“Well, what is his game?” “Well,” said Edestone, after thinking for a while, “as far as I can make it out it is this: They do not want to kill me; they are using me to bait the trap with which they hope to catch the ‘Queen of the Milky Way,’ as you call her. They will take her dead, now that they cannot get her alive, and they hope to be able to put new life into her after they have taken all life out with the ‘long distance telephone attachments,’ as you call them.” “Why is he so certain that you will not drop bombs on his city?” asked Lawrence. “I do not know,” replied Edestone, “unless he knows that I am more of a gentleman than he is. Or perhaps he thinks that I will not allow any damage to be done until I am safely on board, which may or may not be perfectly true.” “_Tu as raison, mon vieux_,” shrugged Lawrence. “They will do nothing to me until they are certain that they are going to lose me. They want me alive, but would rather have me dead than in the hands of the other fellow. Now do you understand?” “Not exactly,” replied Lawrence, pretending to look very wise. “What do you mean about taking her dead if they can’t get her alive, and what have those wires got to do with it?” “I mean by taking her alive,” said Edestone, “buying her from whoever she belongs to, and keeping me here to show them how to run her. And when I spoke of taking her dead, I had forgotten that you had not heard what I said tonight while showing the pictures. I will explain this to you sometime when we get on board and we have more time, but you will understand enough when I tell you this.” Lawrence listened attentively as Edestone continued. “They know that she floats by virtue of an instrument that I have; they know that she will not float if brought in contact with the earth or if connected with it by means of some electrical conductor. They propose to establish an electrical connexion between her and the ground by throwing those wires over her with mortars, just as the life-saving men throw a life-line to a ship in distress.” “Oh, that was why they were so carefully connected with the water main,” interrupted Lawrence. “Yes,” replied Edestone, “and when they get her down they will expect me with my instrument to float her off again.” “Well, what do you think of their chances of pulling this off?” asked Lawrence. “I think,” said Edestone thoughtfully, “their chances are small, but you can never tell what these very resourceful people may do. They are buoyed up by a hopefulness that is almost uncanny and they can’t all be crazy!” CHAPTER XXIX THE DIFFERENCE OF THEIR STATIONS Edestone and Lawrence sat quietly for a few minutes, Lawrence watching him with a merry twinkle in his eye while Edestone was unconsciously fingering the note that General von Lichtenstein had given him. Finally he said: “Well, I’m off for bed. I have a hard day before me tomorrow.”