“I suppose not,” admitted Mortimer grudgingly.
“The next morning I sent for Nicholas,” said the High President. “He found a much changed man. It will be needless for me to recount to you the ten thousand and one details in connection with the perfecting of our plans; our secret work of invention, our secret processes of manufacture, our secret places of trial and concealment of finished machines. Take, for instance, where we now are. We have here quite an extensive strip of territory, in a wild, little frequented region. It is held as private property. In the heart of this territory is this valley shut in on all sides by mountain heights—and it affords us ample opportunity of carrying on such work as may be necessary, quite safe from observation. On every side our men are out in the guise of keepers, carefully guarding every avenue of approach against possible chance of intrusion. Similar strips of territory and similar retreats we hold in various other parts of the country, for our plans are far too carefully laid for us to trust all our eggs to one basket. Let it be enough for me to say that everything has thus far progressed most satisfactorily and that we have to-day concealed in various places, all finished and ready for use, a sufficient number of air-ships, large and small, to carry out our plans. All this has been done with such well-managed quietude and secrecy that not the slightest inkling has the government of the true state of affairs. You will now understand, Professor Dean, what I meant the day I remarked to you that your investigations in the line of aërial navigation were more important to the world than you dreamed of. You will also understand why it was that I was so desirous of inducing you to leave the Court and come to me to pursue your further work in that direction. It was not that I really needed you to develop air-ships, for that had already been accomplished; but I feared you might produce them for the benefit of the government. Such possible production was to us the most serious menace to our course, as you will doubtless realize.”
“Yes; now that I understand all the circumstances,” answered the Professor, “I see that very clearly.”
“As it was,” said the High President, “you certainly sprang your air-ship upon us with remarkable rapidity. I congratulate you upon your work and ourselves upon the fact that we have succeeded in capturing you and your ship before you had gone further. You can imagine the surprise to our fellows when they hailed and discovered that they were being pursued by a Royal air-ship. They are indeed to be commended for the discretion and skill with which they acted.”
“In what respect?” asked the Professor.
“They had a machine on board,” answered the High President, “which would have blown you to atoms, had they so desired, or they could have clapped on speed and have escaped you. Had they been fools, they would have done one or the other. Being sensible men, they did neither. They simply regulated their speed so as to lure you on and thus lead to your capture. You see, it was desirable to ascertain as much about you as possible and learn how grave a peril to us your presence signified.”
“That accounts for the peculiar movements I noticed during our pursuit,” remarked the Professor.
“Doubtless,” replied the High President. “Well, I am truly thankful they kept their wits and acted as they did. I am glad they did not allow you to escape and I am even more glad they did not resort to the other course. I abhor any unnecessary shedding of blood and I am grateful to Providence that our operations that night cost, at most, only one life. I may say to you that the life of the King has been repeatedly in our hands during our various visitations, but not one hair of his head has been injured.”
“What was the object of these visitations?” asked the Professor curiously.
“To satisfy fully the scruples of some of the more conscientious among the leaders,” answered the High President. “The present King had shown himself to be a more just and mild-mannered ruler than his predecessor and they thought he should be accorded the saving chances of reform and abdication. I was opposed to the plan as affording little prospect of practical results, but yielded so as to satisfy the consciences of these men—so that when the time came to strike they could feel that we had done so only after no other course was left.”