king its progress by the dim
landscape below. My uncle lay quite still behind me, saying little
and staring in front of him, and I was left to my own thoughts and
sensations.

My thoughts, whatever they were, have long since faded out of memory,
and my sensations have merged into one continuous memory of an
countryside lying, as it seemed, under snow, with square patches of
dimness, white phantoms of roads, rents and pools of velvety blackness,
and lamp-jewelled houses. I remember a train boring its way like a
hastening caterpillar of fire across the landscape, and how distinctly I
heard its clatter. Every town and street was buttoned with street lamps.
I came quite close to the South Downs near Lewes, and all the lights
were out in the houses, and the people gone to bed. We left the land a
little to the east of Brighton, and by that time Brighton was well abed.
and the brightly lit sea-front deserted. Then I let out the gas chamber
to its fullest extent and rose. I like to be high above water.

I do not clearly know what happened in the night. I think I must have
dozed, and probably my uncle slept. I remember that once or twice
I heard him talking in an eager, muffled voice to himself, or to an
imaginary court. But there can be no doubt the wind changed right round
into the east, and that we were carried far down the Channel without any
suspicion of the immense leeway we were making. I remember the kind of
stupid perplexity with which I saw the dawn breaking over a grey waste
of water, below, and realised that something was wrong. I was so stupid
that it was only after the sunrise I really noticed the trend of the
foam caps below, and perceived we were in a severe easterly gale. Even
then, instead of heading southeasterly, I set the engine going, headed
south, and so continued a course that must needs have either just hit
Ushant, or carry us over the Bay of Biscay. I thought I was east of
Cherbourg, when I was far to the west and stopped my engine in that
belief, and then set it going again. I did actually sight the coast of
Brittany to the southeast in the late afternoon, and that it was woke
me up to the gravity of our position. I discovered it by accident in the
southeast, when I was looking for it in the southwest. I turned about
east and faced the wind for some time, and finding I had no chance in
its teeth, went high, where it seemed less violent, and tried to make a
course southeast. It was only then that I rea