"Yes," cut in Dick, "that is so. And, if I remember aright, they met with some rather exciting adventures among these Makolo, didn't they?" "Rather!" assented Grosvenor. "Were taken prisoners, or something of that sort, and only escaped by the skin of their teeth." "That's it," agreed Dick. "Yes; the man who was then king wanted to steal their airship, didn't he?" "He did--and got banished for his pains," answered Grosvenor. "But that was not the end of the story. He--the king, I mean--returned from his banishment, killed the king who was reigning in his stead, and--yes, was found practising his old dodges of cruelty and murder when the `Spirits' paid a second visit to his country." "Precisely," agreed Dick. "But that part of the story was given in a second book recounting the further voyagings of the wonderful _Flying- Fish_--that was the name of the airship, you will remember. By Jove! How vividly those yarns recur to one's memory when anything special-- like this adventure of ours--occurs to recall them. Do you know, Phil, it now seems to me that, quite unconsciously to ourselves, those two books have had a distinct influence upon us in undertaking and carrying through this journey?" "Possibly," agreed Grosvenor; "though I am obliged to admit that I have been, and am still, quite unconscious of it. The point that is of real importance to us is this. Had the narratives in those two books the slightest foundation of fact? Because, if so, our recollection of them might stand us in good stead should difficulties arise between us and these people. Take, for example, the matter of the four Spirits of the Winds. If we were to judiciously exhibit some knowledge of them and their doings, this king might be inclined to be a great deal more complaisant than he otherwise would be. Don't you think so?" "Perhaps," conceded Dick; "it is impossible to say. But what knowledge do we possess, or can we exhibit? Absolutely none, except what we can remember through the perusal of those two books. And, for my own part, I am inclined to believe that the alleged adventures of the four persons therein referred to were purely fictitious, or at least had no more than the slenderest connection with actual fact." "Yet," contended Grosvenor, "it is remarkable, to say the least of it, that in our very first communication with these Makolo--which, now I come to think of it, was the actual name of the nation given in those books--the four Spirits of the Winds should be mentioned. Isn't it?"