Again Tom had to devise a means of overcoming a new difficulty. The chase had now lasted some hours, and the matter was becoming urgent. By good luck, the sight of a high conical hill, well wooded, somewhat to the right of the course they had been following, suggested a plan. Lowering the airship to within easy speaking distance of the Moor—a manœuvre which caused some uneasiness to his horses, tired as they were—Tom directed him to make for this hill, and remain in hiding among the trees until rejoined. At the moment he thought of making all speed to the yacht, dropping Schwab, replenishing his can of fuel, and returning for Abdul. But a little consideration caused him to change his mind. It might prove a very difficult matter to find the hill again when returning. It must be, he guessed, at least sixty miles from the sea, and he could not remember the landmarks exactly enough to be able to retrace his course. In rapid consultation with Oliphant he decided on another plan. Altering the course of the airship several points to the southward, and keeping a sharp lookout upon the pursuers, he found that they were still following him as a guide. No longer having to consider the powers of endurance of Abdul’s horses, he quickened the speed of the airship, and saw in a little while that this had had its effect, several of the horsemen beginning to straggle, though they all continued in the same direction. Having thus taken the enemy some five or six miles out of their course, he suddenly swung round and made off at full speed towards the hill where he had left Abdul, of which he had been careful not to lose sight. “They are a game lot,” remarked Oliphant, as the horsemen again followed the track. They were soon left mere specks on the horizon, and at last dropped entirely out of sight. Approaching the hill from another side, some time elapsed before the airship was seen by Abdul from his concealment in the wood. Then he again mounted; his horses had profited by the short rest: and the fugitives, having gained several miles by Tom’s manœuvre, were able to take matters comparatively easy until late in the afternoon. CHAPTER XVI—ICARUS Meanwhile Schwab had awoke to the facts of existence, and the manner in which he announced his awakening was characteristic. “Himmel! how I am hungry!” “Hullo, Mr. Schwab! Feel better?” said Tom, throwing a hasty glance at the German lying against the rail. “Vorse! vorse! Tousand times vorse!” Oliphant laughed at his hollow tones. “It is nozink for to laugh,” returned Schwab with a flicker of animation. “I am vizout food, I know not how many hours. It is not viz me custom to go so long vizout food; it give me rude pain—zere!” He laid his hand on the lowest button of his waistcoat. “No longer am I as I vas. Vunce I swell, not too moch, but all ober; now, I fade, I shrink, I have to get ze tailor to take me in.” “Awful, for a business man,” said Oliphant—“to be taken in, you know.”