apartfrom
sober
humanity
.
He
seemed
to
think
himself
,
at
last
,
released
from
any
such
limitations
.
He
moved
a
quite
considerable
hill
,
and
nearly
sixty
mature
trees
were
moved
with
it
to
open
his
prospect
eastward
,
moved
it
about
two
hundred
feet
to
the
south
.
At
another
time
he
caught
a
suggestion
from
some
city
restaurant
and
made
a
billiard-room
roofed
with
plate
glass
beneath
the
waters
of
his
ornamental
lake
.
He
furnished
one
wing
while
its
roof
still
awaited
completion
.
He
had
a
swimming
bath
thirty
feet
square
next
to
his
bedroom
upstairs
,
and
to
crown
it
all
he
commenced
a
great
wall
to
hold
all
his
dominions
together
,
free
from
the
invasion
of
common
men
.
It
was
a
ten-foot
wall
,
glass
surmounted
,
and
had
it
been
completed
as
he
intended
it
,
it
would
have
had
a
total
length
of
nearly
eleven
miles
.
Some
of
it
towards
the
last
was
so
dishonestly
built
that
it
collapsed
within
a
year
upon
its
foundations
,
but
some
miles
of
it
still
stand
.
I
never
think
of
it
now
but
what
I
think
of
the
hundreds
of
eager
little
investors
who
followed
his
"
star
,
"
whose
hopes
and
lives
,
whose
wives
'
security
and
children
's
prospects
are
all
mixed
up
beyond
redemption
with
that
flaking
mortar
...
.
It
is
curious
how
many
of
these
modern
financiers
of
chance
and
bluff
have
ended
their
careers
by
building
.
It
was
not
merely
my
uncle
.
Sooner
or
later
they
all
seem
to
bring
their
luck
to
the
test
of
realisation
,
try
to
make
their
fluid
opulence
coagulate
out
as
bricks
and
mortar
,
bring
moonshine
into
relations
with
a
weekly
wages-sheet
.
Then
the
whole
fabric
of
confidence
and
imagination
totters-and
down
they
come
...
.
When
I
think
of
that
despoiled
hillside
,
that
colossal
litter
of
bricks
and
mortar
,
and
crude
roads
and
paths
,
the
scaffolding
and
sheds
,
the
general
quality
of
unforeseeing
outrage
upon
the
peace
of
nature
,
I
am
reminded
of
a
chat
I
had
with
the
vicar
one
bleak
day
after
he
had
witnessed
a
glide
.
He
talked
to
me
of
aeronautics
as
I
stood
in
jersey
and
shorts
beside
my
machine
,
fresh
from
alighting
,
and
his
cadaverous
face
failed
to
conceal
a
peculiar
desolation
that
possessed
him
.
"
Almost
you
convince
me
,
"
he
said
,
coming
up
to
me
,
"
against
my
will
...
.
A
marvellous
invention
!
But
it
will
take
you
a
long
time
,
sir
,
before
you
can
emulate
that
perfect
mechanism-the
wing
of
a
bird
.
"
He
looked
at
my
sheds
.
"
You
've
changed
the
look
of
this
valley
,
too
,
"
he
said
.
"
Temporary
defilements
,
"
I
remarked
,
guessing
what
was
in
his
mind
.
"
Of
course
.
Things
come
and
go
.
Things
come
and
go
.
But-H
'm
.
I
've
just
been
up
over
the
hill
to
look
at
Mr.
Edward
Ponderevo
's
new
house
.
That-that
is
something
more
permanent
.
A
magnificent
place
!
-in
many
ways
.
Imposing
.
I
've
never
somehow
brought
myself
to
go
that
way
before
.
Things
are
greatly
advanced
...
.
We
find-the
great
number
of
strangers
introduced
into
the
villages
about
here
by
these
operations
,
working-men
chiefly
,
a
little
embarrassing
.
It
put
us
out
.
They
bring
a
new
spirit
into
the
place
;
betting-ideas-all
sorts
of
queer
notions
.
Our
publicans
like
it
,
of
course
.
And
they
come
and
sleep
in
one
's
outhouses-and
make
the
place
a
little
unsafe
at
nights
.
The
other
morning
I
could
n't
sleep-a
slight
dyspepsia-and
I
looked
out
of
the
window
.
I
was
amazed
to
see
people
going
by
on
bicycles
.
A
silent
procession
.
I
counted
ninety-seven-in
the
dawn
.
All
going
up
to
the
new
road
for
Crest
Hill
.
Remarkable
I
thought
it
.
And
so
I
've
been
up
to
see
what
they
were
doing
.
"
"
They
would
have
been
more
than
remarkable
thirty
years
ago
,
"
I
said
.
"
Yes
,
indeed
.
Things
change
.
We
think
nothing
of
it
now
at
all-comparatively
.
And
that
big
house-
"
He
raised
his
eyebrows
.
"
Really
stupendous
!
Stupendous
.
"
All
the
hillside-the
old
turf-cut
to
ribbons
!
"
His
eye
searched
my
face
.
"
We
've
grown
so
accustomed
to
look
up
to
Lady
Grove
,
"
he
said
,
and
smiled
in
search
of
sympathy
.
"
It
shifts
our
centre
of
gravity
.
"
"
Things
will
readjust
themselves
,
"
I
lied
.
He
snatched
at
the
phrase
.
"
Of
course
,
"
he
said
.
"
They
'll
readjust
themselves-settle
down
again
.
Must
.
In
the
old
way
.
It
's
bound
to
come
right
again-a
comforting
thought
.
Yes
.
After
all
,
Lady
Grove
itself
had
to
be
built
once
upon
a
time-was-to
begin
with-artificial
.
"
His
eye
returned
to
my
aeroplane
.
He
sought
to
dismiss
his
graver
preoccupations
.
"
I
should
think
twice
,
"
he
remarked
,
"
before
I
trusted
myself
to
that
concern
...
.
But
I
suppose
one
grows
accustomed
to
the
motion
.
"
He
bade
me
good
morning
and
went
his
way
,
bowed
and
thoughtful
...
.
He
had
kept
the
truth
from
his
mind
a
long
time
,
but
that
morning
it
had
forced
its
way
to
him
with
an
aspect
that
brooked
no
denial
that
this
time
it
was
not
just
changes
that
were
coming
in
his
world
,
but
that
all
his
world
lay
open
and
defenceless
,
conquered
and
surrendered
,
doomed
so
far
as
he
could
see
,
root
and
branch
,
scale
and
form
alike
,
to
change
.
CHAPTER
THE
THIRD
SOARING
For
nearly
all
the
time
that
my
uncle
was
incubating
and
hatching
Crest
Hill
I
was
busy
in
a
little
transverse
valley
between
that
great
beginning
and
Lady
Grove
with
more
and
more
costly
and
ambitious
experiments
in
aerial
navigation
.
This
work
was
indeed
the
main
substance
of
my
life
through
all
the
great
time
of
the
Tono-Bungay
symphony
.
I
have
told
already
how
I
came
to
devote
myself
to
this
system
of
inquiries
,
how
in
a
sort
of
disgust
with
the
common
adventure
of
life
I
took
up
the
dropped
ends
of
my
college
studies
,
taking
them
up
again
with
a
man
's
resolution
instead
of
a
boy
's
ambition
.
From
the
first
I
did
well
at
this
work
.
It-was
,
I
think
,
largely
a
case
of
special
aptitude
,
of
a
peculiar
irrelevant
vein
of
faculty
running
through
my
mind
.
It
is
one
of
those
things
men
seem
to
have
by
chance
,
that
has
little
or
nothing
to
do
with
their
general
merit
,
and
which
it
is
ridiculous
to
be
either
conceited
or
modest
about
.
I
did
get
through
a
very
big
mass
of
work
in
those
years
,
working
for
a
time
with
a
concentrated
fierceness
that
left
little
of
such
energy
or
capacity
as
I
possess
unused
.
