“No one knows,” continued Dennis; “that is a point on which there is much controversy even to-day, as you know. Anyway, the thing was a real miracle, for all predicted and feared universal disaster, and prayers were offered in all places of worship, and a miracle _was_ performed, either in answer to the prayers or in the setting up of some unknown laws in defiance of all existing known laws, for in direct contradiction to every expectation, no disaster of any kind occurred—nothing but good; and as time wore on and the planet’s influence became felt in the steadying of the tides, and in scores of other unexpected ways, it was proved to be a heaven-sent blessing and therefore was named ‘Bona.’ “Then followed another phase of great interest in the _Regina_, for scientists longed to possess the means of visiting Bona and of finding out all about her, for the most powerful telescopes revealed little beyond the facts that there were mountains, seas, deserts, and peculiar vegetable growth, all of which can be seen faintly with the naked eye, and the spectrum analysis shows many metals, some familiar and some strange to us, together with an atmosphere similar to ours, but drier. It is, as you know, considered that Bona is peopled, but so far no people have been seen or recognised by us as people, for we, of course, look for beings such as ourselves. The _Regina_ would have solved all these difficulties, but she was still quiescent, still the enigma of science, as she has been since she was built and as she always will be, I fear. And this brings me to the vessel herself and how she came to be mine. “Apart from fiction, only one vessel in the history of the world has ever actually sailed into the limitless space outside the earth’s atmosphere, and that one is the stately _Regina_, which has been unapproachable since the death of the last-surviving inventor, Jervis Meredith, and the secret of her power to overcome gravity died with him. It is not necessary for me to tell you the details of this, as you know them, so I will pass on to later things, for I have already gone over well-known ground at too great a length, and time is flying.” “Never mind that, Oakland,” exclaimed Ross, deeply interested, “proceed”; and Gilbert followed—“It is all so different, somehow, coming from you; there is a personal note in it which is far better than history, so tell us all you know, as though we were ignorant of the whole matter.” “Yes, do!” begged Ross, and Dennis took up his story.