able termination
to the interview, had laid down theirs. Mine had obeyed my order, and
we were masters of the situation, when, with a sudden turn of the
screw, throwing his vessel into an almost horizontal position, Endo
brought his car into collision with ours and endeavoured to seize
Eveena's person, as she leaned over with the paper in her hand. She
was too quick for him, and I called out at once, "Down, or we fire."
His men, about to grasp their pieces, saw that one of ours was
levelled at the balloon, and that before they could fire, a single
shot from us must send them earthwards, to be crushed into one
shapeless mass by the fall. Endo saw that he had no choice but to obey
or affect obedience, and, turning the tap that let out the gas by a
pipe passing through the car, sent his vessel rapidly downward, as
with a formal salute he affected to accept the command of his Prince.
Instantly grasping, not the lightning gun, which, if it struck their
balloon, must destroy their whole party in an instant, but my air-gun,
which, by making a small hole in the vast surface, would allow them to
descend alive though with unpleasant and perilous rapidity, I fired,
and by so doing prevented the use of an asphyxiator concealed in the
car, which the treacherous Regent was rapidly arranging for use.

The success of these manoeuvres delighted my attendants, and gave them
a confidence they had not yet felt in my appreciation of Martial
perils and resources. We reached Ecasfe and Esmo's house without
further molestation, and a party of the Zinta watched the balloon
while Eveena and I passed into the dwelling.

Preserved from corruption by the cold which Martial chemistry applies
at pleasure, the corpse of Kevima looked as the living man looked in
sleep, but calmer and with features more perfectly composed. Quietly,
gravely, with streaming tears, but with self-command which dispelled
my fear of evil consequences to her, Eveena kissed the lips that were
so soon to exist no longer. From the actual process by which the body
is destroyed, the taste and feeling of the Zinta exclude the immediate
relatives of the dead; and not till the golden chest with its
inscription was placed in Esmo's hands did we take further part in the
proceeding. Then the symbolic confession of faith, by which the
brethren attest and proclaim their confidence in the universal
all-pervading rule of the Giver of life and in the permanence of His
gift, was chanted. A C