A little later these smaller air-craft were swarming round the great aerostat, the occupants uttering shouts and cries of joyous welcome to their returning king. These flying-machines were of all shapes and kinds, and they thronged round Ivanta’s superb ’chariot of the skies’ as might a swarm of steamers, yachts, and other craft round a mighty warship bearing our own king back to England’s shores after a foreign trip. Finally, the wondrous structure landed easily and quietly upon the ground in the midst of a vast crowd of people; and, as she came to rest, King Ivanta stepped out from the conning-tower and showed himself to the shouting throng. Then, turning to Armeath and the others whom he had brought with him as guests, he said, with a charming mixture of royal dignity and kindly condescension, ’Welcome, my friends! Welcome to our world! Welcome to Mars!’ *CHAPTER XII.* *PRINCE ALONDRA.* As King Ivanta spoke to his visitors the words ’Welcome to Mars!’ there came a rustling sound, and a strange figure, shining and glistening in the sunlight, suddenly appeared on the deck beside him. So rapidly had it arrived that the startled spectators scarcely saw more than the sheen from its resplendent body before it was amongst them, alighting with the grace and ease of a swallow close to the king, whom it addressed in joyous, laughing accents, ’Welcome, father! welcome home!’ Even King Ivanta was evidently taken by surprise, for at first he scarcely seemed to understand this arrival any more than the strangers from Earth did. The next moment, however, he had clasped the radiant vision in his arms in a close embrace. Then he drew back and regarded the youth—for such the figure was—critically. ’Why, Alondra, my son,’ said he, ’what is this surprise?’ Alondra, as the visitors were soon to learn, was Ivanta’s son, his only child. He was about the same age as Gerald, with an exceedingly handsome, open, merry-looking countenance, lithe and graceful in figure and in every movement. On this occasion he was clad in a most bizarre costume, which included two large wings, just now folded back behind the shoulders, and trailing on the floor of the deck. It was impossible to guess what these wings could be made of. The surface was composed of thin, feathery flakes in constant motion, which glistened in the sunshine with iridescent brilliance, something between the sheen of silver and the sparkle of crystal. A tunic of the same marvellous material covered the body to the knees, below which were attachments like smaller wings, which now fitted closely round the ankles. Evidently this wondrous outfit was as new and surprising to the king as it was to the strangers. The youth seemed delighted at the impression he had created. He walked to and fro, opening and folding his wings, and turning this way and that to show them off to advantage.