Once more the scene rolled backwards, and he saw a mighty city closely beleaguered by two vast hosts of men, who slowly pushed their batteries forward until they planted them on all the surrounding heights, and poured a hail of shot and sh.e.l.l upon the swarming, helpless millions that were crowded within the impa.s.sable ring of fire and smoke. Above the devoted city swam in mid-air strange shapes like monstrous birds of prey, and beneath where they floated the earth seemed ever and anon to open and belch forth smoke and flame into which the crumbling houses fell and burnt in heaps of shapeless ruins. Then----
He felt a cool hand laid almost caressingly on his brow, and the voice of Natas said beside him--
"That is enough. You have seen the Field of Armageddon, and when the day of battle comes you shall be there and play the part allotted to you from the beginning. Do you believe?"
"Yes," replied Tremayne, rising wearily from his chair, "I believe; and as the task is, so may Heaven make my strength in the stress of battle!"
"Amen!" said Natas very solemnly.
That night the young Lord of Alanmere went sleepless to bed, and lay awake till dawn, revolving over and over again in his mind the marvellous things that he had seen and heard, and the tremendous task to which he had now irrevocably committed himself for good or evil.
In all these waking dreams there was ever present before his mental vision the face of a woman whose beauty was like and yet unlike that of the daughter of Natas. It lacked the brilliance and subtle charm which in Natasha so wondrously blended the dusky beauty of the daughters of the South with the fairer loveliness of the daughters of the North; but it atoned for this by that softer grace and sweetness which is the highest charm of purely English beauty.
It was the face of the woman whom, in that portion of his strange double life which had been free from the mysterious influence of Natas, he had loved with well-a.s.sured hope that she would one day rule his house and broad domains with him. She was now Lady Muriel Penarth, the daughter of Lord Marazion, a Cornish n.o.bleman, whose estates ab.u.t.ted on those which belonged to Lord Alanmere as Baron Tremayne, of Tremayne, in the county of Cornwall, as the _Peerage_ had it. n.o.ble alike by lineage and nature, no fairer mistress could have been found for the lands of Tremayne and Alanmere, but--what seas of blood and flame now lay between him and the realisation of his love-ideal!
He must forsake his own, and become a revolutionary and an outcast from Society. He must draw the sword upon the world and his own race, and, armed with the most awful means of destruction that the wit of man had ever devised, he must fight his way through universal war to that peace which alone he could ask her to share with him. Still much could be done before he took the final step of severance which might be perpetual, and he would lose no time in doing it.
As soon as it was fairly light, he rose and took a long, rapid walk over the home park, and when he returned to breakfast at nine he had resolved to execute forthwith a deed of gift, transferring the whole of his vast property, which was unentailed and therefore entirely at his own disposal, to the woman who was to have shared it with him in a few months as his wife. If the Fates were kind, he would come back from the world-war and reclaim both the lands and their mistress, and if not he would have the satisfaction of knowing that his broad acres at least had a worthy mistress.
At breakfast he met Natas again, and during the meal one of his footmen entered, bringing the letters that had come by the morning post.
There were several letters for each of them, those for Natas being addressed to "Herr F. Niemand," and for some time they were both employed in looking through their correspondence. Suddenly Natas looked up, and said--
"When do you expect to hear that Arnold is off the south coast?"
"Almost any day now; in fact, within the week, if everything has gone right. Here is a letter from Johnston to say that the _Lurline_ has arrived at Plymouth, and that a bright look-out is being kept for him. He will telegraph here and to the club in London as soon as the air-ship is sighted. Twenty-four hours will then see us on board the _Ariel_, or whichever of the ships he comes in."
"I hope the news will come soon, for Michael Roburoff, the President"s brother, who has been in command of the American Section, cables to say that he sails from New York the day after to-morrow with detailed accounts. That means that he will come with full reports of what the Section has done and will be ready to do when the time comes, and also what the enemy are doing.
"He sails in the _Aurania_, and as the Atlantic routes are swarming with war-ships and torpedo-boats, she will probably have to run the gauntlet, and it is of the last importance that Michael and his reports reach us safely. It will therefore be necessary for the air-ship to meet the _Aurania_ as soon as possible on her pa.s.sage, and take him off her before any harm happens to him. If he and his reports fell into the hands of the enemy, there is no telling what might happen."
