Dawn on her right--that meant the east. She was riding north, then.
North--and to what destination? She had ridden this road with Cyril,
but never to its end, which as she knew was among the unhospitable
crags of Rudha Mor, a wild spot unfrequented by any except Cyril’s
gamekeepers. What was Cyril’s errand in the night to such a place when
everything that had happened would seem to indicate the necessity for
his immediate return to London? The same kind of curiosity that had
made her open the package of cigarette papers against Cyril’s wishes,
stimulated her to follow this quest to its end. She forgot that she
had had no sleep all night, and little the night before. Of physical
weariness now she seemed to have none, and in the growing light she
urged her tired horse forward into a hard gallop which covered the
miles swiftly. She came to the cliffs and saw the sea, passed inland
again. The going was rougher here, less turf and more rocks and whins,
while to her left the hills were split by crags which protruded in
fantastic shapes, like heads of prisoned monsters of the underworld
which had forced their way up through the crust of the earth to the
light of day. It was curious. The trail was well worn here as it had
been before, and there were signs of much hauling. What was going on
at Rudha Mor? The place could not be far distant, for she saw that the
road wound up the rocks and fell away rapidly into a deep gorge, the
further side of which she could see, dimly colored with the opalescent
tint of the East. This she thought must be nearly the end of her ride.
She did not know what was in store for her and was doubtful as to her
wisdom, but she was eaten with curiosity, and dismounted, led her horse
slowly to the lip of the gorge and peered over. What she saw made her
gasp. She drew quickly back, tethered her horse to a bush and came
forward again. Near by, under a shed built on the brink of the cliff,
was Cyril’s roadster, but of Cyril and Stryker she saw no sign. Beneath
her feet the cliffs fell away rapidly by easy steps, down which she
marked a well-worn footpath. The bottom of the gorge was of rock and
sand shelving gradually toward the sea and fairly in its middle, built
strongly of rough lumber, she saw a shed with wide doors which even
now were open--a large hangar from which as she looked several figures
wheeled forth a huge aëroplane--to a platform of planks which extended
for a long way toward the sea. From a distance it was difficult to
judge its measurements, but by comparison with the heights of the men
Doris knew that she had never seen a machine so large. As the east
grew lighter she could see Cyril plainly. He came out of the hangar
dressed in leather, gave some orders which made the other figures hurry
and a series of deafening explosions from the engine as they “tuned
it up,” gave Doris a sense of immediate departure. For a while she
watched, fascinated, her interest in the size of this huge toy and
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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