ight from the
rays of the sun which appeared midway between the horizon and the
zenith.

A cry escaped me! The crest of the rocky wall rose a hundred feet
above me. And on the eastern side was revealed that easily
recognizable pinnacle, the rock like a mounting eagle. It was the
same that had held the attention of Mr. Elias Smith and myself, when
we had looked up at it from the outer side of the Great Eyrie.

Thus there was no further doubt. In its flight during the night the
airship had covered the distance between Lake Erie and North
Carolina. It was in the depth of this Eyrie that the machine had
found shelter! This was the nest, worthy of the gigantic and powerful
bird created by the genius of our captain! The fortress whose mighty
walls none but he could scale! Perhaps even, he had discovered in the
depths of some cavern, some subterranean passage by which he himself
could quit the Great Eyrie, leaving the "Terror" safely sheltered
within.

At last I saw it all! This explained the first letter sent me from
the Great Eyrie itself with the threat of death. If we had been able
to penetrate into this hollow, who knows if the secrets of the Master
of the World might not have been discovered before he had been able
to set them beyond our reach?

I stood there, motionless; my eyes fixed on that mounting eagle of
stone, prey to a sudden, violent emotion. Whatsoever might be the
consequences to myself, was it not my duty to destroy this machine,
here and now, before it could resume its menacing flight of mastery
across the world!

Steps approached behind me. I turned. The inventor stood by my side,
and pausing looked me in the face.

I was unable to restrain myself; the words burst forth--"The Great
Eyrie! The Great Eyrie!"

"Yes, Inspector Strock."

"And you! You are the Master of the World?"

"Of that world to which I have already proved myself to be the most
powerful of men."

"You!" I reiterated, stupefied with amazement.

"I," responded he, drawing himself up in all his pride, "I,
Robur--Robur, the Conqueror!"

Chapter 16

ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

Robur, the Conqueror! This then was the likeness I had vaguely
recalled. Some years before the portrait of this extraordinary man
had been printed in all the American newspapers, under date of the
thirteenth of June, the day after this personage had made his
sensational appearance at the meeting of the Weldon Institute at
Philadelphia.

I had note