"As nearly as I can calculate," said Tremayne, "the air-ship should be sighted in three days from now, perhaps in two. It will take the _Aurania_ over four days to cross the Atlantic, and so we ought to be able to meet her somewhere in mid-ocean if she is able to get so far without being overhauled. Unfortunately she is known to be a British ship and subsidised by the British Government, so there will be very little chance of her getting through under the American flag. Still she"s about the fastest steamer afloat, and will take a lot of catching."
"And if the worst comes and she falls into the hands of the enemy, we must fight our first naval battle and retake her, even if we have to sink a few cruisers to do so," added Natas; "for, come what may, Michael must not be captured."
"Arnold will almost certainly come in his flagship, and if she is what he promised, she should be more than a match for a whole fleet, so I don"t think there is much to fear unless the _Aurania_ gets sunk before we reach her," said Tremayne.
Natas and his host devoted the rest of the forenoon to their correspondence, and to making the final arrangements for leaving Alanmere. Tremayne wrote full instructions to his lawyers for the drawing up of the deed, and directed them to have it ready for his signature by two o"clock on the following day. After lunch he rode over to Knaresborough himself with the post-bag, telegraphed an abstract of his instructions in advance, and ordered his private saloon carriage to be attached to the up express which pa.s.sed through at eight the next morning.
CHAPTER XXI.
JUST IN TIME.
As the train drew up in King"s Cross station at twelve the next day, almost the first words that Tremayne heard were--
"Special _Pall Mall_, sir! Appearance of the mysterious air-ship over Plymouth this morning! Great battle in Austria yesterday, defeat of the Austrians--awful slaughter with war-balloons! Special!"
The boy was selling the papers as fast as he could hand them out to the eager pa.s.sengers. Tremayne secured one, shut the door of the saloon again, and, turning to the middle page, read aloud to Natas--
"We have just received a telegram from our Plymouth correspondent, to say that soon after daybreak this morning torpedo-boat No. 157 steamed into the Sound, bringing the news that she had sighted a large five-masted air-ship about ten miles from the coast, when in company with the cruiser _Ariadne_, whose commander had despatched her with the news. Hardly had the report been received when the air-ship herself pa.s.sed over Mount Edgc.u.mbe and came towards the town.
"The news spread like wildfire, and in a few minutes the streets were filled with crowds of people, who had thrown on a few clothes and rushed out to get a look at the strange visitant. At first it was thought that an attack on the a.r.s.enal was intended by the mysterious vessel, and the excitement had risen almost to the pitch of panic, when it was observed that she was flying a plain white flag, and that her intentions were apparently peaceful.
"Panic then gave place to curiosity. The air-ship crossed the town at an elevation of about 3000 feet, described a complete circle round it in the s.p.a.ce of a few minutes, and then suddenly shot up into the air and vanished to the south-westward at an inconceivable speed. The vessel is described as being about a hundred feet long, and was apparently armed with eight guns. Her hull was of white polished metal, probably aluminium, and shone like silver in the sunlight.
"The wildest rumours are current as to the object of her visit, but of course no credence can be attached to any of them. The vessel is plainly of the same type as that which destroyed Kronstadt two months ago, but larger and more powerful. The inference is that she is one of a fleet in the hands of the Terrorists, and the profoundest uncertainty and anxiety prevail throughout naval and military circles everywhere as to the use that they may make of these appalling means of destruction should they take any share in the war."
"Humph!" said Tremayne, as he finished reading. "Johnston"s telegram must have crossed us on the way, but I shall find one at the club.
Well, we have no time to lose, for we ought to start for Plymouth this evening. Your men will take you straight to the Great Western Hotel, and I will hurry my business through as fast as possible, and meet you there in time to catch the 6.30. At this rate we shall meet the _Aurania_ soon after she leaves New York."