I
worked
out
a
series
of
problems
connected
with
the
stability
of
bodies
pitching
in
the
air
and
the
internal
movements
of
the
wind
,
and
I
also
revolutionised
one
leading
part
at
last
of
the
theory
of
explosive
engines
.
These
things
are
to
be
found
in
the
Philosophical
Transactions
,
the
Mathematical
Journal
,
and
less
frequently
in
one
or
two
other
such
publications
,
and
they
need
n't
detain
us
here
.
Indeed
,
I
doubt
if
I
could
write
about
them
here
.
One
acquires
a
sort
of
shorthand
for
one
's
notes
and
mind
in
relation
to
such
special
work
.
I
have
never
taught
;
nor
lectured
,
that
is
to
say
,
I
have
never
had
to
express
my
thoughts
about
mechanical
things
in
ordinary
everyday
language
,
and
I
doubt
very
much
if
I
could
do
so
now
without
extreme
tedium
.
My
work
was
,
to
begin
with
,
very
largely
theoretical
.
I
was
able
to
attack
such
early
necessities
of
verification
as
arose
with
quite
little
models
,
using
a
turntable
to
get
the
motion
through
the
air
,
and
cane
,
whalebone
and
silk
as
building
material
.
But
a
time
came
when
incalculable
factors
crept
in
,
factors
of
human
capacity
and
factors
of
insufficient
experimental
knowledge
,
when
one
must
needs
guess
and
try
.
Then
I
had
to
enlarge
the
scale
of
my
operations
,
and
soon
I
had
enlarged
them
very
greatly
.
I
set
to
work
almost
concurrently
on
the
balance
and
stability
of
gliders
and
upon
the
steering
of
inflated
bags
,
the
latter
a
particularly
expensive
branch
of
work
.
I
was
no
doubt
moved
by
something
of
the
same
spirit
of
lavish
expenditure
that
was
running
away
with
my
uncle
in
these
developments
.
Presently
my
establishment
above
Lady
Grove
had
grown
to
a
painted
wood
chalet
big
enough
to
accommodate
six
men
,
and
in
which
I
would
sometimes
live
for
three
weeks
together
;
to
a
gasometer
,
to
a
motor-house
,
to
three
big
corrugated-roofed
sheds
and
lock-up
houses
,
to
a
stage
from
which
to
start
gliders
,
to
a
workshop
and
so
forth
.
A
rough
road
was
made
.
We
brought
up
gas
from
Cheaping
and
electricity
from
Woking
,
which
place
I
found
also
afforded
a
friendly
workshop
for
larger
operations
than
I
could
manage
.
I
had
the
luck
also
to
find
a
man
who
seemed
my
heaven-sent
second-in-command-Cothope
his
name
was
.
He
was
a
self-educated-man
;
he
had
formerly
been
a
sapper
and
he
was
one
of
the
best
and
handiest
working
engineers
alive
.
Without
him
I
do
not
think
I
could
have
achieved
half
what
I
have
done
.
At
times
he
has
been
not
so
much
my
assistant
as
my
collaborator
,
and
has
followed
my
fortunes
to
this
day
.
Other
men
came
and
went
as
I
needed
them
.
I
do
not
know
how
far
it
is
possible
to
convey
to
any
one
who
has
not
experienced
it
,
the
peculiar
interest
,
the
peculiar
satisfaction
that
lies
in
a
sustained
research
when
one
is
not
hampered
by
want
of
money
.
It
is
a
different
thing
from
any
other
sort
of
human
effort
.
You
are
free
from
the
exasperating
conflict
with
your
fellow-creatures
altogether-at
least
so
far
as
the
essential
work
goes
;
that
for
me
is
its
peculiar
merit
.
Scientific
truth
is
the
remotest
of
mistresses
;
she
hides
in
strange
places
,
she
is
attained
by
tortuous
and
laborious
roads
,
but
SHE
IS
ALWAYS
THERE
!
Win
to
her
and
she
will
not
fail
you
;
she
is
yours
and
mankind
's
for
ever
.
She
is
reality
,
the
one
reality
I
have
found
in
this
strange
disorder
of
existence
.
She
will
not
sulk
with
you
nor
misunderstand
you
nor
cheat
you
of
your
reward
upon
some
petty
doubt
.
You
cannot
change
her
by
advertisement
or
clamour
,
nor
stifle
her
in
vulgarities
.
Things
grow
under
your
hands
when
you
serve
her
,
things
that
are
permanent
as
nothing
else
is
permanent
in
the
whole
life
of
man
.
That
,
I
think
,
is
the
peculiar
satisfaction
of
science
and
its
enduring
reward
...
.
The
taking
up
of
experimental
work
produced
a
great
change
in
my
personal
habits
.
I
have
told
how
already
once
in
my
life
at
Wimblehurst
I
had
a
period
of
discipline
and
continuous
effort
,
and
how
,
when
I
came
to
South
Kensington
,
I
became
demoralised
by
the
immense
effect
of
London
,
by
its
innumerable
imperative
demands
upon
my
attention
and
curiosity
.
And
I
parted
with
much
of
my
personal
pride
when
I
gave
up
science
for
the
development
of
Tono-Bungay
.
But
my
poverty
kept
me
abstinent
and
my
youthful
romanticism
kept
me
chaste
until
my
married
life
was
well
under
way
.
Then
in
all
directions
I
relaxed
.
I
did
a
large
amount
of
work
,
but
I
never
troubled
to
think
whether
it
was
my
maximum
nor
whether
the
moods
and
indolences
that
came
to
me
at
times
were
avoidable
things
.
With
the
coming
of
plenty
I
ate
abundantly
and
foolishly
,
drank
freely
and
followed
my
impulses
more
and
more
carelessly
.
I
felt
no
reason
why
I
should
do
anything
else
.
Never
at
any
point
did
I
use
myself
to
the
edge
of
my
capacity
.
The
emotional
crisis
of
my
divorce
did
not
produce
any
immediate
change
in
these
matters
of
personal
discipline
.
I
found
some
difficulty
at
first
in
concentrating
my
mind
upon
scientific
work
,
it
was
so
much
more
exacting
than
business
,
but
I
got
over
that
difficulty
by
smoking
.
I
became
an
inordinate
cigar
smoker
;
it
gave
me
moods
of
profound
depression
,
but
I
treated
these
usually
by
the
homeopathic
method
,
-by
lighting
another
cigar
.
I
did
n't
realise
at
all
how
loose
my
moral
and
nervous
fibre
had
become
until
I
reached
the
practical
side
of
my
investigations
and
was
face
to
face
with
the
necessity
of
finding
out
just
how
it
felt
to
use
a
glider
and
just
what
a
man
could
do
with
one
.
I
got
into
this
relaxed
habit
of
living
in
spite
of
very
real
tendencies
in
my
nature
towards
discipline
.
I
've
never
been
in
love
with
self-indulgence
.
That
philosophy
of
the
loose
lip
and
the
lax
paunch
is
one
for
which
I
've
always
had
an
instinctive
distrust
.
I
like
bare
things
,
stripped
things
,
plain
,
austere
and
continent
things
,
fine
lines
and
cold
colours
.
But
in
these
plethoric
times
when
there
is
too
much
coarse
stuff
for
everybody
and
the
struggle
for
life
takes
the
form
of
competitive
advertisement
and
the
effort
to
fill
your
neighbour
's
eye
,
when
there
is
no
urgent
demand
either
for
personal
courage
,
sound
nerves
or
stark
beauty
,
we
find
ourselves
by
accident
.
Always
before
these
times
the
bulk
of
the
people
did
not
over-eat
themselves
,
because
they
could
n't
,
whether
they
wanted
to
do
so
or
not
,
and
all
but
a
very
few
were
kept
"
fit
"
by
unavoidable
exercise
and
personal
danger
.
Now
,
if
only
he
pitch
his
standard
low
enough
and
keep
free
from
pride
,
almost
any
one
can
achieve
a
sort
of
excess
.
