iled him. The next wave would
cover him. Already it was rushing towards him with foaming crest. He was
in its shadow; he heard its thunder. Darkness rushed over him--he saw
the vast sides streaked with grey and white--when suddenly, the owner of
the wings plucked him in the back, mid-way between the shoulders, and
lifted him bodily out of the fog, so that the wave swept by without even
wetting his feet.

The next minute he saw a dim, white sheet of silvery mist at his feet,
and found himself far above it in the sweet, clean moonlight; and when
he turned, almost dead with terror, to look upon his captor, he found
himself looking straight into the eyes of--the governess.

The sense of relief was so great that Jimbo simply closed his wings, and
hung, a dead weight, in the air.

"Use your wings!" cried the governess sharply; and, still holding him,
while he began to flap feebly, she turned and flew in the direction of
the land.

"You!" he gasped at last. "It was you following me!"

"Of course it was me! I never let you out of my sight. I've always
followed you--every time you've been out alone."

Jimbo was still conscious of the drawing power of the sea, but he felt
that his companion was too strong for it. After fifteen minutes of
fierce flight he heard the sounds of earth again, and knew that they
were safe.

Then the governess loosened her hold, and they flew along side by side
in the direction of home.

"I won't scold you, Jimbo," she said presently, "for you've suffered
enough already." She was the first to break the silence, and her voice
trembled a little. "But remember, the sea draws you down, just as
surely as the moon draws you up. Nothing would please Him better than to
see you destroyed by one or the other."

Jimbo said nothing. But, when once they were safe inside the room again,
he went up and cried his eyes out on her arm, while she folded him in to
her heart as if he were the only thing in the whole world she had to
love.

CHAPTER XV

THE CALL OF THE BODY

One night, towards the end of the practice flights, a strange thing
happened, which showed that the time for the final flight of escape was
drawing near.

They had been out for several hours flying through a rainstorm, the
thousand little drops of which stung their faces like tiny gun-shot.
About two in the morning the wind shifted and drove the clouds away as
by magic; the stars came out, at first like the eyes of children still