CHAPTER XXXII

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*IVANTA A FUGITIVE.*

Alondria's companions in his scouting expedition were Gerald and Jack, Malto and the outlaw chief Fumenta, the latter having taken the place of Malandris, who had been left behind.

'You will want some one who knows this region as a guide, or you will not be able to find your way through the mist,' Fumenta had pointed out. Alondra had been prompt to recognise the wisdom of the suggestion, and gladly accepted it.

It seemed that these outlaws were without flying apparatus of any kind except the roughest sort of wings. They lived the life of hunted men, and even if they had possessed airships or other flying machines, they were without the necessary means of utilising them.

All kinds of air-craft required electricity to work them; which, in its turn, as with us, required machinery to produce it. Throughout Ivanta's dominions there were stations here and there at which passing aeronauts could refill their storage batteries on payment of certain specified sums. At these stations gigantic engines of immense power were ever at work, day and night, accumulating the necessary force, and it was upon this constant supply that all airships were dependent. When they journeyed beyond the districts in which these stations were situated, travellers were compelled to be careful not to venture too far afield--no farther, that is, than they could travel back again with the storage power on board.

For the same reason, the outlaws had none of the usual weapons--those tridents which wielded such strange, mysterious power; or, if they possessed any, they were useless to them for want of the needful force.

Throughout the inhabited portion of the planet the same state of things prevailed. There were no small weapons other than the tridents, save swords, spears, and the like. Nor were there any large weapons like our cannon and big guns. Owing to their great weight, all such contrivances had long ago been abandoned as too heavy to be carried in the air, and as being no longer of any use on the ground. An airship depended for its means of offence either upon ramming an adversary, or being able to get above it, and drop upon it bombs, which, upon bursting, produced a similar effect upon living beings around it to that of the tridents--that is to say, they rendered them for the time being unconscious. Thus, warfare in the air resolved itself chiefly into a manoeuvring contest, the one which could soar uppermost, and get exactly over its adversary, usually--other things being equal--gaining the advantage.

Having no machinery for the production of electricity, and consequently no flying apparatus save the clumsy, slow wings without motors, Fumenta and the bands of which he was chief were for the most part restricted in their operations to nocturnal expeditions. They seldom ventured abroad in the daytime, but remained hidden in their underground retreats.

Fortunately for their purpose, their leader had discovered, amid the arid wilderness of rocky mountains into which he had been driven, an extinct volcano with an ancient crater open to the sky. Within was the immense cavity which they had made their chief hiding-place, and running into it from all points of the compass were endless galleries and passages--a veritable labyrinth which extended for miles in every direction. These led to numerous underground grottos, large and lofty caverns, which they had turned into dwelling-places. The whole formed a sort of subterranean town.

Not the least remarkable thing about this retreat was the ingenious ruse by which Fumenta had kept its existence unknown to his enemies. He had discovered, in some of the lower galleries, considerable accumulations of sulphur, and whenever, during the daytime, the approach of airships was signalled by his scouts, he had sulphur fires lighted in the crater just beneath the funnel-like opening, sending up columns of smoke and sulphur fumes.

As a consequence, the report had gone forth that the supposedly extinct volcano had become active again, and its neighbourhood was shunned as dangerous by all not in the secret. A few venturesome inquirers, who had attempted to make explorations, had been baffled by the sulphur fumes, and had returned declaring that there were evident signs of renewed volcanic activity.

Similarly, if, as sometimes happened, an occasional airship, driven out of her course by high winds, passed near the place at night, and saw a light coming up through the opening, it was put down to the same cause.

These notes are necessary to explain the events which follow.

The mist seemed to grow thicker as the adventurers sailed cautiously onwards, and it soon became obvious that they would quickly have lost themselves if they had not had Fumenta to guide them. He, however, seemed to know his way about in it with as much certainty as if it had been clear. He was aided, no doubt, by a dim radiance which struggled down from the moon above.

He led off to the right, mounting always upwards, till, after they had travelled perhaps a mile, he brought them to a halt beside a towering peak.

'Here,' he said, in low, guarded tones, 'you had better rest for a little time, while I reconnoitre from the top of the mountain, which rises yet some hundreds of feet into the air. It is one of the highest peaks about here, and these occasional ground-mists scarcely ever reach its top. It may be that we can get a view from its summit over the top of the mist, but at the same time we shall run some risk of being seen ourselves. Let me, therefore, make the trial first, as I am more used to this kind of thing than you are. I will return in a short time and let you know the result. Do not leave this spot, and, whatever you do, do not talk loudly. Voices travel far in this mist; you cannot tell how near our enemies may be.'

With that he started off, mounting silently upwards, and the four he left behind began discussing their recent adventures, and the possible future, in low tones.

'So that's the great outlaw chief!' said Jack. 'What do you think of him? I suppose he is to be trusted? I must say I am agreeably surprised! I like his looks; yet one never knows! He might betray you, Prince, to your enemies. How if he could buy off Agrando's hostility that way? It might be a great temptation!'