You
can
go
through
contemporary
life
fudging
and
evading
,
indulging
and
slacking
,
never
really
hungry
nor
frightened
nor
passionately
stirred
,
your
highest
moment
a
mere
sentimental
orgasm
,
and
your
first
real
contact
with
primary
and
elemental
necessities
,
the
sweat
of
your
death-bed
.
So
I
think
it
was
with
my
uncle
;
so
,
very
nearly
,
it
was
with
me
.
But
the
glider
brought
me
up
smartly
.
I
had
to
find
out
how
these
things
went
down
the
air
,
and
the
only
way
to
find
out
is
to
go
down
with
one
.
And
for
a
time
I
would
n't
face
it
.
There
is
something
impersonal
about
a
book
,
I
suppose
.
At
any
rate
I
find
myself
able
to
write
down
here
just
the
confession
I
've
never
been
able
to
make
to
any
one
face
to
face
,
the
frightful
trouble
it
was
to
me
to
bring
myself
to
do
what
I
suppose
every
other
coloured
boy
in
the
West
Indies
could
do
without
turning
a
hair
,
and
that
is
to
fling
myself
off
for
my
first
soar
down
the
wind
.
The
first
trial
was
bound
to
be
the
worst
;
it
was
an
experiment
I
made
with
life
,
and
the
chance
of
death
or
injury
was
,
I
supposed
,
about
equal
to
the
chance
of
success
.
I
believed
that
with
a
dawn-like
lucidity
.
I
had
begun
with
a
glider
that
I
imagined
was
on
the
lines
of
the
Wright
brothers
'
aeroplane
,
but
I
could
not
be
sure
.
It
might
turn
over
.
I
might
upset
it
.
It
might
burrow
its
nose
at
the
end
and
smash
itself
and
me
.
The
conditions
of
the
flight
necessitated
alert
attention
;
it
was
n't
a
thing
to
be
done
by
jumping
off
and
shutting
one
's
eyes
or
getting
angry
or
drunk
to
do
it
.
One
had
to
use
one
's
weight
to
balance
.
And
when
at
last
I
did
it
it
was
horrible-for
ten
seconds
.
For
ten
seconds
or
so
,
as
I
swept
down
the
air
flattened
on
my
infernal
framework
and
with
the
wind
in
my
eyes
,
the
rush
of
the
ground
beneath
me
filled
me
with
sick
and
helpless
terror
;
I
felt
as
though
some
violent
oscillatory
current
was
throbbing
in
brain
and
back
bone
,
and
I
groaned
aloud
.
I
set
my
teeth
and
groaned
.
It
was
a
groan
wrung
out
of
me
in
spite
of
myself
.
My
sensations
of
terror
swooped
to
a
climax
.
And
then
,
you
know
,
they
ended
!
Suddenly
my
terror
was
over
and
done
with
.
I
was
soaring
through
the
air
right
way
up
,
steadily
,
and
no
mischance
had
happened
.
I
felt
intensely
alive
and
my
nerves
were
strung
like
a
bow
.
I
shifted
a
limb
,
swerved
and
shouted
between
fear
and
triumph
as
I
recovered
from
the
swerve
and
heeled
the
other
way
and
steadied
myself
.
I
thought
I
was
going
to
hit
a
rook
that
was
flying
athwart
me
,
-it
was
queer
with
what
projectile
silence
that
jumped
upon
me
out
of
nothingness
,
and
I
yelled
helplessly
,
"
Get
out
of
the
way
!
"
The
bird
doubled
itself
up
like
a
partly
inverted
V
,
flapped
,
went
up
to
the
right
abruptly
and
vanished
from
my
circle
of
interest
.
Then
I
saw
the
shadow
of
my
aeroplane
keeping
a
fixed
distance
before
me
and
very
steady
,
and
the
turf
as
it
seemed
streaming
out
behind
it
.
The
turf
!
-it
was
n't
after
all
streaming
so
impossibly
fast
.
When
I
came
gliding
down
to
the
safe
spread
of
level
green
I
had
chosen
,
I
was
as
cool
and
ready
as
a
city
clerk
who
drops
off
an
omnibus
in
motion
,
and
I
had
learnt
much
more
than
soaring
.
I
tilted
up
her
nose
at
the
right
moment
,
levelled
again
and
grounded
like
a
snowflake
on
a
windless
day
.
I
lay
flat
for
an
instant
and
then
knelt
up
and
got
on
my
feet
atremble
,
but
very
satisfied
with
myself
.
Cothope
was
running
down
the
hill
to
me
.
...
But
from
that
day
I
went
into
training
,
and
I
kept
myself
in
training
for
many
months
.
I
had
delayed
my
experiments
for
very
nearly
six
weeks
on
various
excuses
because
of
my
dread
of
this
first
flight
,
because
of
the
slackness
of
body
and
spirit
that
had
come
to
me
with
the
business
life
.
The
shame
of
that
cowardice
spurred
me
none
the
less
because
it
was
probably
altogether
my
own
secret
.
I
felt
that
Cothope
at
any
rate
might
suspect
.
Well
,
-he
should
n't
suspect
again
.
It
is
curious
that
I
remember
that
shame
and
self
accusation
and
its
consequences
far
more
distinctly
than
I
recall
the
weeks
of
vacillation
before
I
soared
.
For
a
time
I
went
altogether
without
alcohol
,
I
stopped
smoking
altogether
and
ate
very
sparingly
,
and
every
day
I
did
something
that
called
a
little
upon
my
nerves
and
muscles
.
I
soared
as
frequently
as
I
could
.
I
substituted
a
motor-bicycle
for
the
London
train
and
took
my
chances
in
the
southward
traffic
,
and
I
even
tried
what
thrills
were
to
be
got
upon
a
horse
.
But
they
put
me
on
made
horses
,
and
I
conceived
a
perhaps
unworthy
contempt
for
the
certitudes
of
equestrian
exercise
in
comparison
with
the
adventures
of
mechanism
.
Also
I
walked
along
the
high
wall
at
the
back
of
Lady
Grove
garden
,
and
at
last
brought
myself
to
stride
the
gap
where
the
gate
comes
.
If
I
did
n't
altogether
get
rid
of
a
certain
giddy
instinct
by
such
exercises
,
at
least
I
trained
my
will
until
it
did
n't
matter
.
And
soon
I
no
longer
dreaded
flight
,
but
was
eager
to
go
higher
into
the
air
,
and
I
came
to
esteem
soaring
upon
a
glider
,
that
even
over
the
deepest
dip
in
the
ground
had
barely
forty
feet
of
fall
beneath
it
,
a
mere
mockery
of
what
flight
might
be
.
I
began
to
dream
of
the
keener
freshness
in
the
air
high
above
the
beechwoods
,
and
it
was
rather
to
satisfy
that
desire
than
as
any
legitimate
development
of
my
proper
work
that
presently
I
turned
a
part
of
my
energies
and
the
bulk
of
my
private
income
to
the
problem
of
the
navigable
balloon
.
I
had
gone
far
beyond
that
initial
stage
;
I
had
had
two
smashes
and
a
broken
rib
which
my
aunt
nursed
with
great
energy
,
and
was
getting
some
reputation
in
the
aeronautic
world
when
,
suddenly
,
as
though
she
had
never
really
left
it
,
the
Honourable
Beatrice
Normandy
,
dark-eyed
,
and
with
the
old
disorderly
wave
of
the
hair
from
her
brow
,
came
back
into
my
life
.
She
came
riding
down
a
grass
path
in
the
thickets
below
Lady
Grove
,
perched
up
on
a
huge
black
horse
,
and
the
old
Earl
of
Carnaby
and
Archie
Garvell
,
her
half-brother
,
were
with
her
.
My
uncle
had
been
bothering
me
about
the
Crest
Hill
hot-water
pipes
,
and
we
were
returning
by
a
path
transverse
to
theirs
and
came
out
upon
them
suddenly
.