Within the next six hours Tremayne transferred the whole of his vast property in a single instrument to his promised wife, thus making her the richest woman in England; handed the precious deeds to her astonished father; obtained his promise to take his wife and daughter to Alanmere at the end of the London season, and to remain there with her until he returned to reclaim her and his estates together; and said good-bye to Lady Muriel herself in an interview which was a good deal longer than that which he had with his bewildered and somewhat scandalised lawyers, who had never before been forced to rush any transaction through at such an indecent speed. Had Lord Alanmere not been the best client in the kingdom, they might have rebelled against such an outrage on the law"s time-honoured delays; but he was not a man to be trifled with, and so the work was done and an unbeatable record in legal despatch accomplished, albeit very unwillingly, by the men of law.
By midnight the _Lurline_, ostensibly bound for Queenstown, had cleared the Sound, and, with the Eddystone Light on her port bow, headed away at full-speed to the westward. She was about the fastest yacht afloat, and at a pinch could be driven a good twenty-seven miles an hour through the water. As both Natas and Tremayne were anxious to join the air-ship as soon as possible, every ounce of steam that her boilers would stand was put on, and she slipped along in splendid style through the long, dark seas that came rolling smoothly up Channel from the westward.
In an hour and a half after pa.s.sing the Eddystone she sighted the Lizard Light, and by the time she had brought it well abeam the first interruption of her voyage occurred. A huge, dark ma.s.s loomed suddenly up out of the darkness of the moonless night, then a blinding, dazzling ray of light shot across the water from the searchlight of a battleship that was patrolling the coast, attended by a couple of cruisers and four torpedo-boats. One of these last came flying towards the yacht down the white path of the beam of light, and Tremayne, seeing that he would have to give an account of himself, stopped his engines and waited for the torpedo-boat to come within hail.
"Steamer ahoy! Who are you? and where are you going to at that speed?"
"This is the _Lurline_, the Earl of Alanmere"s yacht, from Plymouth to Queenstown. We"re only going at our usual speed."
"Oh, if it"s the _Lurline_, you needn"t say that," answered the officer who had hailed from the torpedo-boat, with a laugh. "Is Lord Alanmere on board?"
"Yes, here I am," said Tremayne, replying instead of his sailing-master. "Is that you, Selwyn? I thought I recognised your voice."
"Yes, it"s I, or rather all that"s left of me after two months in this buck-jumping little brute of a craft. She bobs twice in the same hole every time, and if it"s a fairly deep hole she just dives right through and out on the other side; and there are such a lot of Frenchmen about that we get no rest day or night on this patrolling business."
"Very sorry for you, old man; but if you will seek glory in a torpedo-boat, I don"t see that you can expect anything else. Will you come on board and have a drink?"
"No, thanks. Very sorry, but I can"t stop. By the way, have you heard of that air-ship that was over this way this morning? I wonder what the deuce it really is, and what it"s up to?"
"I"ve heard of it; it was in the London papers this morning. Have you seen any more of it?"
"Oh yes; the thing was cruising about in mid-air all this morning, taking stock of us and the Frenchmen too, I suppose. She vanished during the afternoon. Where to, I don"t know. It"s awfully humiliating, you know, to be obliged to crawl about here on the water, at twenty-five knots at the utmost, while that fellow is flying a hundred miles an hour or so through the clouds without turning a hair, or I ought to say without as much as a puff of smoke.
He seems to move of his own mere volition. I wonder what on earth he is."
"Not much on earth apparently, but something very considerable in the air, where I hope he"ll stop out of sight until I get to Queenstown; and as I want to get there pretty early in the morning, perhaps you"ll excuse me saying good-night and getting along, if you won"t come on board."
"No, very sorry I can"t. Good-night, and keep well in to the coast till you have to cross to Ireland. Good-bye?"
"Good-bye!" shouted Tremayne in reply, as the torpedo-boat swung round and headed back to the battleship, and he gave the order to go ahead again at full-speed.
In another hour they were off the Land"s End, and from there they headed out due south-west into the Atlantic. They had hardly made another hundred miles before it began to grow light, and then it became necessary to keep a bright look-out for the air-ship, for according to what they had heard from the commander of the torpedo-boat she might be sighted at any moment as soon as it was light enough to see her.
Another hour pa.s.sed, but there was still no sign of the air-ship.
This of course was to be expected, for they had still another seventy-five miles or so to go before the rendezvous was reached.