The rest of the day passed in tedious inaction Night fell, and the bow searchlights of the airship played incessantly upon the tramp. Day dawned and found, as Dacres had predicted, that the gale had expended itself, and although the seas still ran high, the angry waves were rapidly subsiding.
It was now safe for the "Meteor" to approach within hand-signalling distance. The officers and crew of the "Quickstep" were all on deck, curiously regarding the airship, but there were no signs of Durango and the two Valderians.
"What airship is that?" came from the tramp.
"The 'Meteor.'"
"We doubt it."
"But we are; if you'll heave-to and send a boat we will prove it."
"What do you want?"
"You have three men on board, rescued from a water-logged boat."
"What of it?"
"One is the outlaw, Durango."