Old
Carnaby
was
trespassing
on
our
ground
,
and
so
he
hailed
us
in
a
friendly
fashion
and
pulled
up
to
talk
to
us
.
I
did
n't
note
Beatrice
at
all
at
first
.
I
was
interested
in
Lord
Carnaby
,
that
remarkable
vestige
of
his
own
brilliant
youth
.
I
had
heard
of
him
,
but
never
seen
him
.
For
a
man
of
sixty-five
who
had
sinned
all
the
sins
,
so
they
said
,
and
laid
waste
the
most
magnificent
political
debut
of
any
man
of
his
generation
,
he
seemed
to
me
to
be
looking
remarkably
fit
and
fresh
.
He
was
a
lean
little
man
with
grey-blue
eyes
in
his
brown
face
,
and
his
cracked
voice
was
the
worst
thing
in
his
effect
.
"
Hope
you
do
n't
mind
us
coming
this
way
,
Ponderevo
,
"
he
cried
;
and
my
uncle
,
who
was
sometimes
a
little
too
general
and
generous
with
titles
,
answered
,
"
Not
at
all
,
my
lord
,
not
at
all
!
Glad
you
make
use
of
it
!
"
"
You
're
building
a
great
place
over
the
hill
,
"
said
Carnaby
.
"
Thought
I
'd
make
a
show
for
once
,
"
said
my
uncle
.
"
It
looks
big
because
it
's
spread
out
for
the
sun
.
"
"
Air
and
sunlight
,
"
said
the
earl
.
"
You
ca
n't
have
too
much
of
them
.
But
before
our
time
they
used
to
build
for
shelter
and
water
and
the
high
road
.
"
Then
I
discovered
that
the
silent
figure
behind
the
earl
was
Beatrice
.
I
'd
forgotten
her
sufficiently
to
think
for
a
moment
that
she
had
n't
changed
at
all
since
she
had
watched
me
from
behind
the
skirts
of
Lady
Drew
.
She
was
looking
at
me
,
and
her
dainty
brow
under
her
broad
brimmed
hat-she
was
wearing
a
grey
hat
and
loose
unbuttoned
coat-was
knit
with
perplexity
,
trying
,
I
suppose
,
to
remember
where
she
had
seen
me
before
.
Her
shaded
eyes
met
mine
with
that
mute
question
...
.
It
seemed
incredible
to
me
she
did
n't
remember
.
"
Well
,
"
said
the
earl
and
touched
his
horse
.
Garvell
was
patting
the
neck
of
his
horse
,
which
was
inclined
to
fidget
,
and
disregarding
me
.
He
nodded
over
his
shoulder
and
followed
.
His
movement
seemed
to
release
a
train
of
memories
in
her
.
She
glanced
suddenly
at
him
and
then
back
at
me
with
a
flash
of
recognition
that
warmed
instantly
to
a
faint
smile
.
She
hesitated
as
if
to
speak
to
me
,
smiled
broadly
and
understandingly
and
turned
to
follow
the
others
.
All
three
broke
into
a
canter
and
she
did
not
look
back
.
I
stood
for
a
second
or
so
at
the
crossing
of
the
lanes
,
watching
her
recede
,
and
then
became
aware
that
my
uncle
was
already
some
paces
off
and
talking
over
his
shoulder
in
the
belief
that
I
was
close
behind
.
I
turned
about
and
strode
to
overtake
him
.
My
mind
was
full
of
Beatrice
and
this
surprise
.
I
remembered
her
simply
as
a
Normandy
.
I
'd
clean
forgotten
that
Garvell
was
the
son
and
she
the
step-daughter
of
our
neighbour
,
Lady
Osprey
.
Indeed
,
I
'd
probably
forgotten
at
that
time
that
we
had
Lady
Osprey
as
a
neighbour
.
There
was
no
reason
at
all
for
remembering
it
.
It
was
amazing
to
find
her
in
this
Surrey
countryside
,
when
I
'd
never
thought
of
her
as
living
anywhere
in
the
world
but
at
Bladesover
Park
,
near
forty
miles
and
twenty
years
away
.
She
was
so
alive-so
unchanged
!
The
same
quick
warm
blood
was
in
her
cheeks
.
It
seemed
only
yesterday
that
we
had
kissed
among
the
bracken
stems
...
.
"
Eh
?
"
I
said
.
"
I
say
he
's
good
stuff
,
"
said
my
uncle
.
"
You
can
say
what
you
like
against
the
aristocracy
,
George
;
Lord
Carnaby
's
rattling
good
stuff
.
There
's
a
sort
of
Savoir
Faire
,
something-it
's
an
old-fashioned
phrase
,
George
,
but
a
good
one
there
's
a
Bong-Tong
...
.
It
's
like
the
Oxford
turf
,
George
,
you
ca
n't
grow
it
in
a
year
.
I
wonder
how
they
do
it
.
It
's
living
always
on
a
Scale
,
George
.
It
's
being
there
from
the
beginning
.
"
...
"
She
might
,
"
I
said
to
myself
,
"
be
a
picture
by
Romney
come
alive
!
"
"
They
tell
all
these
stories
about
him
,
"
said
my
uncle
,
"
but
what
do
they
all
amount
to
?
"
"
Gods
!
"
I
said
to
myself
;
"
but
why
have
I
forgotten
for
so
long
?
Those
queer
little
brows
of
hers
,
the
touch
of
mischief
in
her
eyes-the
way
she
breaks
into
a
smile
!
"
"
I
do
n't
blame
him
,
"
said
my
uncle
.
"
Mostly
it
's
imagination
.
That
and
leisure
,
George
.
When
I
was
a
young
man
I
was
kept
pretty
busy
.
So
were
you
.
Even
then-
!
"
What
puzzled
me
more
particularly
was
the
queer
trick
of
my
memory
that
had
never
recalled
anything
vital
of
Beatrice
whatever
when
I
met
Garvell
again
that
had
,
indeed
,
recalled
nothing
except
a
boyish
antagonism
and
our
fight
.
Now
when
my
senses
were
full
of
her
,
it
seemed
incredible
that
I
could
ever
have
forgotten
...
.
"
Oh
,
Crikey
!
"
said
my
aunt
,
reading
a
letter
behind
her
coffee-machine
.
"
HERE
'S
a
young
woman
,
George
!
"
We
were
breakfasting
together
in
the
big
window
bay
at
Lady
Grove
that
looks
upon
the
iris
beds
;
my
uncle
was
in
London
.
I
sounded
an
interrogative
note
and
decapitated
an
egg
.
"
Who
's
Beatrice
Normandy
?
"
asked
my
aunt
.
"
I
've
not
heard
of
her
before
.
"
"
She
the
young
woman
?
"
"
Yes
.
Says
she
knows
you
.
I
'm
no
hand
at
old
etiquette
,
George
,
but
her
line
is
a
bit
unusual
.
Practically
she
says
she
's
going
to
make
her
mother-
"
"
Eh
?
Step-mother
,
is
n't
it
?
"
"
You
seem
to
know
a
lot
about
her
.
She
says
'
mother'-Lady
Osprey
.
They
're
to
call
on
me
,
anyhow
,
next
Wednesday
week
at
four
,
and
there
's
got
to
be
you
for
tea
.
"
"
Eh
?
"
"
You-for
tea
.
"
H
'm
.
She
had
rather-force
of
character
.
When
I
knew
her
before
.
"
I
became
aware
of
my
aunt
's
head
sticking
out
obliquely
from
behind
the
coffee-machine
and
regarding
me
with
wide
blue
curiosity
.
I
met
her
gaze
for
a
moment
,
flinched
,
coloured
,
and
laughed
.
"
I
've
known
her
longer
than
I
've
known
you
,
"
I
said
,
and
explained
at
length
.
My
aunt
kept
her
eye
on
me
over
and
round
the
coffee-machine
as
I
did
so
.
