"You will never be asked to do that," said Natasha quietly, as Arnold disappeared down the companion-way. It was nearly an hour before he came on deck again, and by this time the _Ithuriel_, constantly moving to and fro over London, so that any change in the course of events could be at once reported to Natas, had shifted her position to the southward, and was hanging in the air over Sydenham Hill, the headquarters of General le Gallifet, whence could be plainly heard the roar of the tide of battle as it rolled ever northward over the hills of Surrey. An air-ship came speeding up from the southward as he reached the deck. He signalled to it to come alongside. It proved to be the _Mercury_ taking a message from Tremayne, who was personally commanding the Army of the South in the _Ariel_, to the air-ships operating with the Army of the North. "What is the message?" asked Arnold. "To engage and destroy the remaining Russian war-balloons, and then come south at once," replied the captain of the _Mercury_. "I am sorry to say both the _Lucifer_ and the _Azrael_ have been disabled by chance shots striking their propellers. The _Lucifer_ was so badly injured that she fell to the earth, and blew up with a perfectly awful explosion; but the _Azrael_ can still use her fan-wheels and stern propeller, though her air-planes are badly broken and twisted." Arnold frowned at the bad news, but took no further notice of it beyond saying-- "That is unfortunate; but, I suppose, some casualties were inevitable under the circumstances." Then he added: "I have already destroyed all that were left of the Tsar's war-balloons, but you can take the other part of the message. Where is the _Ariel_ to be found?" The captain of the _Mercury_ gave him the necessary directions, and the two air-ships parted. Within an hour a council of war, consisting of Natas, Arnold, and Tremayne, was being held in the saloon of the _Ithuriel_, on the issue of which the lives of more than two millions of men depended. CHAPTER XLVI. VICTORY. It was a little after three o'clock in the afternoon when Natas, Tremayne, and Arnold ended their deliberations in the saloon of the _Ithuriel_. At the same hour a council of war was being held by Generals le Gallifet and Cosensz at the Crystal Palace Hotel, Sydenham, where the two commanders had taken up their quarters. Since daybreak matters had assumed a very serious, if not desperate aspect for the troops of the League to the south of London. Communication had entirely ceased with the Tsar since the night before, and this could only mean that his Majesty had lost the command of the air, through the destruction or disablement of his fleet of aerostats. News from the force which had descended upon London told only of a fearful expenditure of life that had not purchased the slightest advantage.