*CHAPTER VI.*
*THE KING'S OFFER.*
Gerald felt like one in a dream. His adventure had been such a strangeone, events had followed one another so quickly, the change from fearand almost despair to hope and safety had come so unexpectedly, that hehad scarcely had time to realise all that was going forward. And thenthe stately magnificence of the scene at which he had been present, thesudden revelation of the personality of the being he had rescued--allthese things, crowding into the short space of a single night, made hisbrain reel.
For some time he remained alone, turning these things over and over inhis mind. He almost doubted the evidence of his own senses, and beganvaguely to wonder whether it could all be real, or whether he had fallenasleep and was dreaming some extraordinary, fantastic dream.
After what seemed a long time, the door opened, and some one enteredbehind him; some one who, even before Gerald caught sight of him, wasadding to the confusion of his ideas by speaking to him in English!Turning round sharply, he found himself face to face with a tall,good-looking man with a shrewd, intellectual face, who was regarding himwith a smile which seemed to be half-kindly, half-amused. He wasdressed like some of the principal officers he had seen; but there wasthat in his manner and general appearance which, apart from his speech,seemed to tell Gerald that he was one of his own race.
'Well, young sir, will you tell me your name?' was the query which cameto Gerald's consciousness after a moment or two of bewilderment.
'My name is Gerald Wilton,' he said simply.
'And how did you come into these parts? Parents live round here?'
Gerald shook his head. 'I have none,' he answered sadly. 'I have aguardian, who is at present living on the island, however. His name isArmeath--Mr Marcus Armeath.'
The stranger uttered a long whistle, then he exclaimed, 'So, so! MarcusArmeath living on this island! I knew him some years ago. He was thenin England engaged in some experiments, trying to discover---- Butnever mind that now.'
He broke off abruptly, and regarded Gerald again with his enigmaticsmile, which, however, now seemed to have in it more of friendlyinterest. Then he took to pacing up and down the room, his hands behindhim, as though lost in thought.
'Young sir,' said he presently, 'I don't know what star you were bornunder, but it seems perfectly clear that you are marked out for someexperiences such as scarcely any one else on this Earth can boast of.You are in possession of a great secret, which we wished to keep toourselves; and, further, it has been ordained that you should save thelife of--of--well, of one who is never ungrateful to those who do himeven the smallest service. He is my most gracious master, and he willtalk with you himself later on; but, meanwhile, he has deputed me to seeyou, and prepare your mind for some tremendous facts which you mightotherwise find it difficult to grasp all at once. I am instructed totell you certain things which must appear to you so incredible, soimpossible, that I doubt if you will believe them without furtherproof.'
'I think I can give a good guess at one or two of them, sir; or, rather,my guardian has done so. This monster airship, or whatever you call it,has found its way here from some other planet--probably Mars'----
'My word, young gentleman, you've hit it!' cried the other, in veryevident surprise.
'And,' continued Gerald, 'you made some mistake in arriving here, andvery nearly came to awful grief.'
'Yes, yes! There, too, you guessed well,' returned the other. 'It wasbut a slight miscalculation, but it nearly smashed us up! It was afearfully narrow escape!' He drew out a handkerchief and passed it overhis forehead, as though the mere recollection made him hot. 'I expectthat was Mr Armeath's guess too, wasn't it?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Ah well! there are certain other things, however, which you do notknow--cannot know--which I will now explain. In the first place, you donot know that my master is a great king in Mars--a mighty ruler overnearly half the population of that globe. His name is Ivanta; he reignsover the empire of Ivenia--which, by-the-by, is the name of thisairship, as you called it. He named her the _Ivenia_, after his owncountry.'
Gerald listened with growing wonder, and eyes that lighted up more andmore as the stranger continued:
'Very well! The next thing is that this is not the first visit mymaster 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 twoothers who were all sworn to secrecy. My royal master came here forpurposes of his own, and did not wish--and does not wish now--that hisvisits should be made known. If they were, he would have a lot ofpeople pestering him with questions, and possibly some one might imitatehis inventions and build airships like this one, and he might haveexplorers from here coming over to Mars--which he does not wish. Do youunderstand?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Very well! At his first visit he came to this very island, and made ithis headquarters. It was uninhabited then'----
'Yes; so it was when we came to it. We have only been here a year orso.'
