Several others surrounded her, and the fact quickly became manifest
that they recognized her as a superior. Still more surprising was the
discovery, which we were not long in making, that she was actually the
commander of the craft. We could see that the orders which determined its
movements emanated from her.
"Amazons!" exclaimed Jack, taking pains this time to moderate his voice.
"And what a queen they've got!"
During all this time the car and the air ship were slowly drifting nearer
to one another, drawn by that strange attraction which seems to affect
inanimate things when in close neighborhood, and when they were not more
than fifteen yards apart the personage we had been watching slowly lifted
her arm, revealing a glittering bracelet, and, with an ineffably winning
smile, made a gesture which said plainer than any words could have done:
"Welcome, strangers."
CHAPTER VIII
LANGUAGE WITHOUT SPEECH
"That breaks the ice," said the irrepressible Jack. "We're introduced! Now
for the conquest of Venus."
We had all instinctively returned the smile of our beautiful
interlocutor, with bows and gestures of amity, and it looked as though we
might soon be within touch of her hand, for the vessels continued to
drift nearer, when suddenly Juba clambered out of the window and stood
beside us, his moon eyes blinking in the unaccustomed light.
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