, and its commerce would make both the earths
rich beyond the dreams of fortune. I was determined that the royal
magnificence of the thrones of all time on either surface of the earth
should be outrivalled by the supreme glory of that of Atvatabar. I
knew there was an inspiration to human endeavor that magnificence
alone can give, and would use my wealth to advance the happiness of
humanity.

Lyone being at last fully restored to health, we determined to delay
no longer the important ceremonies of our royal marriage and
coronation, not only to complete our happiness, but to really
establish the government on a personal basis so agreeable to the
wishes and customs of the people.

Lyone's aerial yacht was made ready for the journey to Calnogor. It
was large enough to carry the captains, officers, and men of the
_Mercury_ and _Aurora Borealis_, the captain, officers, and men of the
_Polar King_, as well as Lyone and myself and the great officers of
state and retinue. All being safely on board, I gave the signal for
flight, and in a moment we were launched on the air with tremendous
speed.

CHAPTER LVI.

OUR RECEPTION IN CALNOGOR.

The royal city of Calnogor never contained such splendor, such
importance of historic event, nor such a multitude of people, as on
the occasion of the triple event of our marriage, our coronation, and
the reception of the distinguished strangers from beyond the Polar
Gulf. How shall the glory of that day be described? What occult power
must animate the pen that must be at once the stylus of a poet, the
brush of a painter, and the wand of a magician, to do justice to the
splendid theme?

The entire army, composed of half a million wayleals, had come from
Calnogor to Kioram to escort the aerial ship containing myself, Lyone,
and the distinguished strangers, together with our retinue and the
sailors from America and Great Britain. On either side of the ship the
army was massed in two equal hosts, waving a million of wings. Either
army was led by a phalanx of flying bockhockids, led by Yermoul and
Grasnagallipas. A body-guard of wayleals bore fifty gigantic golden
sceptres, being the ensigns of sovereignty over the fifty provinces of
the kingdom.

All the way to Calnogor, five hundred miles distant, the army
performed the most incredible evolutions to the measured thunders of
music. Its legions massed themselves in ever-whirling globes,
undulating all along the line of flight like