She
was
greatly
interested
,
and
asked
several
elucidatory
questions
.
"
Why
did
n't
you
tell
me
the
day
you
saw
her
?
You
've
had
her
on
your
mind
for
a
week
,
"
she
said
.
"
It
IS
odd
I
did
n't
tell
you
,
"
I
admitted
.
"
You
thought
I
'd
get
a
Down
on
her
,
"
said
my
aunt
conclusively
.
"
That
's
what
you
thought
"
and
opened
the
rest
of
her
letters
.
The
two
ladies
came
in
a
pony-carriage
with
conspicuous
punctuality
,
and
I
had
the
unusual
experience
of
seeing
my
aunt
entertaining
callers
.
We
had
tea
upon
the
terrace
under
the
cedar
,
but
old
Lady
Osprey
,
being
an
embittered
Protestant
,
had
never
before
seen
the
inside
of
the
house
,
and
we
made
a
sort
of
tour
of
inspection
that
reminded
me
of
my
first
visit
to
the
place
.
In
spite
of
my
preoccupation
with
Beatrice
,
I
stored
a
queer
little
memory
of
the
contrast
between
the
two
other
women
;
my
aunt
,
tall
,
slender
and
awkward
,
in
a
simple
blue
homekeeping
dress
,
an
omnivorous
reader
and
a
very
authentic
wit
,
and
the
lady
of
pedigree
,
short
and
plump
,
dressed
with
Victorian
fussiness
,
living
at
the
intellectual
level
of
palmistry
and
genteel
fiction
,
pink
in
the
face
and
generally
flustered
by
a
sense
of
my
aunt
's
social
strangeness
and
disposed
under
the
circumstances
to
behave
rather
like
an
imitation
of
the
more
queenly
moments
of
her
own
cook
.
The
one
seemed
made
of
whalebone
,
the
other
of
dough
.
My
aunt
was
nervous
,
partly
through
the
intrinsic
difficulty
of
handling
the
lady
and
partly
because
of
her
passionate
desire
to
watch
Beatrice
and
me
,
and
her
nervousness
took
a
common
form
with
her
,
a
wider
clumsiness
of
gesture
and
an
exacerbation
of
her
habitual
oddity
of
phrase
which
did
much
to
deepen
the
pink
perplexity
of
the
lady
of
title
.
For
instance
,
I
heard
my
aunt
admit
that
one
of
the
Stuart
Durgan
ladies
did
look
a
bit
"
balmy
on
the
crumpet
"
;
she
described
the
knights
of
the
age
of
chivalry
as
"
korvorting
about
on
the
off-chance
of
a
dragon
"
;
she
explained
she
was
"
always
old
mucking
about
the
garden
,
"
and
instead
of
offering
me
a
Garibaldi
biscuit
,
she
asked
me
with
that
faint
lisp
of
hers
,
to
"
have
some
squashed
flies
,
George
.
"
I
felt
convinced
Lady
Osprey
would
describe
her
as
"
a
most
eccentric
person
"
on
the
very
first
opportunity
;
-
"
a
most
eccentric
person
.
"
One
could
see
her
,
as
people
say
,
"
shaping
"
for
that
.
Beatrice
was
dressed
very
quietly
in
brown
,
with
a
simple
but
courageous
broad-brimmed
hat
,
and
an
unexpected
quality
of
being
grown-up
and
responsible
.
She
guided
her
step-mother
through
the
first
encounter
,
scrutinised
my
aunt
,
and
got
us
all
well
in
movement
through
the
house
,
and
then
she
turned
her
attention
to
me
with
a
quick
and
half-confident
smile
.
"
We
have
n't
met
,
"
she
said
,
"
since-
"
"
It
was
in
the
Warren
.
"
"
Of
course
,
"
she
said
,
"
the
Warren
!
I
remembered
it
all
except
just
the
name
...
.
I
was
eight
.
"
Her
smiling
eyes
insisted
on
my
memories
being
thorough
.
I
looked
up
and
met
them
squarely
,
a
little
at
a
loss
for
what
I
should
say
.
"
I
gave
you
away
pretty
completely
,
"
she
said
,
meditating
upon
my
face
.
"
And
afterwards
I
gave
way
Archie
.
"
She
turned
her
face
away
from
the
others
,
and
her
voice
fell
ever
so
little
.
"
They
gave
him
a
licking
for
telling
lies
!
"
she
said
,
as
though
that
was
a
pleasant
memory
.
"
And
when
it
was
all
over
I
went
to
our
wigwam
.
You
remember
the
wigwam
?
"
"
Out
in
the
West
Wood
?
"
"
Yes-and
cried-for
all
the
evil
I
had
done
you
,
I
suppose
...
.
I
've
often
thought
of
it
since
.
"
...
Lady
Osprey
stopped
for
us
to
overtake
her
.
"
My
dear
!
"
she
said
to
Beatrice
.
"
Such
a
beautiful
gallery
!
"
Then
she
stared
very
hard
at
me
,
puzzled
in
the
most
naked
fashion
to
understand
who
I
might
be
.
"
People
say
the
oak
staircase
is
rather
good
,
"
said
my
aunt
,
and
led
the
way
.
Lady
Osprey
,
with
her
skirts
gathered
for
the
ascent
to
the
gallery
and
her
hand
on
the
newel
,
turned
and
addressed
a
look
full
of
meaning
overflowing
indeed
with
meanings-at
her
charge
.
The
chief
meaning
no
doubt
was
caution
about
myself
,
but
much
of
it
was
just
meaning
at
large
.
I
chanced
to
catch
the
response
in
a
mirror
and
detected
Beatrice
with
her
nose
wrinkled
into
a
swift
and
entirely
diabolical
grimace
.
Lady
Osprey
became
a
deeper
shade
of
pink
and
speechless
with
indignation-it
was
evident
she
disavowed
all
further
responsibility
,
as
she
followed
my
aunt
upstairs
.
"
It
's
dark
,
but
there
's
a
sort
of
dignity
,
"
said
Beatrice
very
distinctly
,
regarding
the
hall
with
serene
tranquillity
,
and
allowing
the
unwilling
feet
on
the
stairs
to
widen
their
distance
from
us
.
She
stood
a
step
up
,
so
that
she
looked
down
a
little
upon
me
and
over
me
at
the
old
hall
.
She
turned
upon
me
abruptly
when
she
thought
her
step-mother
was
beyond
ear-shot
.
"
But
how
did
you
get
here
?
"
she
asked
.
"
Here
?
"
"
All
this
.
"
She
indicated
space
and
leisure
by
a
wave
of
the
hand
at
hall
and
tall
windows
and
sunlit
terrace
.
"
Were
n't
you
the
housekeeper
's
son
?
"
"
I
've
adventured
.
My
uncle
has
become-a
great
financier
.
He
used
to
be
a
little
chemist
about
twenty
miles
from
Bladesover
.
We
're
promoters
now
,
amalgamators
,
big
people
on
the
new
model
.
"
"
I
understand
.
"
She
regarded
me
with
interested
eyes
,
visibly
thinking
me
out
.
"
And
you
recognised
me
?
"
I
asked
.
"
After
a
second
or
so
.
I
saw
you
recognised
me
.
I
could
n't
place
you
,
but
I
knew
I
knew
you
.
Then
Archie
being
there
helped
me
to
remember
.
"
"
I
'm
glad
to
meet
again
,
"
I
ventured
.
"
I
'd
never
forgotten
you
.
"
"
One
does
n't
forget
those
childish
things
.
"
We
regarded
one
another
for
a
moment
with
a
curiously
easy
and
confident
satisfaction
in
coming
together
again
.
I
ca
n't
explain
our
ready
zest
in
one
another
.
The
thing
was
so
.
We
pleased
each
other
,
we
had
no
doubt
in
our
minds
that
we
pleased
each
other
.
From
the
first
we
were
at
our
ease
with
one
another
.
