But Claudia looked and saw a black speck glowing larger as it came nearer. In a few minutes the hum of the aeroplane was distinctly heard, and with the naked eye everyone could see the machine swinging towards the cliffs high in the blue. The excitement was intense. Mrs. Craver had to be supported by Claudia, so weak did she feel at her son soaring in space. Nearer and nearer came the black dot, louder and louder became the burr of the aeroplane, and finally, like a great dragonfly it swept in huge circles over the land, and settled like a feather, running along the ground swiftly in its impetus until willing hands laid hold of it to bring it to a standstill. Then the crowd rushed to gather round, to cheer, to ask questions, and to examine the first aeroplane which had ever been in this out-of-the-way parish. Mr. Craver, with his wife on his arm, pushed his way to the front, with his usually dreamy eyes alight with excitement. "I congratulate you, my son." "Oh, Edwin! Edwin!" sobbed the usually unemotional mother, and clasped him in her arms as he alighted from the machine. "It's wonderful, but horrid. I know you'll be killed." "I'm safe enough now, anyhow, mother," said Edwin, cheerfully. "Where's Claudia?" "Here," said the girl in a low voice, for she felt faint now that the strain was over, and all her old fears began to reassert themselves. "Why, darling, what is the matter?" asked her lover, hastily. "Nothing--nothing--that is, I'll tell you when you come home." It was not easy for the hero to reach home. He had to submit to incessant handshaking; he had to get his aeroplane under shelter; and it had to be attended to in other ways connected with the engine and wide-spread wings. There was an old barn on the cliffs which Edwin had arranged to use for his machine long ago, so it was run into this, and the doors were closed, much to the regret of the crowd anxious to contemplate the wonder. Edwin promised to give an exhibition on the morrow, and then walked home with his parents and Claudia. As Mr. and Mrs. Craver were both asking questions concerning his flight from Hendon all the way, Claudia had no opportunity of speaking to her lover. But on arrival at the Rectory the watchful mother gave the girl the opportunity of having a quiet moment with Edwin. Mrs. Craver drew her husband away, saying that it was best to leave the young people to themselves, and so the couple found themselves in the drawing-room. Edwin at once demanded why Claudia looked so ill, and she explained how she had bearded Lady Wyke, how Neddy had advised her to search for the owner of the knife, and how the sight of the knife in the Redleigh Police-office had informed her that the owner was none other than her own father. "Isn't it dreadful," Edwin? sobbed flic girl, when she had finished her breathless narrative; "but father can't have murdered that poor old man."