"My men brought the Red Rover for me."
"Dr. Trainor and his daughter——" Bill ejaculated.
"They are friends of mine. They are here."
"And that blue globe!" said Captain Brand. "What was that?"
"You saw the course it was following?"
"It was headed to intersect the orbit of the earth—and its direction was on a line that cuts the orbit of Mars where that planet was forty days ago."
The Prince turned to Bill. "And you have seen something like that blue globe before?"
"Why, yes. The little blue circle on Mars—that I saw through the great telescope on Trainor's Tower."
A sober smile flickered across the dark lean face of the Prince.
"Then, gentlemen, you should believe me. The earth is threatened with a dreadful danger from Mars. The blue globe that wrecked your fleet was a ship from Mars. It was another Martian flier that took the Helicon. I believe I have credit for that ghastly exploit of sucking out the passengers' blood." His smile became grimly humorous. "One of the consequences of my position."