"There was no love lost between my brother and the murderer of ex-President Santobar. Gerald point-blank refused to have any truck with Zaypuru; and because of this refusal my brother was arrested and thrown into prison, where he still remains.
"It is with the primary object of rescuing my brother from the clutches of President Zaypuru that my Dreadnought of the Air—the 'Meteor,' as I have named her—has now become an airship in being."
"But surely," remarked Dacres, taking advantage of a pause in the narrative, "surely the British government would take up the matter, since the life and liberty of one of its subjects is at stake?"
"You have not yet heard all of the business, Dacres. In the first place, the lethargy of the British government is proverbial. The time has passed when England would strike and explain afterwards. Now a long-winded and generally futile course of diplomatic relations is the order of things. My own opinion is that sooner than release my brother President Zaypuru would put him out of the way, disclaim knowledge of the act, and if pressed offer apologies and a monetary indemnity.
"But there is another phase in the story of Valderia. You remember, of course, a renegade called von Harburg?"
"The fellow Captain Restronguet tracked and eventually discovered dead somewhere in Portuguese East Africa. Yes, and curiously enough I met Hythe in town this afternoon."
"In all probability you'll meet again ere long; but to carry on. Von Harburg's base was in the Dutch East Indies, and, when the 'Vorwartz' was captured, the renegade's Sumatran retreat was occupied by Dutch troops and the remainder of his gang dispersed.
"The fellow whom von Harburg had left in charge of his repairing-base was a Mexican named Reno Durango. He is a clever rascal, from all accounts, for on being pushed out of Sumatra—he managed, by the by, to get clear with a tidy sum of money—he volunteered his services to President Zaypuru as adviser to the submarine branch of the infant Valderian navy.
"The semi-obsolete French submarines were equipped with many of von Harburg's really dangerous means of offence; while Durango managed to build a large airship from the plans which had been found in Gerald's house. Of course that airship does not embody all my inventions, still it is not to be despised. I would class it as superior to any dirigible now owned by the Great Powers.
"But to get back to the submarine part of my narrative. Reno Durango's ambition was to acquire the secrets of the British 'M' class of submarines—those built to the same type as the renowned 'Aphrodite.' And with this object in view, I hear from a very trustworthy source—from one of my brother's native assistants and a real loyal man to his employer's interests—that Durango is on his way to England to attempt to steal the specifications from the British Admiralty."