"No, no," he shouted. "We're no gudgeons! You'll have to do better than that!"
"See here, Edmund," Jack suddenly exclaimed, "why don't you make off and leave them? By keeping just above their reach we could easily escape."
"And leave the car?" was the reply.
"By Jo," returned Jack, "I never thought of that. But, then, what did you run away for at all?"
"Because," said Edmund quietly, "I thought it better to parley than to lie in prison."
"Parley! How are you going to parley?"
"That remains to be seen; but I guess we'll manage it."
We were now, as far as I could estimate, five or six miles high. When we were highest, the great cloud dome seemed to be but a little way above our heads, and I thought, at first, that Edmund intended to run up into it and thus conceal our movements. The highest of our pursuers were about half a mile below us. They circled about, and were evidently parleying on their own account, for waves of color flowed all about them, making a spectacle so brilliant and beautiful that sometimes I almost forgot our critical situation in watching it.
"I suppose you'll play them a prismatic symphony," said Henry mockingly.
I looked at him in surprise. Evidently his fear of Edmund had vanished; no doubt because he knew in his heart the magnanimity of our great leader.