"
So
picturesque
,
so
very
picturesque
,
"
came
a
voice
from
above
,
and
then
:
"
Bee-atrice
!
"
"
I
've
a
hundred
things
I
want
to
know
about
you
,
"
she
said
with
an
easy
intimacy
,
as
we
went
up
the
winding
steps
...
.
As
the
four
of
us
sat
at
tea
together
under
the
cedar
on
the
terrace
she
asked
questions
about
my
aeronautics
.
My
aunt
helped
with
a
word
or
so
about
my
broken
ribs
.
Lady
Osprey
evidently
regarded
flying
as
a
most
indesirable
and
improper
topic-a
blasphemous
intrusion
upon
the
angels
.
"
It
is
n't
flying
,
"
I
explained
.
"
We
do
n't
fly
yet
.
"
"
You
never
will
,
"
she
said
compactly
.
"
You
never
will
.
"
"
Well
,
"
I
said
,
"
we
do
what
we
can
.
"
The
little
lady
lifted
a
small
gloved
hand
and
indicated
a
height
of
about
four
feet
from
the
ground
.
"
Thus
far
,
"
she
said
,
"
thus
far-AND
NO
FARTHER
!
No
!
"
She
became
emphatically
pink
.
"
NO
,
"
she
said
again
quite
conclusively
,
and
coughed
shortly
.
"
Thank
you
,
"
she
said
to
her
ninth
or
tenth
cake
.
Beatrice
burst
into
cheerful
laughter
with
her
eye
on
me
.
I
was
lying
on
the
turf
,
and
this
perhaps
caused
a
slight
confusion
about
the
primordial
curse
in
Lady
Osprey
's
mind
.
"
Upon
his
belly
shall
he
go
,
"
she
said
with
quiet
distinctness
,
"
all
the
days
of
his
life
.
"
After
which
we
talked
no
more
of
aeronautics
.
Beatrice
sat
bunched
together
in
a
chair
and
regarded
me
with
exactly
the
same
scrutiny
,
I
thought
,
the
same
adventurous
aggression
,
that
I
had
faced
long
ago
at
the
tea-table
in
my
mother
's
room
.
She
was
amazingly
like
that
little
Princess
of
my
Bladesover
memories
,
the
wilful
misbehaviours
of
her
hair
seemed
the
same-her
voice
;
things
one
would
have
expected
to
be
changed
altogether
.
She
formed
her
plans
in
the
same
quick
way
,
and
acted
with
the
same
irresponsible
decision
.
She
stood
up
abruptly
.
"
What
is
there
beyond
the
terrace
?
"
she
said
,
and
found
me
promptly
beside
her
.
I
invented
a
view
for
her
.
At
the
further
corner
from
the
cedar
she
perched
herself
up
upon
the
parapet
and
achieved
an
air
of
comfort
among
the
lichenous
stones
.
"
Now
tell
me
,
"
she
said
,
"
all
about
yourself
.
Tell
me
about
yourself
;
I
know
such
duffers
of
men
!
They
all
do
the
same
things
.
How
did
you
get-here
?
All
my
men
WERE
here
.
They
could
n't
have
got
here
if
they
had
n't
been
here
always
.
They
would
n't
have
thought
it
right
.
You
've
climbed
.
"
"
If
it
's
climbing
,
"
I
said
.
She
went
off
at
a
tangent
.
"
It's-I
do
n't
know
if
you
'll
understand-interesting
to
meet
you
again
.
I
've
remembered
you
.
I
do
n't
know
why
,
but
I
have
.
I
've
used
you
as
a
sort
of
lay
figure-when
I
've
told
myself
stories
.
But
you
've
always
been
rather
stiff
and
difficult
in
my
stories-in
ready-made
clothes-a
Labour
Member
or
a
Bradlaugh
,
or
something
like
that
.
You
're
not
like
that
a
bit
.
And
yet
you
ARE
!
"
She
looked
at
me
.
"
Was
it
much
of
a
fight
?
They
make
out
it
is
.
"
"
I
do
n't
know
why
.
"
"
I
was
shot
up
here
by
an
accident
,
"
I
said
.
"
There
was
no
fight
at
all
.
Except
to
keep
honest
,
perhaps
and
I
made
no
great
figure
in
that
.
I
and
my
uncle
mixed
a
medicine
and
it
blew
us
up
.
No
merit
in
that
!
But
you
've
been
here
all
the
time
.
Tell
me
what
you
have
done
first
.
"
"
One
thing
we
did
n't
do
.
"
She
meditated
for
a
moment
.
"
What
?
"
said
I
.
"
Produce
a
little
half-brother
for
Bladesover
.
So
it
went
to
the
Phillbrick
gang
.
And
they
let
it
!
And
I
and
my
step-mother-we
let
,
too
.
And
live
in
a
little
house
.
"
She
nodded
her
head
vaguely
over
her
shoulder
and
turned
to
me
again
.
"
Well
,
suppose
it
was
an
accident
.
Here
you
are
!
Now
you
're
here
,
what
are
you
going
to
do
?
You
're
young
.
Is
it
to
be
Parliament
?
heard
some
men
the
other
day
talking
about
you
.
Before
I
knew
you
were
you
.
They
said
that
was
what
you
ought
to
do
.
"
...
She
put
me
through
my
intentions
with
a
close
and
vital
curiosity
.
It
was
just
as
she
had
tried
to
imagine
me
a
soldier
and
place
me
years
ago
.
She
made
me
feel
more
planless
and
incidental
than
ever
.
"
You
want
to
make
a
flying-machine
,
"
she
pursued
,
"
and
when
you
fly
?
What
then
?
Would
it
be
for
fighting
?
"
I
told
her
something
of
my
experimental
work
.
She
had
never
heard
of
the
soaring
aeroplane
,
and
was
excited
by
the
thought
,
and
keen
to
hear
about
it
.
She
had
thought
all
the
work
so
far
had
been
a
mere
projecting
of
impossible
machines
.
For
her
Pilcher
and
Lilienthal
had
died
in
vain
.
She
did
not
know
such
men
had
lived
in
the
world
.
"
But
that
's
dangerous
!
"
she
said
,
with
a
note
of
discovery
.
"
Oh
!
-it
's
dangerous
.
"
"
Bee-atrice
!
"
Lady
Osprey
called
.
Beatrice
dropped
from
the
wall
to
her
feet
.
"
Where
do
you
do
this
soaring
?
"
"
Beyond
the
high
Barrows
.
East
of
Crest
Hill
and
the
wood
.
"
"
Do
you
mind
people
coming
to
see
?
"
"
Whenever
you
please
.
Only
let
me
know
"
"
I
'll
take
my
chance
some
day
.
Some
day
soon
.
"
She
looked
at
me
thoughtfully
,
smiled
,
and
our
talk
was
at
an
end
.
All
my
later
work
in
aeronautics
is
associated
in
my
memory
with
the
quality
of
Beatrice
,
with
her
incidental
presence
,
with
things
she
said
and
did
and
things
I
thought
of
that
had
reference
to
her
.
In
the
spring
of
that
year
I
had
got
to
a
flying
machine
that
lacked
nothing
but
longitudinal
stability
.
My
model
flew
like
a
bird
for
fifty
or
a
hundred
yards
or
so
,
and
then
either
dived
and
broke
its
nose
or
,
what
was
commoner
,
reared
up
,
slid
back
and
smashed
its
propeller
.
The
rhythm
of
the
pitching
puzzled
me
.
I
felt
it
must
obey
some
laws
not
yet
quite
clearly
stated
.
I
became
therefore
a
student
of
theory
and
literature
for
a
time
;
I
hit
upon
the
string
of
considerations
that
led
me
to
what
is
called
Ponderevo
's
Principle
and
my
F.R.S.
,
and
I
worked
this
out
in
three
long
papers
.
Meanwhile
I
made
a
lot
of
turn-table
and
glider
models
and
started
in
upon
an
idea
of
combining
gas-bags
and
gliders
.
