Slowly Morgana began to regain courage. By degrees she realised that she was attaining the wish of her heart--namely, to know what no woman had ever known before. Again she questioned the voice-"You tell me I cannot proceed,"--she said--"Why?"
"Because our city is guarded and fortified by the air,"--was the answer--"We are surrounded by a belt of etheric force through which nothing can pass. A million bombs could not break it,--everything driven against it would be dashed to pieces. We saw you coming--we were surprised, for no air-ship has ever ventured so far--we rang the bells of the city to warn you, and stopped your flight."
The warm gentleness of the voice thrilled her with a sudden sympathy.
"That was kind!" she said, and smiled. Some one smiled in response--or she thought so. Presently she spoke again-"Then you hold me here a prisoner?"
"No. You can return the way you came, quite freely."
"May I not come down and see your city?" "No."
"Why?"
"Because you are not one of us." The Voice hesitated. "And because you are not alone."
Morgana glanced at the prostrate and unconscious forms of Rivardi and Gaspard with a touch of pity.
"My companions are half dead!" she said.
"But not wholly!" was the prompt reply.
"Is it that force you speak of--the force which guards your city--that has struck them down?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Then why was I not also struck down?"
"Because you are what you are!" Then--after a silence--"You are Morgana!"
At this every nerve in her body started quivering like harp strings pulled by testing fingers. The unseen speaker knew her name!--and uttered it with a soft delicacy that made it sound more than musical. She leaned forward, extending a hand as though to touch the invisible.
"How do you know me?" she asked.
"As we all know you,"--came the answer--"Even as YOU have known the inside of a sun-ray!"
She listened, amazed--utterly mystified. Whoever or whatever it was that spoke knew not only her name, but the trend of her earliest studies and theories. The "inside of a sun-ray"! This was what she had only the other day explained to Father Aloysius as being her first experience of real happiness! She tried to set her thoughts in order--to realise her position. Here she was, a fragile human thing, in a flying ship of her own design, held fast by atmospheric force above an unknown city situate somewhere in the Great Desert,--and some one in that city was conversing with her by a method of "wireless" as yet undiscovered by admitted science,--yet communication was perfect and words distinct. Following up the suggestion presented to her she said-"You are speaking to me in English. Are you all English folk in your city?"