art, tapering down to a few inches wide at the
dynamo that moved them. Such small extent of surface evidently
required an enormous force to propel a man in rapid flight. We found
the dynamo to consist of a central wheel made to revolve by the
attraction of a vast occult force evolved from the contact of two
metals, one being of a vermilion color and the other of a bright green
tint, that constituted the cell of the apparatus. No acid was
required, nor did the contact of the metal produce any wasting of
their substance. A colossal current of mysterious magnetism made the
wheel revolve, the current being guided in its work by an automatic
insulation of one hemisphere of the wheel.

I put one hand on the dynamo and made a gesture of inquiry with the
other, whereupon our strange friend said, "Nojmesedi!" Was this the
name of the new force we had discovered, or the name of the flying
apparatus as a whole? Before we could settle the point our friend
became communicative, and, smiting his breast, said:

"Plothoy, wayleal ar Atvatabar!"

With the right hand he pointed to a continent rising above us, its
mighty features being clearly visible to the naked eye.

CHAPTER XI.

WE LEARN ATVATABARESE.

This exclamation was a very puzzling phrase to us.

Professor Starbottle said: "It appears to me, gentlemen, before we can
make any use of our prisoner we must first learn his language."

Again the stranger smote his breast, exclaiming: "Plothoy, wayleal ar
Atvatabar."

"Well, of all the lingoes I iver heard," said Flathootly, "this is the
worst case yet. It bates Irish, which is the toughest langwidge to
larn undher the sun. What langwidge do you call that, sorr?"

Professor Goldrock, besides being a naturalist, was an adept in
language. He stated that our captive appeared to be either a soldier
or courier or coast-guard of his country, which was evidently
indicated by the last word, Atvatabar. "Let us take for granted," said
he, "that 'Plothoy' is his name and 'Atvatabar' his country. We have
left the two words 'wayleal ar.' Now the pronunciation and grouping of
the letters leads me to think that the words resemble the English
language more nearly than any other tongue. The word 'wayleal' has the
same number of letters as 'soldier' and 'courier,' and I note that the
fourth and last letters are identical in both 'courier' and 'wayleal.'
On the supposition that both words are identical we might compare them
thus: