"Who made you king?" snorted the captain.
There was silence for the space of ten seconds, during which time the brigand consulted his watch again, then replied:--
"The Allies made me king, particularly you verdammt English when you drove me from my Fatherland with those impossible peace terms. King I am, and king I will remain, of all the aerial regions where I choose to abide, until there comes a better man who can beat me in the air. And you, Captain, of all men, must know from what you have already seen that my powers in that realm are considerable."
The captain, having cooled somewhat after this outburst, had to admit to this German irreconcilable that there was certainly some truth in his statement about being king of the air. Certain things were beginning to dawn upon this English captain, and he was now wondering how far it would be wise to humour the brigand. He added, however, to his admission, the following words, "You are only king by might!"
"Ha! ha!" laughed the outlaw, "but that also is some admission. My position is precisely that of the British in India or Egypt. Withdraw your soldiers from these two countries and what becomes of your government there? So am I King of the Hamadian Desert till a stronger man comes. When that time comes one of us must die. There is no room for two kings, even in the desert. Till then I am supreme. But come, captain, four minutes have passed already. Your bill of lading, quickly now, for we are but wasting time, and these my subjects"--and here the brigand waved his hand towards the restive Arabs--"or rather I should say my customs' officials, are waiting to examine your cargo, and to levy the king's tribute."
The captain looked around first upon his own followers and then upon the impatient Bedouins--the vultures around the carcase.
"I could have brought your ship down in flames, but I preferred a milder method," continued the outlaw, as he watched the seconds of the last minute being ticked away on his jewelled watch.
"But helium will not burn!" returned the captain smartly. "That was beyond your powers."
A mocking, sardonic laugh came from the robber chief as the Englishman uttered these words.
"Would you like to see it burn?" he almost hissed.