'I see. Well, my master hoped to find the place still uninhabited, andthat he would be able to hide the _Ivenia_ away here this time, as hedid before, when no one upon the Earth was ever the wiser, save the oneor 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 noone suspected the truth. In her he made a tour of the world, travellingabout for three years, during which time he and his chosen companionspicked 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 adifferent manner. He was so grateful for what I did that he told me hissecret, and offered to enrol me in his service and take me back to Marswith him. I had nothing particular to tie me here, and I am fond ofadventure, so I took him at his royal word. Now you can begin tounderstand how it is that I, an Englishman by birth, Kendal Monck byname, engineer by profession, happen to be here, in these days, in thesuite of this great king from another planet, and talking to you in yourown tongue!'
'Yes, sir, I understand,' answered Gerald, his face aglow with interestand excitement. 'It's very, very wonderful! What strange, marvellousscenes and adventures you must have passed through!'
'I have that, my lad! I have passed through many grave dangers too;have had many hair-breadth escapes in the service of my royal master,who is of a very adventurous disposition. His search after knowledgehas led us into queer places, I can assure you. But he is a wonderfulbeing! This marvellous airship was constructed from his own inventionsand designs. And then, as a man---- Ah!' Here the stranger drew along breath. 'His is a character which makes you feel you would gothrough fire and water for him!'
'I 'm sure of it!' cried Gerald with enthusiasm. 'I felt it the firstmoment I set eyes upon him! How I should like to do as you have done--gowith him to Mars and back! What an experience!'
'Ah!' exclaimed the engineer again, 'it would do you good, my lad. Itwould do anybody--everybody--good, physically, morally, in every way.It gives you a different, a more glorious, outlook on life when yourealise that the mighty works of the Creator are not confined to thisglobe on which we live, but extend through endless "universes" in space.Even comparatively near us there are great planets compared with whichthis Earth is scarcely more than a big football. There is Saturn, forinstance. When we were there'----
'You have visited other planets, then, as well?' Gerald gasped.
Monck nodded. 'Yes, even great Jupiter, but we could not get very nearto him. Saturn, however, we landed on, and spent some weeksthere--awful, terrible weeks they were. My young friend, even to thinkof the things to be seen there is almost too much for the ordinary humanbrain. But, as I have said, it does one good. It instils into the mindsome faint conception of the vastness, the greatness, the endlessvariety
to be everywhere found in what we call the creation!'
'Would that your king would make me the offer he made to you!' criedGerald, with glistening eyes.
'Perhaps he will. What if he has?' was the unexpected reply.
Gerald started up from the chair he had been sitting on. 'You cannotmean it!' he exclaimed.
'What would be your reply if he made you the offer?'
'I would accept only too gladly!'
'You see,' Monck explained, 'the service you rendered is one that a manlike my master would never forget. I dare say you wonder how ithappened that he fell into the sea. It was because the air here is sodifferent from that which he is used to upon Mars, and which we all hadbeen living in inside this airship. At his first visit to the Earth,years ago, he was extremely careful, and made the change gradually andcautiously. This time he seems to have been rash, or to have forgotten.Hence the air here--which is thinner and lighter than that onMars--served him as the air on the top of a very high mountain wouldserve you if you were suddenly transported there. He was attacked withwhat you have doubtless heard of as mountain-sickness. There isvertigo, bleeding at the nose and ears, and fainting. However, hisdanger was your opportunity; and I must say you acted very promptly andpluckily.'
'I only did what I would have done for any one,' said Gerald modestly.
'I am sure of that, my boy. But I won't keep you in suspense anylonger. To come to the point, my master said I could make you the offerI have hinted at if I found you were likely to regard it with favour. Ido not want your answer now, of course. You can take time toconsider--there are lots of things we can talk over first. Briefly,however, when we go back to Mars we shall only be away a few months. Atthe end of that time we shall return here again; and if you are thentired of the adventure you will be free to leave his service and remainhere.'
'I do not need any time to make up my mind,' Gerald burst outimpetuously. 'All I should hesitate about would be as to whether myguardian'----
'Well, we can talk to him.'
'And Jack!'
'Who is Jack?'
'My chum! He must come too!'
'Oh--h'm! I don't know what to say about that! You had better ask KingIvanta yourself when you see him!'
'I will!' cried Gerald. And he did, with what result will presentlyappear.