Barney elevated his nose contemptuously.

“Be me sowl it’s mighty little yez know onyway. An’ ain’t the President commander-in-chief av the army an’ navy? An’ don’t that make him the bigges’ gineral in the land?”

Pomp saw the point and wilted. He slunk into the galley, muttering:

“I jes’ fix dat I’ishman fo’ pretendin’ to know so much. I jes’ hab a dose ready fo’ him yet!”

What this was we must wait for a later hour to decide. For the present we will consider nearer incidents.

In due course New Orleans was sighted. The air-ship hung over the southern city.

Frank looked for a certain signal, which he saw finally upon the roof of one of the houses.

It was a yellow flag.

At once the air-ship bore down upon it and soon descended within fifty feet of the roof. Up through a skylight popped Captain Nicodemus.

“Ahoy the ship!” he cried.