The captain in particular was furious, and he turned upon the German fiercely, shook his fist at him and cried, "One day you will pay for this, sirrah! The arm of Britain is long enough to reach you!" A mocking laugh was the only reply which the German gave. Then, looking once more at his jewelled watch, he signified that the time for the airship’s departure had almost arrived. "Three minutes more and I shall cut her adrift," he said. "But the maharajah?" asked the captain. "What can we do with him; we cannot leave his body to the vultures." "Bah! Take him away with you. He will live again in seven hours; it was only morphine!" Bewildered, but yet relieved by these words, they quickly ascertained that the prostrate man was not actually dead, and they hurriedly placed him aboard the airship and administered emetics. "Let us get him away at once," urged the Indian judge; "perhaps the higher altitudes will quickly dissipate the effects of the morphine." "Are you ready there?" shouted the caliph, who had ridden with his escort up to the central gondola. "Yes," came the response. "Then remember, the next time that you invade my dominions without my permission you will not escape so easily. As you know to your cost, the King of the Hamadian desert is able to defend himself and his people, even from the insults of a great power." The captain made a slight bow, half ironical, in response to this kingly assertion, and asked, "Is there any communication which your majesty would like to have delivered to my Government?" "Yes," replied the monarch, drawing from under his loose robe a sealed packet, which he appeared to have had in readiness for the occasion. It was addressed as follows:-- "To Colonel John Tempest, D.S.O., M.C.. Chief Commissioner of the British Aerial Police, Scotland Yard, London," and across the top left-hand corner it was marked "_Confidential_," and also "_To be delivered personally by the Captain of the Air-Liner, Empress of Britain_." The skipper, apparently bewildered for a moment by this strange request, for it seemed to him like a letter from a condemned man to his executioner, looked the packet over for a few seconds. Noting the great red seal on the back, he read the imprint embossed on the huge wafer. It read as follows, and was circular in form:-- "From Sultan von Selim, Air-King of the Hamadian desert," and the crest was a scorpion, with the solitary word in Latin, "_Scorpio_." The caliph waited patiently until the captain had examined the exterior of the packet, and recovered from his amazement, and then said, "Before you depart, Captain, you must promise me that you will deliver that packet in person to Colonel Tempest, who is not unknown to me." The captain did not answer for a few seconds, for he was wondering what new conspiracy was this. He was wondering also whether the conveyance of this packet was not after all the real reason for the forced descent of the airship.