'I do not think he is one of that sort,' Alondra returned.

'Nor do I,' Gerald put in.

Malto had remained silent. He had seemed to be pondering deeply over something. At these words from the others he suddenly woke up, as it were, from his reverie, and spoke warmly. 'I would stake my life on his loyalty!' he exclaimed passionately. 'He is a good man--a great man--an upright, brave, honourable man! I feel it, I know it! But why do I know it? Why does he rouse such a tumult of strange thoughts and ideas in my breast? That is what has been puzzling me ever since I set eyes on him! Have I seen him before? It seems to me that I have--must have done so! Yet when? Where? How could it be? My head seems to go round puzzling it out, and trying to seize upon some thought, some memory, which I feel, but cannot put into words!'

The others looked in surprise at this outburst.

'Hush! We were warned to be quiet!' said Alondra. 'Our opinions are really the same as yours. What was said was only spoken in the way of ordinary caution. You need not take it to heart as though we were wronging a friend of yours!'

'A friend of mine!' Malto answered bitterly and somewhat incoherently. 'Would that I could call such a man my friend! I have no such friend in the world! My life, since I was a boy, has been passed among deadly enemies, who destroyed my father and brought me up as a slave! I have ever been a child of misfortune; and now, see how ill-fortune dogs me! I come across you, and you promise to take me to King Ivanta, to give me the opportunity of pleading my cause with him and asking for my rights; but what comes of it? At once treachery steps in again, and instead of your helping me, I only lead you into trouble and fresh misfortune!'

'Nay, it was no doing of yours,' said Alondra gently. 'Have patience, my friend, and all will yet come right! I feel sure it will! My father is not going to be beaten by people like Agrando and his confederates. He will soon come to our aid and rescue us, have no fear! Then you shall tell him your story, and he will see that right is done. Meantime, it seems to me, we have been fortunate in meeting with Fumenta. If he and his people are to be trusted--and I feel sure they are--we have found useful and faithful allies, and a secure hiding-place where we can await developments!'

As the young prince finished, he started. While he had been speaking the last few words there had been heard a tiny, muffled 'ting-ting,' and now, in the surrounding stillness, it was heard still more plainly.

'Ting--ting-ting--ting--ting!' it rang out.

'By Jove!' exclaimed Jack, 'that's your wireless telegraph affair!'

Alondra plunged a hand into his breast and brought out the little instrument they had seen when they had been in the pavilion.

He placed it on his outstretched palm, and again were heard the clear, silvery notes of the little gongs.

Excitedly he opened it and began to manipulate the miniature levers and pins.

'What did I tell you?' he breathed, in low accents. 'Said I not that my father would be soon on his way to our assistance?'

Just then Fumenta came gliding back like some weird, mysterious shadow.

'Follow me,' he said, 'and I will show you a strange sight!'

First, however, they told him the news.

'My father King Ivanta has come to seek us,' Alondra said joyously. 'He is not far away!'

To their surprise the outlaw chief nodded his head and answered slowly, 'I know. But he cannot help us. He is in hiding, as we are. He cannot aid us at present. I may, however, help him by offering him a temporary refuge, as I have done to you.'

Alondra turned and faced him in amazement, his eyes flashing, and his cheeks flushing with indignation.

'My father--in hiding? You--offering him a refuge?' he gasped. 'Sir, have you suddenly'----

'Peace, my son! You speak too loudly,' rejoined the old man quietly. 'However painful it may be to you to hear it, what I have said is but the exact truth, as I will prove to you presently. Come with me, and I will show you something that will surprise you.'

He commenced his upward flight as he spoke, and the others wonderingly followed. His words had, so to speak, struck them dumb; and no one uttered another word.

After a few minutes' flight it grew lighter, and they could tell that they were nearing the limits of the mist above them. Then Fumenta stopped upon a sloping rock, and, looking round at his companions to enjoin caution, signed to them to walk slowly up the incline.

They obeyed, and, behold! quite suddenly their heads were above the mist. It was almost as if they had put them up through a trap-door and looked around. The vapours closed round them below like a mantle. They could not see their own hands, but they could see for miles around on every side.

A large fleet of airships could be seen in the air above, going restlessly backwards and forwards. The moon which our astronomers call Phobos was throwing a rather feeble light over what seemed to be a pinkish-white sea, which was, in reality, the surface of the mist.

The airships were assisting the moonlight by throwing their searchlights around in all directions, prowling to and fro, and making sudden dashes here and there, exactly as might a swarm of huge birds of prey on the wing seeking for food.

'Those,' said Fumenta, indicating the airships, 'are the war-vessels of Agrando and the allies who have joined him. They know that King Ivanta, in his yacht--not his great "chariot of the skies," the mighty _Ivenia_, look you--is hiding somewhere in the mist below. He must have come hither to seek for you--why he should come in his yacht instead of the _Ivenia_ I know not--and they have chased him here, and have lost him in the fog!'

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