t Government motor,
with awnings out, slide up the road from the direction of Fulham; and
yet five minutes more before the three men appeared with their servants
behind them--Maxwell, Snowford and Cartwright, all alike, as was Oliver,
in white duck from head to foot.

They did not speak one word of their business, for the officials were
going to and fro, and it was advisable to guard against even the
smallest possibility of betrayal. The guard had been told that the volor
was required for a three days' journey, that provisions were to be taken
in for that period, and that the first point towards which the course
was to lie was the centre of the South Downs. There would be no stopping
for at least a day and a night.

Further instructions had reached them from the President on the previous
morning, by which time He had completed His visitation, and received the
assent of the Emergency Councils of the world. This Snowford commented
upon in an undertone, and added a word or two as to details, as the four
stood together looking out over the city.

Briefly, the plan was as follows, at least so far as it concerned
England. The volor was to approach Palestine from the direction of the
Mediterranean, observing to get into touch with France on her left and
Spain on her right within ten miles of the eastern end of Crete. The
approximate hour was fixed at twenty-three (eastern time). At this point
she was to show her night signal, a scarlet line on a white field; and
in the event of her failing to observe her neighbours was to circle at
that point, at a height of eight hundred feet, until either the two were
sighted or further instructions were received. For the purpose of
dealing with emergencies, the President's car, which would finally make
its entrance from the south, was to be accompanied by an _aide-de-camp_
capable of moving at a very high speed, whose signals were to be taken
as Felsenburgh's own.

So soon as the circle was completed, having Esdraelon as its centre with
a radius of five hundred and forty miles, the volors were to advance,
dropping gradually to within five hundred feet of sea-level, and
diminishing their distance one from another from the twenty-five miles
or so at which they would first find themselves, until they were as near
as safety allowed. In this manner the advance at a pace of fifty miles
an hour from the moment that the circle was arranged would bring them
within sight of Nazareth at about nine