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!'
CHAPTER XXXIII.
A QUEER HUNT.
Even as Fumenta spoke, two dark shapes rose quickly above the fleecy vapours as though to take a cautious observation.
Alondra and the two chums instantly recognised them as the two yachts the Nelda and the Lokris; but ere they could breathe a word both craft had dived back into the fog.
At once two or three of the hostile airships made a dart at the place where they had appeared, and so impetuous was their rush that they narrowly missed ramming one another. But for some reason they did not dive after the fugitives. They were evidently averse to trusting themselves in those foggy depths.
Fumenta nudged his companions, and they crept down the rocky slope into the concealment of the mist again.
'It wouldn't do to stay up there,' he said, when they had reached what he considered a safe distance. 'Now, Prince, if you can send a message to your friends, will you please ask them to remain in one place till we find them? You can explain to them that they have nothing to fear at present; evidently their enemies do not care to hunt for them down in the fog. They prefer to wait till it clears off, as they know it is pretty sure to do in an hour or two. In that hour or two we must manage to find your friends and conduct them to a place of safety.'