"Look out, sir!" he hailed; "there are half a dozen aeroplanes bearing down upon us."
"Cast off, there!" ordered Vaughan Whittinghame calmly.
The "Meteor" soared skywards, although not so swiftly as was her wont. The heavy drain upon her store of ultra-hydrogen was beginning to make itself felt.
Dacres watched her receding bulk with envious eyes. He would have given much to have formed one of the band of aerial warriors; but duty compelled him to remain, an eager spectator of the forthcoming encounter, on the position he had held so doggedly against the guns of Fort Volador. Setchell had made a mistake in stating the number of the hostile aircraft to be half a dozen. There were five of the latest type of Valderian aeroplanes, each capable of rendering a good account of itself, had they been properly handled.
Hoping to take advantage of the great airship being close to the ground, the airmen left Naocuanha, and, flying fairly low, made a wide detour so as to approach from a direction whence danger was least expected.
Seeing the "Meteor" rise, they too tilted their elevating planes, and in a semi-circular formation rushed at top speed upon this surprised foe.
Suddenly the airship's propellers began to run at full speed. She did not belie her name as she shot forward, firing from her after-guns as she did so.
The aeroplanes replying with their comparatively feeble automatic guns, were completely outdistanced, till the "Meteor," slowing down, lured them on.
Before the Valderian mosquitoes could approach within range the airship was off again, till she was almost out of sight of the watchers on the Cavarale. Dacres understood her tactics. Vaughan Whittinghame wanted to entice the biplanes away from the vicinity of the Cavarale, whose garrison would otherwise be at the mercy of the aviators. On the other hand, he dared not risk an attack at an effective range, owing to the fact that, in addition to Rear-Admiral Maynebrace and his staff, the "Meteor" carried Antoine de la Fosse and his son, and also the two men from the British merchant vessel whose arrest by Zaypuru had been the commencement of the dispute.
Presently the "Meteor" was observed to be returning towards Naocuanha, the five aeroplanes hanging on in pursuit. When within a mile of the Cavarale she rose to an additional height of two thousand feet. The biplanes, fearing to be annihilated by an aerial bomb, swerved right and left. Doubling like a hare the airship proved conclusively that her turning powers were, in spite of her length and bulk, superior to those of the Valderian aircraft, but owing to her speed and the smallness of the swiftly-moving targets, she made no palpable hits with her two stern-chasers.