the
event proved, it was entirely correct. Instead of steering
nor'-nor'-west, as they would have done had they intended to go round
the Shetland Islands, or north-west, had they chosen the course
between the Orkneys and the Shetlands, the Russian vessels kept a due
westerly course during the rest of the day, and this course could
only take them to the Scotch coast near Aberdeen.

The distance from where they were was a little under five hundred
miles, and at their present rate of steaming they would reach
Aberdeen about four o'clock on the following afternoon. The air-ships
followed them at a height of four thousand feet during the rest of
the day and until shortly before dawn on the following morning.

They then put on speed, took a wide sweep to the northward, and
returned southward over Banffshire, and passing Aberdeen to the west,
found a secluded resting-place on the northern spur of the
Kincardineshire Hills, about five miles to the southward of the
Granite City.

Here the repairs which were needed by the _Ariel_ were at once taken
in hand by her own crew and that of the _Ithuriel_, while the _Orion_
was sent out to sea again to keep a sharp look-out for the Russian
fleet, which she would sight long before she herself became visible,
and then to watch the movements of the Russians from as great a
distance as possible until it was time to make the counter-attack.

As Aberdeen was then one of the coaling depots for the North Sea
Squadron, it was defended by two battleships, the _Ascalon_ and the
_Menelaus_, three powerful coast-defence vessels, the _Thunderer_,
the _Cyclops_, and the _Pluto_, six cruisers, and