Amen!--and I knew that everything was going smoothly, I went into the
wheel-house and took forty winks." He said all this without moving so
much as an eyelid, from which I gathered that he wished absolute silence
to be observed on my part. Whilst I was revolving this in my mind he
went on:

"Touching that request, sir. When I have left you and the Voivode--and
the Voivodin, of course--at Vissarion, together with such others as you
may choose to bring there with you, may I bring the yacht back here for a
spell? I rather think that there is a good deal of cleaning up to be
done, and the crew of _The Lady_ with myself are the men to do it. We
shall be back by nightfall at the creek." "Do as you think best, Admiral Rooke," I said. "Admiral?" "Yes, Admiral. At present I can only say that tentatively, but by
to-morrow I am sure the National Council will have confirmed it. I am
afraid, old friend, that your squadron will be only your flagship for the
present; but later we may do better." "So long as I am Admiral, your honour, I shall have no other flagship
than _The Lady_. I am not a young man, but, young or old, my pennon
shall float over no other deck. Now, one other favour, Mr. Sent Leger? It is a corollary of the first, so I do not hesitate to ask. May I
appoint Lieutenant Desmond, my present First Officer, to the command of
the battleship? Of course, he will at first only command the prize crew;
but in such case he will fairly expect the confirmation of his rank
later. I had better, perhaps, tell you, sir, that he is a very capable
seaman, learned in all the sciences that pertain to a battleship, and
bred in the first navy in the world." "By all means, Admiral. Your nomination shall, I think I may promise
you, be confirmed." Not another word we spoke. I returned with him in his boat to _The
Lady_, which was brought to the dock wall, where we were received with
tumultuous cheering. I hurried off to my Wife and the Voivode. Rooke, calling Desmond to him,
went on the bridge of _The Lady_, which turned, and went out at terrific
speed to the battleship, which was already drifting up northward on the
tide. FROM THE REPORT OF CRISTOFEROS, SCRIBE OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE
LAND OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. _July_ 8, 1907. The meeting of the National Council, July 6, was but a continuation of
that held before the rescue of the Voivodin Vissarion, the members of the
Council having been during the intervening night housed in the Castle of
Vissarion. When, in the early morning, they met, all were jubilant; for
late at night the fire-signal had flamed up from Ilsin with the glad news
that the Voivode Peter Vissarion was safe, having been rescued with great
daring on an aeroplane by his daughter and the Gospodar Rupert, as the
people call him--Mister Rupert Sent Leger, as he is in his British name
and degree. Whilst the Council was sitting, word came that a great peril to the town
of Ilsin had been averted. A war-vessel acknowledging to no nationality,
and therefore to be deemed a pirate, had threatened to bombard the town;
but just before the time fixed for the fulfilment of her threat, she was
shaken to such an extent by some sub-aqueous means that, though she
herself was seemingly uninjured, nothing was left alive on board. Thus
the Lord preserves His own! The consideration of this, as well as the
other incident, was postponed until the coming Voivode and the Gospodar
Rupert, together with who were already on their way hither. THE SAME (LATER IN THE SAME DAY). The Council resumed its sitting at four o'clock. The Voivode Peter
Vissarion and the Voivodin Teuta had arrived with the "Gospodar Rupert,"
as the mountaineers call him (Mr. Rupert Sent Leger) on the armoured
yacht he calls _The Lady_. The National Council showed great pleasure
when the Voivode entered the hall in which the Council met. He seemed
much gratified by the reception given to him. Mr. Rupert Sent Leger, by
the express desire of the Council, was asked to be present at the
meeting. He took a seat at the bottom of the hall, and seemed to prefer
to remain there, though asked by the President of the Council to sit at
the top of the table with himself and the Voivode. When the formalities of such Councils had been completed, the Voivode
handed to the President a memorandum of his report on his secret mission
to foreign Courts on behalf of the National Council. He then explained
at length, for the benefit of the various members of the Council, the
broad results of his mission. The result was, he said, absolutely
satisfactory. Everywhere he had been received with distinguished
courtesy, and given a sympathetic hearing. Several of the Powers
consulted had made delay in giving final answers, but this, he explained,
was necessarily due to new considerations arising from the international
complications which were universally dealt with throughout the world as
"the Balkan Crisis." In time, however (the Voivode went on), these
matters became so far declared as to allow the waiting Powers to form
definite judgment--which, of course, they did not declare to him--as to
their own ultimate action. The final result--if at this initial stage
such tentative setting forth of their own attitude in each case can be so
named--was that he returned full of hope (founded, he might say, upon a
justifiable personal belief) that the Great Powers throughout the
world--North, South, East, and West--were in thorough sympathy with the
Land of the Blue Mountains in its aspirations for the continuance of its
freedom. "I also am honoured," he continued, "to bring to you, the Great
Council of the nation, the assurance of protection against unworthy
aggression on the part of neighbouring nations of present greater
strength." Whilst he was speaking, the Gospodar Rupert was writing a few words on a
strip of paper, which he sent up to the President. When the Voivode had
finished speaking, there was a prolonged silence. The President rose,
and in a hush said that the Council would like to hear Mr. Rupert Sent
Leger, who had a communication to make regarding certain recent events. Mr. Rupert Sent Leger rose, and reported how, since he had been entrusted
by the Council with the rescue of the Voivode Peter of Vissarion, he had,
by aid of the Voivodin, effected the escape of the Voivode from the
Silent Tower; also that, following this happy event, the mountaineers,
who had made a great cordon round the Tower so soon as it was known that
the Voivode had been imprisoned within it, had stormed it in the night. As a determined resistance was offered by the marauders, who had used it
as a place of refuge, none of these escaped. He then went on to tell how
he sought interview with the Captain of the strange warship, which,
without flying any flag, invaded our waters. He asked the President to
call on me to read the report of that meeting. This, in obedience to his
direction, I did. The acquiescent murmuring of the Council showed how
thoroughly they endorsed Mr.