Balloon
work
was
new
to
me
.
I
had
made
one
or
two
ascents
in
the
balloons
of
the
Aero
Club
before
I
started
my
gasometer
and
the
balloon
shed
and
gave
Cothope
a
couple
of
months
with
Sir
Peter
Rumchase
.
My
uncle
found
part
of
the
money
for
these
developments
;
he
was
growing
interested
and
competitive
in
this
business
because
of
Lord
Boom
's
prize
and
the
amount
of
reclame
involved
,
and
it
was
at
his
request
that
I
named
my
first
navigable
balloon
Lord
Roberts
Alpha
.
Lord
Roberts
A
very
nearly
terminated
all
my
investigations
.
My
idea
both
in
this
and
its
more
successful
and
famous
younger
brother
,
Lord
Roberts
B
,
was
to
utilise
the
idea
of
a
contractile
balloon
with
a
rigid
flat
base
,
a
balloon
shaped
rather
like
an
inverted
boat
that
should
almost
support
the
apparatus
,
but
not
quite
.
The
gas-bag
was
of
the
chambered
sort
used
for
these
long
forms
,
and
not
with
an
internal
balloonette
.
The
trouble
was
to
make
the
thing
contractile
.
This
I
sought
to
do
by
fixing
a
long
,
fine-meshed
silk
net
over
it
that
was
fastened
to
be
rolled
up
on
two
longitudinal
rods
.
Practically
I
contracted
my
sausage
gas-bag
by
netting
it
down
.
The
ends
were
too
complex
for
me
to
describe
here
,
but
I
thought
them
out
elaborately
and
they
were
very
carefully
planned
.
Lord
Roberts
A
was
furnished
with
a
single
big
screw
forward
,
and
there
was
a
rudder
aft
.
The
engine
was
the
first
one
to
be
,
so
to
speak
,
right
in
the
plane
of
the
gas-bag
.
I
lay
immediately
under
the
balloon
on
a
sort
of
glider
framework
,
far
away
from
either
engine
or
rudder
,
controlling
them
by
wire-pulls
constructed
on
the
principle
of
the
well-known
Bowden
brake
of
the
cyclist
.
But
Lord
Roberts
A
has
been
pretty
exhaustively
figured
and
described
in
various
aeronautical
publications
.
The
unforeseen
defect
was
the
badness
of
the
work
in
the
silk
netting
.
It
tore
aft
as
soon
as
I
began
to
contract
the
balloon
,
and
the
last
two
segments
immediately
bulged
through
the
hole
,
exactly
as
an
inner
tube
will
bulge
through
the
ruptured
outer
cover
of
a
pneumatic
tire
,
and
then
the
sharp
edge
of
the
torn
net
cut
the
oiled-silk
of
the
distended
last
segment
along
a
weak
seam
and
burst
it
with
a
loud
report
.
Up
to
that
point
the
whole
thing
had
been
going
on
extremely
well
.
As
a
navigable
balloon
and
before
I
contracted
it
,
the
Lord
Roberts
A
was
an
unqualified
success
.
It
had
run
out
of
the
shed
admirably
at
nine
or
ten
miles
an
hour
or
more
,
and
although
there
was
a
gentle
southwester
blowing
,
it
had
gone
up
and
turned
and
faced
it
as
well
as
any
craft
of
the
sort
I
have
ever
seen
.
I
lay
in
my
customary
glider
position
,
horizontal
and
face
downward
,
and
the
invisibility
of
all
the
machinery
gave
an
extraordinary
effect
of
independent
levitation
.
Only
by
looking
up
,
as
it
were
,
and
turning
my
head
back
could
I
see
the
flat
aeroplane
bottom
of
the
balloon
and
the
rapid
successive
passages
,
swish
,
swish
,
swish
of
the
vans
of
the
propeller
.
I
made
a
wide
circle
over
Lady
Grove
and
Duffield
and
out
towards
Effingham
and
came
back
quite
successfully
to
the
starting-point
.
Down
below
in
the
October
sunlight
were
my
sheds
and
the
little
group
that
had
been
summoned
to
witness
the
start
,
their
faces
craned
upward
and
most
of
them
scrutinising
my
expression
through
field-glasses
.
I
could
see
Carnaby
and
Beatrice
on
horseback
,
and
two
girls
I
did
not
know
with
them
;
Cothope
and
three
or
four
workmen
I
employed
;
my
aunt
and
Mrs.
Levinstein
,
who
was
staying
with
her
,
on
foot
,
and
Dimmock
,
the
veterinary
surgeon
,
and
one
or
two
others
.
My
shadow
moved
a
little
to
the
north
of
them
like
the
shadow
of
a
fish
.
At
Lady
Grove
the
servants
were
out
on
the
lawn
,
and
the
Duffield
school
playground
swarmed
with
children
too
indifferent
to
aeronautics
to
cease
their
playing
.
But
in
the
Crest
Hill
direction-the
place
looked
extraordinarily
squat
and
ugly
from
above-there
were
knots
and
strings
of
staring
workmen
everywhere-not
one
of
them
working
,
but
all
agape
.
(
But
now
I
write
it
,
it
occurs
to
me
that
perhaps
it
was
their
dinner
hour
;
it
was
certainly
near
twelve
.
)
I
hung
for
a
moment
or
so
enjoying
the
soar
,
then
turned
about
to
face
a
clear
stretch
of
open
down
,
let
the
engine
out
to
full
speed
and
set
my
rollers
at
work
rolling
in
the
net
,
and
so
tightening
the
gas-bags
.
Instantly
the
pace
quickened
with
the
diminished
resistance
...
In
that
moment
before
the
bang
I
think
I
must
have
been
really
flying
.
Before
the
net
ripped
,
just
in
the
instant
when
my
balloon
was
at
its
systole
,
the
whole
apparatus
was
,
I
am
convinced
,
heavier
than
air
.
That
,
however
,
is
a
claim
that
has
been
disputed
,
and
in
any
case
this
sort
of
priority
is
a
very
trivial
thing
.
Then
came
a
sudden
retardation
,
instantly
followed
by
an
inexpressibly
disconcerting
tilt
downward
of
the
machine
.
That
I
still
recall
with
horror
.
I
could
n't
see
what
was
happening
at
all
and
I
could
n't
imagine
.
It
was
a
mysterious
,
inexplicable
dive
.
The
thing
,
it
seemed
,
without
rhyme
or
reason
,
was
kicking
up
its
heels
in
the
air
.
The
bang
followed
immediately
,
and
I
perceived
I
was
falling
rapidly
.
I
was
too
much
taken
by
surprise
to
think
of
the
proper
cause
of
the
report
.
I
do
n't
even
know
what
I
made
of
it
.
I
was
obsessed
,
I
suppose
,
by
that
perpetual
dread
of
the
modern
aeronaut
,
a
flash
between
engine
and
balloon
.
Yet
obviously
I
was
n't
wrapped
in
flames
.
I
ought
to
have
realised
instantly
it
was
n't
that
.
I
did
,
at
any
rate
,
whatever
other
impressions
there
were
,
release
the
winding
of
the
outer
net
and
let
the
balloon
expand
again
,
and
that
no
doubt
did
something
to
break
my
fall
.
I
do
n't
remember
doing
that
.
Indeed
,
all
I
do
remember
is
the
giddy
effect
upon
the
landscape
of
falling
swiftly
upon
it
down
a
flat
spiral
,
the
hurried
rush
of
fields
and
trees
and
cottages
on
my
left
shoulder
and
the
overhung
feeling
as
if
the
whole
apparatus
was
pressing
down
the
top
of
my
head
.
I
did
n't
stop
or
attempt
to
stop
the
screw
.
That
was
going
on
,
swish
,
swish
,
swish
all
the
time
.
Cothope
really
knows
more
about
the
fall
than
I
do
.
