'Long live King Ivanta!' was the cry which was taken up on all sides, and repeated till the roof shook.
Fumenta turned to Ivanta with a slight smile upon his usually hard-grained visage. 'You hear, oh king! These are the men of Iraynia! You see that I did not act without reason in bringing you here. All these will be henceforth your followers, and they, again, have more—a thousand times more—at their backs, who will flock to us as soon as the news spreads.'
Ivanta was visibly affected. Never in his life till this day had he known what it meant to stand in need of a few true friends. He who had led conquering armies, and had listened to the acclamations of vast multitudes representing nearly half the nations of the planet, and received the homage of their rulers as his vassals—he was now listening with gladness and gratitude to the kindly welcome of those whom he had—unknowingly, it is true—treated with injustice, and allowed Agrando to tyrannise over!
He now addressed them, telling them in simple but dignified language how he thanked them all for their welcome; and after a brief conference with their chiefs he gladly agreed to their request that he should become their leader himself, and for the future take the direction of the operations they had planned.
Then they conducted him to a large enclosure where a number of airships were lying.
'These we seized immediately we heard the news of Agrando's revolt,' Lymento explained. 'Their crews we made prisoners, and they are under lock and key. What we now need is a storage station to keep these craft supplied with electricity. They have enough reserve power to last a day or two, but not longer.'
'That station we can seize this very night,' Fumenta again declared. 'It is at a place called Crudia, some two hours' journey from here, and, as I have already said, I happen to know that it is at the present moment weakly held. But we have no time to lose, for one of the first things Agrando will do will doubtless be to reinforce the garrison as a precaution. Extra men and airships may even now be on their way there, so if we desire to get there first we must hasten. Which of these airships will you choose, sir, to sail in yourself?'
Rapidly Fumenta ran over the list of their sizes and special characteristics. At the end of it, Ivanta decided that he would keep to his own yacht.
'My two yachts,' he reminded his new friends, 'are, with the exception of my great vessel, the Ivenia, the fastest craft in the world. When they cannot fight they can always run away,' he went on meaningly. 'It may sound strange, perhaps, to some of you to hear me talk thus of running away; but there are others doubtless among you who will understand my meaning. Of late years you have not seen much fighting in the air, but you may nevertheless be aware that in such warfare swiftness and quick manoeuvring often count for as much as size and numbers.'
The cheers which greeted this speech showed that his words were understood and their meaning appreciated; and the few remaining preparations were quickly completed.