You cannot guide a balloon or a vessel, if you could
get possession of one; and within a few hours after your departure was
known, every road and every port would be closed to you."
"Can I not send to your father?" I said.
"Probably," she replied. "I think we shall find a telegraph in your
office, if you will allow me to enter there, now there is no one to
see; and it must be morning in Ecasfe."
Familiar with the construction and arrangement of a Martial house,
Eveena immediately crossed the gallery to what she called the
office--the front room on the right, where the head of the house
carries on his work or study. Here, above a desk attached to the wall,
was one of those instruments whose manipulation was simple enough for
a novice like myself.
"But," I said, "I cannot write your stylic characters; and if I used
the phonic letters, a message from me would be very likely to excite
the curiosity of officials who would care about no other."
"May I," she suggested, "write your message for you, and put your
purport in words that will be understood by my father alone?"
"Do," I rejoined, "but do it in my name, and I will sign it.
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