"The Terrorists, are you? If I had known that, I confess I should not have asked to speak you, and I tell you candidly that I am sorry you did not leave us to fight it out, as you say. As I cannot look upon you as an ally or a friend, I can only regret the advantage you have given me over an honourable foe." There was an emphasis on the word "honourable" which brought a flush to Arnold's cheek, as he replied-- "What I did to the French cruiser I should have done whether you had been on the scene or not. We are as much your foes as we are those of France, that is to say, we are totally indifferent to both of you. As for _honourable_ foes, I may say that I only disabled the French cruiser because I thought she had acted both unfairly and dishonourably. But we are wasting time. Did you merely wish to speak to us in order to find out who we were?" "Yes, that was my first object, I confess. I also wished to know whether this is the same air-ship which crossed the Mediterranean yesterday, and if not, how many of these vessels there are in existence, and what you mean to do with them?" "Before I answer, may I ask how you know that an air-ship crossed the Mediterranean yesterday?" asked Arnold, thoroughly mystified by this astounding piece of news. "We had it by telegraph at Queenstown during the night. She was going northward, when observed, by Larnaka"-- "Oh yes, that was one of our despatch boats," replied Arnold, forcing himself to speak with a calmness that he by no means felt. "I'm afraid my orders will hardly allow me to answer your other questions very fully, but I may tell you that we have a fleet of air-ships at our command, all constructed in England under the noses of your intelligent authorities, and that we mean to use them as it seems best to us, should we at any time consider it worth our while to interfere in the game that the European Powers are playing with each other. Meanwhile we keep a position of armed neutrality. When we think the war has gone far enough we shall probably stop it when a good opportunity offers." This was too much for a British sailor to listen to quietly on his own quarter-deck, whoever said it, and so the captain of the _Andromeda_ forgot his prudence for the moment, and said somewhat hotly-- "Confound it, sir! you talk as if you were omnipotent and arbiters of peace and war. Don't go too far with your insolence, or I shall haul that flag of truce down and give you five minutes to get out of range of my guns or take your chance"-- For all answer there came a contemptuous laugh from the deck of the _Ithuriel_, the rapid ringing of an electric bell, and the disappearance of her company under cover. Then with one mighty leap she rose two thousand feet into the air, and before the astounded and disgusted captain of H.M. cruiser _Andromeda_ very well knew what had become of her, she was a mere speck of light in the sky, speeding away at two hundred miles an hour to the westward.