Then we saw his light! A thin, motionless white beam, standing up into the clouds, where occasionally the full moon broke through a rift. His light! We were sure of it presently. A red wave of color started from its source at the ground and flashed upward. Then another, and others at intervals. We timed them; compared them to father's notations. The time-intervals were correct. It was his light undoubtedly. His welcoming beacon! Freddie had been keeping us cautiously away. But now at the ten thousand foot altitude he swung us into the light. Its white glare bathed us; came up through our floor window. Presently the two red flashes came. We moved away, then back again. The moment which father had awaited so anxiously had come. He knew now we had arrived safely, we had answered his signal, and holding to the light, we slid slowly down its motionless length. I do not know how long it took. It seemed an hour, while we sat in our lower compartment, with the white glare streaming upon us. Then at last, without warning, the glare vanished. We had extinguished our interior light; we were left abruptly in darkness. I heard Dan's perturbed voice. "Freddie, shall I stop us?" Freddie was on the floor, peering down. I knelt beside him. He called to Dan: "No, let us go. We're still pretty well up." I half whispered, "Can you see anything?" It seemed, for a moment, all quite dark. As though we were dropping into a blank, bottomless pit. Then, as our eyes grew accustomed to the absence of the glare, outlines below began to take form. The moon was gone behind a cloud. But there was enough light left to show us a dark ground, with a faint glow suffusing it, a thousand feet, not much more, below us. It seemed a solid, open, flat area, flanked with small hooded lights. Our landing field. There was nothing else to be seen; the purple darkness crowded everything. The open space was directly under us. Freddie made sure of that. He lighted our smallest table light, and at the controls with his instruments before him, he brought us gently down. A minute; ten minutes. None of us spoke. There was a very slight thump; our little world trembled, came to rest. * * * * * We had landed! Xenephrene at last! Freddie stood up. His figure wavered slightly--perhaps because of his excitement, and the new solidity beneath his feet which made him momentarily unsteady. "You sit still--I'll start--I'll start opening the door." His voice held a quaver; he glanced at the chronometer, crossed the room swiftly, and took a turn or so at the door wheel. A giant shadow of him as he moved fell grotesquely misshapen upon our curved wall. He came back to us and sat down. "Nothing to do now, but wait."