第73章 BOOK III:THE HEART OF MAN(26)

Mr.Challoner,who,from some mysterious impulse of bravado on the part of Brotherson,was to be allowed to make the third in this small band of spectators,was equally concerned at this sight,but not for Brotherson.His fears were for Oswald,whose slowly gathering strength could illy bear the strain which this additional anxiety for his brother's life must impose upon him.As for Doris,she was in a state of excitement more connected with the past than with the future.That afternoon she had laid her hand in that of Orlando Brotherson,and wished him well.She!in whose breast still lingered reminiscences of those old doubts which had beclouded his image for her at their first meeting.She had not been able to avoid it.His look was a compelling one,and it had demanded thus much from her;and -a terrible thought to her gentle spirit -he might be going to his death!

It had been settled by the prospective aviator that they were to watch for the ascent from the mouth of the grassy road leading in to the hangar.The three were to meet there at a quarter to eight and await the stroke and the air-cars rise.That time was near,and Mr.Challoner,catching a glimpse of Oswald's pallid and unnaturally drawn features,as he set down the lantern he carried,shuddered with foreboding and wished the hour passed.

Doris'watchful glance never left the face whose lightest change was more to her than all Orlando's hopes.But the result upon her was not to weaken her resolution,but to strengthen it.Whatever the outcome of the next few minutes,she must stand ready to sustain her invalid through it.That the darkness of early evening had deepened to oppression,was unnoticed for the moment.The fears of an hour past had been forgotten.Their attention was too absorbed in what was going on before them,for even a glance overhead.

Suddenly Mr.Challoner spoke.

"Who is the man whom Mr.Brotherson has asked to go up with him?"It was Oswald who answered.

"He has never told me.He has kept his own counsel about that as about everything else connected with this matter.He simply advised me that I was not to bother about him any more;that he had found the assistant he wanted.""Such reticence seems unpardonable.You have -displayed great patience,Oswald.""Because I understand Orlando.He reads men's natures like a book.

The man he trusts,we may trust.To-morrow,he will speak openly enough.All cause for reticence will be gone.

"You have confidence then in the success of this undertaking?""If I hadn't,I should not be here.I could hardly bear to witness his failure,even in a secret test like this.I should find it too hard to face him afterwards.""I don't understand."

"Orlando has great pride.If this enterprise fails I cannot answer for him.He would be capable of anything.Why,Doris!what is the matter,child?I never saw you look like that before."She had been down on her knees regulating the lantern,and the sudden flame,shooting up,had shown him her face turned up towards his in an apprehension which verged on horror.

"Do I look frightened?"she asked,remembering herself and lightly rising."I believe that I am a little frightened.If -if anything should go wrong!If an accident-"But here she remembered herself again and quickly changed her tone."But your confidence shall be mine.I will believe in his good angel or -or in his self-command and great resolution.I'll not be frightened any more."But Oswald did not seem satisfied.He continued to look at her in vague concern.

He hardly knew what to make of the intense feeling she had manifested.Had Orlando touched her girlish heart?Had this cold-blooded nature,with its steel-like brilliancy and honourable but stern views of life,moved this warm and sympathetic soul to more than admiration?The thought disturbed him so he forgot the nearness of the moment they were all awaiting till a quick rasping sound from the hangar,followed by the sudden appearance of an ever-widening band of light about its upper rim,drew his attention and awakened them all to a breathless expectation.

The lid was rising.Now it was half-way up,and now,for the first time,it was lifted to its full height and stood a broad oval disc against the background of the forest.The effect was strange.The hangar had been made brilliant by many lamps,and their united glare pouring from its top and illuminating not only the surrounding treetops but the broad face of this uplifted disc,roused in the awed spectator a thrill such as in mythological times might have greeted the sudden sight of Vulcan's smithy blazing on Olympian hills.But the clang of iron on iron would have attended the flash and gleam of those unexpected fires,and here all was still save for that steady throb never heard in Olympus or the halls of Valhalla,the pant of the motor eager for flight in the upper air.

As they listened in a trance of burning hope which obliterated all else,this noise and all others near and distant,was suddenly lost in a loud clatter of writhing and twisting boughs which set the forest in a roar and seemed to heave the air about them.

A wind had swooped down from the east,bending everything before it and rattling the huge oval on which their eyes were fixed as though it would tear it from its hinges.

The three caught at each other's hands in dismay.The storm had come just on the verge of the enterprise,and no one might guess the result.

"Will he dare?Will he dare?"whispered Doris,and Oswald answered,though it seemed next to impossible that he could have heard her:

"He will dare.But will he survive it?Mr.Challoner,"he suddenly shouted in that gentleman's ear,"what time is it now?"Mr.Challoner,disengaging himself from their mutual grasp,knelt down by the lantern to consult his watch.

"One minute to eight,"he shouted back.