He was reaching for his cigarettes when he heard the sound rising above the murmur of leaves. The sound of wings. There was a rushing power to them, a massive beat. And listening, Bryan had the swift certainty that it was nothing familiar that flew through the night. He crouched on the bench, frozen, searching the jeweled sky. Then another sound--a girl's questioning voice, shrill with alarm. Bryan swung and saw two figures against the pale outlines of the pavilion, one evidently the girl he had heard and the other that of a man accompanying her. They must have been nearby without his having noticed them. The sound of approaching wings had drawn them into view. Bryan's pulses leaped in dread excitement. Was it going to happen now--like this? Did whatever it was that had deprived three men of the will to live ride the air on great wings? The thought brought a chill dismay. His eyes widened on the two figures before the pavilion. If some strange attack portended, he could not stand idly by and watch it happen. The man and girl were too clearly exposed, in possible great danger. Bryan was tensing his muscles when the beating wings swept by overhead. His glance jerked upward. He stared in numbed disbelief. A huge bird-like shape was gliding down toward the pavilion. Flying beside it, grotesquely like fighter planes escorting a giant bomber, were a number of smaller shapes--vaguely man-like. But it was not this sight alone that filled Bryan with nightmare amazement. For astride the bird-thing was a slender-limbed figure in veil-like garments--a girl. And against the dark backdrop of the sky, girl and winged creatures alike all seemed to shine with an eerie glow, a luminous radiance. Impossibility! Madness! Bryan's thoughts whirled in chaos. This bizarre scene couldn't be real. He was suffering a delusion. His long vigil on the bench had lulled him into a dream-like state in which he was experiencing a fantastic vision. But even as he told himself this, he knew he was very much awake. And he knew that what he saw was no mere vision. For a scream from the girl before the pavilion testified that she and her companion saw it also. The fantastic winged shapes were slanting downward. Bryan realized they were moving directly toward the man and girl. The couple stood immobile, rigid, as though spell-bound by the utter weirdness of what they saw. Bryan shouted a hoarse warning and started forward. He did not know what he could possibly do. No rational purpose motivated him. His action was instinctive, an appalled protest against what he feared was about to take place. Bryan's warning registered upon the couple. They seemed abruptly aware of their danger. The man caught at the girl's arm as if to draw her with him in flight. But now terror struck her with its full impact, and her body began crumpling in a faint even as she turned to follow. Her companion hesitated in dismay, concern for the girl obviously struggling against desire for escape.