’Perhaps such an experience will do me no harm,’ he answered, after a minute’s thought. ’That is, provided it ends in the right way. It is better than passing the time in Agrando’s palace as his captive. My father is sure to rescue us in his own good time. He will follow us up and find us out, wherever we are, and the punishment he will inflict on his daring enemies will be terrible. Does Agrando hug to himself the notion that he can pit himself against his overlord?’ Alondra continued, with a proud curl of his lip. ’Why, where is his fleet? What means has he of resisting my father’s power?’ ’He has been making secret preparations ever since his return from his trip to the evening star. I feel sure of that!’ Malto declared. ’Why don’t you try a wireless message?’ Jack asked of Alondra. The young prince shook his head. ’It is useless. The little instrument you saw does not carry far enough,’ he explained. ’Monck Affelda cannot hear me unless he is within a hundred miles. But you may be sure of one thing, the news of all that has happened has before this been flashed through to my father, and he is already on his way to our assistance in the _Ivenia_. How can Agrando think he can prevail in the end against such a monster of the skies as the _Ivenia_?’ As he spoke these words there was a sudden illumination of the spot where they were sitting round their fire, and the sound of voices was heard. Lights were flashed upon them from the air above, dazzling their eyes and rendering it impossible to make out what had happened or who the speakers were. But the words were unmistakable; some one had called out in harsh, hoarse tones, ’Surrender! You are my prisoners! If you make any attempt at resistance you are all dead men!’ *CHAPTER XXX.* *CAPTURED.* When the ominous summons to surrender was heard, shouted down from some invisible person in the air above them, it was Malto who took upon himself to reply. His brain had been working quickly. At first he had feared that it was Agrando’s people who had thus found them out, but a moment’s reflection convinced him that such a thing was extremely improbable. If it were indeed so, then, such was his detestation of his late master, and horror of again falling into his clutches, that he would rather have died fighting than yield. But Agrando’s men would have acted first. There would have been no preliminary summons; they would simply have used their tridents to render the fugitives powerless at once. The inference was that these must be some other people who were not armed with tridents. All the same, resistance was probably useless, as they could not even see their adversaries, and a fight could only end in one way. So he called out, ’Who are you? And why do you threaten us? We have no quarrel with you, whoever you are. We are peaceable folk.’