"Oh, Dan, I do hope you will win," cried Lillian, who looked extremely pretty, but more than a trifle anxious; "it does seem so dangerous to fly in such a light machine." "She's the best I have yet struck," Dan assured her. "Don't you think she's as perfect as Lillian, Mrs. Bolstreath?" The elderly lady laughed and cast a side-glance at Curberry, to see how he took Halliday's complimentary speech. "Well, I suppose you cannot think of anything prettier to say. I have heard of a woman being compared to a gazelle and to a ship, but never to a flying-machine." "Mr. Halliday is very up to date in his compliments," said Curberry with a slight sneer. He was a tall, bilious-looking man, with pale blue eyes and a thin-lipped sinister mouth, not at all prepossessing in appearance, although immaculate in dress. Dan laughed. Being confident that Lillian would never marry this spectre, he could afford to laugh. "We young people," he said with emphasis, "go with the times, Lord Curberry." "Meaning that I belong to the past generation," retorted the other with a flash in his pale eyes; "you will find that I don't in some ways," and he glanced significantly at Lillian. Mrs. Bolstreath looked nervous, but Miss Moon was supremely indifferent. She did not care for Lord Curberry, and in spite of her uncle's advocacy had not the slightest idea of marrying the man; therefore she ignored him as consistently as she could considering the way he thrust himself into her company. Without taking notice of this passage-at-arms, she began to question her lover about the airship, and gathered quite a stock of information before the start. Curberry being ignorant of aviation was out of the picture, as the saying goes, so fumed and fretted and looked daggers at Dan. It took all Mrs. Bolstreath's diplomacy to keep him in a moderately good temper. Luckily Laurance strolled up, note-book in hand, as he was reporting for _The Moment_, and greeted the party gaily. He knew Curberry slightly and nodded to him without any word or salutation. In common with many other people, Freddy did not like the man, who was by no means a popular character. "Isn't it a splendid day for the race, Miss Moon?" said Laurance, casting an upward glance at the grey sky. "I look forward to chronicling Dan's triumph in _The Moment_ to-morrow morning. Well, old fellow," he slapped Halliday jovially on the back, "are you prepared for what Jules Verne would call the very greatest journey of the century?" "The century is yet young," replied Dan drily, "and it's only one hundred and eighty odd miles I have to travel. Considering that aviators have reached a successful distance of five hundred miles this race is a trifle." "Well," said Lord Curberry, trying to be amiable--a hard task for him, seeing how much Lillian was taken up with the hero of the moment--"aviation has certainly accomplished wonders since Santos Dumont took his flight of ten yards some four years ago."