some plan of capture so peculiar as to baffle the madman--a man, by the
bye, of enormous physical strength, and with a madman's cunning. Peters
stood drinking in every word spoken by the Duke; whilst Pym listened as
if heartbroken, but in an impatient, anxious way, indicative of a
restless impulse to be gone. The Duke continued to instruct and advise
them, until a large sail-boat was provisioned and manned, when the
rescue party hastened away on its errand of love and mercy.

"The party consisted of the young man Diregus, Lilama's cousin; of Pym
and Peters; and of six boatmen, who might or might not be employed
directly in the attack and rescue, as should later seem best. The party
had no weapons other than a few peculiarly-shaped clubs, similar to
those mentioned by me in describing the fight of the early Hili-lites
against the invading barbarians, and a long dirk-knife in the possession
of Peters.

"By glancing at this map of Hili-liland, you will observe that the
sea-course to 'Crater Mountains' was almost direct, it lying in a
straight line out of Hili-li Bay and across the open sea for thirty
miles. They were to enter 'Volcano Bay,' which pursued a tortuous course
amid the mountains, until they should reach a certain pass between two
of the highest mountains in the whole range. In the centre of one of
these mountains was a peak some eight miles high, named by the founders
of Hili-li 'Mount Olympus.' It was possible to sail (or to push their
boat) to within seven miles of a point where the lavabed was still red
hot--about thirteen miles from the edge of the central, white-hot,
boiling lava. This, however, they did not do; first, because the pass
mentioned, which was the best course up into the mountains, began about
three or four miles short of the inner extremity of Volcano Bay; and
second, because within a mile or two of that extremity the water of the