*CHAPTER XXXV.*
*HOW IVANTA GAINED A FLEET.*
Fumenta and those with him passed through the doorway into a spacious,well-lighted vestibule, in which other doors could be seen leading tothe interior of the building. In particular, there were two large onesin the centre immediately opposite to that by which they had entered.These were evidently very jealously guarded, for at the entrance of thestrangers some armed men, who had been standing in front of them,advanced in a rather threatening manner.
The one who had gone out to meet Fumenta and had brought him in, spoketo the officer in charge of these guards.
'Throw open the doors, friend Medro. It is the Chief.'
'The Chief! And who besides, good Lymento?' asked the officercautiously.
'One for whom I will be answerable,' answered Fumenta brusquely. 'Wastenot time in idle talk. This will be a critical night for us; and we haveno time to lose.'
Without other reply than a salute, the officer turned on his heel andordered his men to throw open the doors. And as they fell back headvanced and cried in sonorous tones, 'Friends all, the Chief!'
Fumenta stepped past him, conducting Ivanta, and called out in ringingaccents, 'And with him the King! Friends, I bring into your midst KingIvanta. He has been deserted by those he trusted. He is, indeed,actually now being hunted by those upon whom he has conferred benefits,and stands at the present moment in sore need of trustworthy friends Iassured him he would find them here. Tell me, have I promised aright?'
Before them was a great hall filled with people in varied dresses, asthough they had been brought together from many different parts. Therewere ragged, rough, but stalwart men, very much of the style ofFumenta's followers; and there were others, both soldiers and civilians,of different grades, some plainly, some richly dressed.
It was, in fact, a meeting gathered from far and near of those of theinhabitants of Iraynia who had secretly sympathised with Fumenta and hisoutlaws, and who had been hoping for, almost expecting, some such 'burstup' as had now taken place between Agrando and Ivanta. And they hadbeen secretly planning to rise, when that time arrived, against Agrandothemselves, and endeavour to throw off his yoke once and for all.
But they had not exactly expected what had actually happened. KingIvanta had always wielded such power, and had shown himself so strong,that the possibility of his ever being in his present position had neverentered into their calculations. Consequently, Fumenta's words fell uponthe assembly almost as a bombshell might have done--that is to say, witha temporarily stunning effect.
For a space there was silence--a dead silence, which seemed at first tobe chilling, irresponsive. Then suddenly some one in the body of thehall jumped up and shouted, 'We have no quarrel with King Ivanta. Weare ready to help him against Agrando! Fumenta, you have done well totell the king that in his present difficulty he will find friends here.'
At once others seized the cue, and hastened to declare their approval ofthe words spoken. A few moments more, and the scene at Fumenta'sstronghold was being repeated here.
'Long live King Ivanta!' was the cry which was taken up on all sides,and repeated till the roof shook.
Fumenta turned to Ivanta with a slight smile upon his usuallyhard-grained visage. 'You hear, oh king! These are the men of Iraynia!You see that I did not act without reason in bringing you here. Allthese will be henceforth your followers, and they, again, have more--athousand times more--at their backs, who will flock to us as soon as thenews spreads.'
Ivanta was visibly affected. Never in his life till this day had heknown what it meant to stand in need of a few true friends. He who hadled conquering armies, and had listened to the acclamations of vastmultitudes representing nearly half the nations of the planet, andreceived the homage of their rulers as his vassals--he was now listeningwith gladness and gratitude to the kindly welcome of those whom hehad--unknowingly, it is true--treated with injustice, and allowedAgrando to tyrannise over!
He now addressed them, telling them in simple but dignified language howhe thanked them all for their welcome; and after a brief conference withtheir chiefs he gladly agreed to their request that he should becometheir leader himself, and for the future take the direction of theoperations they had planned.
Then they conducted him to a large enclosure where a number of airshipswere lying.
'These we seized immediately we heard the news of Agrando's revolt,'Lymento explained. 'Their crews we made prisoners, and they are underlock and key. What we now need is a storage station to keep these craftsupplied with electricity. They have enough reserve power to last a dayor two, but not longer.'
'That station we can seize this very night,' Fumenta again declared.'It is at a place called Crudia, some two hours' journey from here, and,as I have already said, I happen to know that it is at the presentmoment weakly held. But we have no time to lose, for one of the firstthings Agrando will do will doubtless be to reinforce the garrison as aprecaution. Extra men and airships may even now be on their way there,so if we desire to get there first we must hasten. Which of theseairships will you choose, sir, to sail in yourself?'
Rapidly Fumenta ran over the list of their sizes and specialcharacteristics. At the end of it, Ivanta decided that he would keep tohis own yacht.
'My two yachts,' he reminded his new friends, 'are, with the exceptionof my great vessel, the _Ivenia_, the fastest craft in the world. Whenthey cannot fight they can always run away,' he went on meaningly. 'Itmay sound strange, perhaps, to some of you to hear me talk thus ofrunning away; but there are others doubtless among you who willunderstand my meaning. Of late years you have not seen much fighting inthe air, but you may nevertheless be aware that in such warfareswiftness and quick manoeuvring often count for as much as size andnumbers.'
The cheers which greeted this speech showed that his words wereunderstood and their meaning appreciated; and the few remainingpreparations were quickly completed.
Half an hour later Ivanta and Alondra, in their respective yachts,sailed off at the head of a strong squadron of airships, all filled withcrews of enthusiastic followers.