an unguarded moment, struck me on the shoulder,
fortunately with only one point of his spear, drawing blood.
Flathootly, who saw the blow, emptied his revolver in his breast, and
he fell to earth a dead man. I was surprised that the enemy had not
already annihilated my men, for, notwithstanding their fear of the
sailors' revolvers, three of the sailors had been killed. It was
terrible news to think of my brave fellows being slaughtered, but I
was determined to have revenge. I singled out Gossody, the leader of
the wayleals, and rushing forward on my bockhockid, aimed at his head
with my revolver, and instantly killed him. The death of their leader
paralyzed the wayleals for a time. Before they could recover from
their surprise, we killed a number of them. The enemy, once more
rallying, made a fresh attack. They hoped to either kill or capture us
by sheer force of superior numbers. We killed dozens of them, but at a
fearful cost. Six of the bockhockids and three more of our own sailors
bit the dust. It was quite evident that it would be only a question of
time before we would be completely annihilated. I saw that it was
necessary for us to reach Kioram without further fighting. We could
not afford to risk the life of another man, even to gain a complete
victory. I therefore ordered a flying retreat. The bockhockids were
arranged in a circle, in the midst of which flew our sailors. We
struck out for Kioram with the speed of the wind, pursued by an
ever-increasing horde of wayleals thirsting for our blood. Such was
our speed of motion that the thrusts of the enemy were ineffectual. It
was a magnificent sight to see the giant machines, like flying cranes,
devouring distance with their wings, each ridden by a winged warrior.
Wearied and exhausted with our fight, and still longer period of
flight, it was a welcome sight to see beneath us the city of Kioram,
and the _Polar King_ riding at anchor in the outer harbor, beyond
which lay the royal navy of Atvatabar.

When within sight of the city the enemy unexpectedly gave up the
chase, and did not follow us further. We soon gained the ship, and in
a short time our bockhockids decorated the masts and rigging. The
story of my imprisonment and the massacre of the six sailors of the
force sent to escort me to Kioram was soon told, and a more determined
crew never trod the deck of ship of war. We would teach Bhoolmakar a
lesson he would never forget!

CHAPTER XLI.

WE ARE A