was drawn back and forth about half an inch by a connection with the driving engine; its motion, however, was completely controlled by the ligatures that drew the wing upwards and downwards, so that they should ever be in harmony, and the closing of the pores should occur only at the beginning of the downward beat, and their opening only at the beginning of the upward beat. The effect to the eye was very beautiful; the transparency of the metal let the coloured light of the sky shine through it even when solid; but when reticulated the azure seemed to form into a flashing loom of the finest lace. I could not cease gazing at the ever-shifting lights that played through the embroidery of the wings. It was pleasing to the ear as well: for the whirr and creak that usually accompany the flight of great birds and the movement of machinery were used up as undertones to a grand but simple musical march that seemed the very spirit of the beat of the wings. For a time these sights and sounds held me entranced, so that I was scarcely conscious of our ascent. When the power of the charm had freed my senses, I looked down, and my heart leapt into my mouth; eagles being swept from the island by the blast of the storm-cone appeared to me as flies crawling over the sun-glitter of the houses below or on the snows of Lilaroma. I shrank back breathless at the sight, and imagined myself falling down this heart-sickening distance. Then the almost irresistible desire to throw myself into this abyss came over me, and I clutched at the framework of the car that I might not yield to this feeling.