"Indeed? Where from?" The Master spoke coldly. This information, far
from seeming important to him as it had to Menendez, appeared the
veriest commonplace. It was nothing but what he had expected and
foreseen. He smiled grimly as he listened to the radio man's answer:

"One squadron has started from Queenstown. The other from the
Azores--from St. Michaels."

"Anything else?"

"Well, sir, now and then I can get a few words they're sending from
plane to plane--or from plane to headquarters. They mean business.
It's capture or kill. They're rating us as pirates."

"Very well. Anything really important?"

"Nothing else, sir."

"Keep me informed, if any real news comes in. But don't disturb me
with trifles!"

The Master hung up the receiver, sat back in his chair and stretched
his long, powerful legs under the desk. He set both elbows on the arms
of the chair, joined his finger-tips and sank his lips upon them.

"I'd better be rigging that vibratory apparatus before long," he
reflected. "But still, there's no immediate hurry. Time enough for all
that. Lots of time."

His thoughts wandered from _Nissr_ and the great adventure, from the