age who now stood before me. Apparently he had not
then been animated by sentiments hostile to humanity. He was content
to await the future; though his attitude undeniably revealed the
immeasurable confidence which he had in his own genius, the immense
pride which his almost superhuman powers had aroused within him.

It was not astonishing, moreover, that this haughtiness had little by
little been aggravated to such a degree that he now presumed to
enslave the entire world, as his public letter had suggested by its
significant threats. His vehement mind had with time been roused to
such over-excitement that he might easily be driven into the most
violent excesses.

As to what had happened in the years since the last departure of the
"Albatross," I could only partly reconstruct this even with my
present knowledge. It had not sufficed the prodigious inventor to
create a flying machine, perfect as that was! He had planned to
construct a machine which could conquer all the elements at once.
Probably in the workshops of Island X, a selected body of devoted
workmen had constructed, one by one, the pieces of this marvelous
machine, with its quadruple transformation. Then the second
"Albatross" must have carried these pieces to the Great Eyrie, where
they had been put together, within easier access of the world of men
than the far-off island had permitted. The "Albatross" itself had
apparently been destroyed, whether by accident or design, within the
eyrie. The "Terror" had then made its appearance on the roads of the
United States and in the neighboring waters. And I have told under
what conditions, after having been vainly pursued across Lake Erie,
this remarkable masterpiece had risen through the air carrying me a
prisoner on board.

Chapter 17

IN THE NAME OF THE LAW

What was to be the issue of this remarkable adventure? Could I bring
it to any denouement whatever, either sooner or later? Did not Robur
hold the results wholly in his own hands? Probably I would never have
such an opportunity for escape as had occurred to Mr. Prudent and Mr.
Evans amid the islands of the Pacific. I could only wait. And how
long might the waiting last!

To be sure, my curiosity had been partly satisfied. But even now I
knew only the answer to the problems of the Great Eyrie. Having at
length penetrated its circle, I comprehended all the phenomena
observed by the people of the Blueridge Mountains. I was assured that
neither th