'Ah well! there are certain other things, however, which you do not know--cannot know--which I will now explain. In the first place, you do not know that my master is a great king in Mars--a mighty ruler over nearly half the population of that globe. His name is Ivanta; he reigns over the empire of Ivenia--which, by-the-by, is the name of this airship, as you called it. He named her the _Ivenia_, after his own country.'
Gerald listened with growing wonder, and eyes that lighted up more and more as the stranger continued:
'Very well! The next thing is that this is not the first visit my master has paid to this Earth. He came here some years ago.'
At this Gerald stared harder than ever. 'Is it possible?' he exclaimed. 'I never heard of it!'
'Nobody--on the Earth--ever heard of it, save myself and one or two others who were all sworn to secrecy. My royal master came here for purposes of his own, and did not wish--and does not wish now--that his visits should be made known. If they were, he would have a lot of people pestering him with questions, and possibly some one might imitate his inventions and build airships like this one, and he might have explorers from here coming over to Mars--which he does not wish. Do you understand?'
'Very well! At his first visit he came to this very island, and made it his headquarters. It was uninhabited then'----
'Yes; so it was when we came to it. We have only been here a year or so.'
'I see. Well, my master hoped to find the place still uninhabited, and that he would be able to hide the _Ivenia_ away here this time, as he did before, when no one upon the Earth was ever the wiser, save the one or two I have referred to. He had brought with him a yacht of his own. She made a bit of a stir, being unlike anything previously seen, but no one suspected the truth. In her he made a tour of the world, travelling about for three years, during which time he and his chosen companions picked up English, a little French, and so on. They also picked me up, and I also saved the king's life, even as you have done, though in a different manner. He was so grateful for what I did that he told me his secret, and offered to enrol me in his service and take me back to Mars with him. I had nothing particular to tie me here, and I am fond of adventure, so I took him at his royal word. Now you can begin to understand how it is that I, an Englishman by birth, Kendal Monck by name, engineer by profession, happen to be here, in these days, in the suite of this great king from another planet, and talking to you in your own tongue!'