He
describes
the
easterly
start
,
the
tilt
,
and
the
appearance
and
bursting
of
a
sort
of
bladder
aft
.
Then
down
I
swooped
,
very
swiftly
,
but
not
nearly
so
steeply
as
I
imagined
I
was
doing
.
"
Fifteen
or
twenty
degrees
,
"
said
Cothope
,
"
to
be
exact
.
"
From
him
it
was
that
I
learnt
that
I
let
the
nets
loose
again
,
and
so
arrested
my
fall
.
He
thinks
I
was
more
in
control
of
myself
than
I
remember
.
But
I
do
not
see
why
I
should
have
forgotten
so
excellent
a
resolution
.
His
impression
is
that
I
was
really
steering
and
trying
to
drop
into
the
Farthing
Down
beeches
.
"
You
hit
the
trees
,
"
he
said
,
"
and
the
whole
affair
stood
on
its
nose
among
them
,
and
then
very
slowly
crumpled
up
.
I
saw
you
'd
been
jerked
out
,
as
I
thought
,
and
I
did
n't
stay
for
more
.
I
rushed
for
my
bicycle
.
"
As
a
matter
of
fact
,
it
was
purely
accidental
that
I
came
down
in
the
woods
.
I
am
reasonably
certain
that
I
had
no
more
control
then
than
a
thing
in
a
parcel
.
I
remember
I
felt
a
sort
of
wincing
,
"
Now
it
comes
!
"
as
the
trees
rushed
up
to
me
.
If
I
remember
that
,
I
should
remember
steering
.
Then
the
propeller
smashed
,
everything
stopped
with
a
jerk
,
and
I
was
falling
into
a
mass
of
yellowing
leaves
,
and
Lord
Roberts
A
,
so
it
seemed
to
me
,
was
going
back
into
the
sky
.
I
felt
twigs
and
things
hit
me
in
the
face
,
but
I
did
n't
feel
injured
at
the
time
;
I
clutched
at
things
that
broke
,
tumbled
through
a
froth
of
green
and
yellow
into
a
shadowy
world
of
great
bark-covered
arms
,
and
there
,
snatching
wildly
,
got
a
grip
on
a
fair
round
branch
,
and
hung
.
I
became
intensely
alert
and
clear-headed
.
I
held
by
that
branch
for
a
moment
and
then
looked
about
me
,
and
caught
at
another
,
and
then
found
myself
holding
to
a
practicable
fork
.
I
swung
forward
to
that
and
got
a
leg
around
it
below
its
junction
,
and
so
was
able
presently
to
clamber
down
,
climbing
very
coolly
and
deliberately
.
I
dropped
ten
feet
or
so
from
the
lowest
branch
and
fell
on
my
feet
.
"
That
's
all
right
,
"
I
said
,
and
stared
up
through
the
tree
to
see
what
I
could
of
the
deflated
and
crumpled
remains
that
had
once
been
Lord
Roberts
A
festooned
on
the
branches
it
had
broken
.
"
Gods
!
"
I
said
,
"
what
a
tumble
!
"
I
wiped
something
that
trickled
from
my
face
and
was
shocked
to
see
my
hand
covered
with
blood
.
I
looked
at
myself
and
saw
what
seemed
to
me
an
astonishing
quantity
of
blood
running
down
my
arm
and
shoulder
.
I
perceived
my
mouth
was
full
of
blood
.
It
's
a
queer
moment
when
one
realises
one
is
hurt
,
and
perhaps
badly
hurt
,
and
has
still
to
discover
just
how
far
one
is
hurt
.
I
explored
my
face
carefully
and
found
unfamiliar
contours
on
the
left
side
.
The
broken
end
of
a
branch
had
driven
right
through
my
cheek
,
damaging
my
cheek
and
teeth
and
gums
,
and
left
a
splinter
of
itself
stuck
,
like
an
explorer
's
fartherest-point
flag
,
in
the
upper
maxillary
.
That
and
a
sprained
wrist
were
all
my
damage
.
But
I
bled
as
though
I
had
been
chopped
to
pieces
,
and
it
seemed
to
me
that
my
face
had
been
driven
in
.
I
ca
n't
describe
just
the
horrible
disgust
I
felt
at
that
.
"
This
blood
must
be
stopped
,
anyhow
,
"
I
said
,
thickheadedly
.
"
I
wonder
where
there
's
a
spider
's
web
"
-an
odd
twist
for
my
mind
to
take
.
But
it
was
the
only
treatment
that
occurred
to
me
.
I
must
have
conceived
some
idea
of
going
home
unaided
,
because
I
was
thirty
yards
from
the
tree
before
I
dropped
.
Then
a
kind
of
black
disc
appeared
in
the
middle
of
the
world
and
rushed
out
to
the
edge
of
things
and
blotted
them
out
.
I
do
n't
remember
falling
down
.
I
fainted
from
excitement
,
disgust
at
my
injury
and
loss
of
blood
,
and
lay
there
until
Cothope
found
me
.
He
was
the
first
to
find
me
,
scorching
as
he
did
over
the
downland
turf
,
and
making
a
wide
course
to
get
the
Carnaby
plantations
at
their
narrowest
.
Then
presently
,
while
he
was
trying
to
apply
the
methodical
teachings
of
the
St.
John
's
Ambulance
classes
to
a
rather
abnormal
case
,
Beatrice
came
galloping
through
the
trees
full-tilt
,
with
Lord
Carnaby
hard
behind
her
,
and
she
was
hatless
,
muddy
from
a
fall
,
and
white
as
death
.
"
And
cool
as
a
cucumber
,
too
,
"
said
Cothope
,
turning
it
over
in
his
mind
as
he
told
me
.
(
"
They
never
seem
quite
to
have
their
heads
,
and
never
seem
quite
to
lose
'
em
,
"
said
Cothope
,
generalising
about
the
sex
.
)
Also
he
witnessed
she
acted
with
remarkable
decision
.
The
question
was
whether
I
should
be
taken
to
the
house
her
step-mother
occupied
at
Bedley
Corner
,
the
Carnaby
dower
house
,
or
down
to
Carnaby
's
place
at
Easting
.
Beatrice
had
no
doubt
in
the
matter
,
for
she
meant
to
nurse
me
.
Carnaby
did
n't
seem
to
want
that
to
happen
.
"
She
WOULD
have
it
was
n't
half
so
far
,
"
said
Cothope
.
"
She
faced
us
out
...
.
"
I
hate
to
be
faced
out
of
my
opinion
,
so
I
've
taken
a
pedometer
over
it
since
.
It
's
exactly
forty-three
yards
further
.
"
Lord
Carnaby
looked
at
her
pretty
straight
,
"
said
Cothope
,
finishing
the
picture
;
"
and
then
he
give
in
.
"
But
my
story
has
made
a
jump
from
June
to
October
,
and
during
that
time
my
relations
with
Beatrice
and
the
countryside
that
was
her
setting
had
developed
in
many
directions
.
She
came
and
went
,
moving
in
an
orbit
for
which
I
had
no
data
,
going
to
London
and
Paris
,
into
Wales
and
Northampton
,
while
her
stepmother
,
on
some
independent
system
of
her
own
,
also
vanished
and
recurred
intermittently
.
At
home
they
obeyed
the
rule
of
an
inflexible
old
maid
,
Charlotte
,
and
Beatrice
exercised
all
the
rights
of
proprietorship
in
Carnaby
's
extensive
stables
.
Her
interest
in
me
was
from
the
first
undisguised
.
She
found
her
way
to
my
worksheds
and
developed
rapidly
,
in
spite
of
the
sincere
discouragement
of
Cothope
,
into
a
keen
amateur
of
aeronautics
.
She
would
come
sometimes
in
the
morning
,
sometimes
in
the
afternoon
,
sometimes
afoot
with
an
Irish
terrier
,
sometimes
riding
.
She
would
come
for
three
or
four
days
every
day
,
vanish
for
a
fortnight
or
three
weeks
,
return
