what is the name of that Ocean?"

"That is told only to those who die beside it."

"Is the secret so precious, Corpang?"

Branchspell was nearing the horizon in the west; there were more than
two hours of daylight remaining. The air all around them became murky.
It was a thin mist, neither damp nor cold. The Lichstorm Range now
appeared only as a blur on the sky. The air was electric and tingling,
and was exciting in its effect. Maskull felt a sort of emotional
inflammation, as though a very slight external cause would serve to
overturn his self-control. Corpang stood silent with a mouth like iron.

Maskull kept looking toward a high pile of rocks in the vicinity.

"That seems to me a good watchtower. Perhaps we shall see something from
the top."

Without waiting for his companion's opinion, he began to scramble up the
tower, and in a few minutes was standing on the summit. Corpang joined
him.

From their viewpoint they saw the whole countryside sloping down to
the sea, which appeared as a mere flash of far-off, glittering
water. Leaving all that, however, Maskull's eyes immediately fastened
themselves on a small, boat-shaped object, about two miles away, which
was travelling rapidly toward them, suspended only a few feet in the
air.

"What do you make of that?" he asked in a tone of astonishment.

Corpang shook his head and said nothing.

Within two minutes the flying object, whatever it was, had diminished
the distance between them by one half. It resembled a boat more and
more, but its flight was erratic, rather than smooth; its nose was
continually jerking upward and downward, and from side to side. Maskull
now made out a man sitting in the stern, and what looked like a large
dead animal lying amidships. As the aerial craft drew nearer, he
observed a thick, blue haze underneath it, and a similar haze behind,
but the front, facing them, was clear.

"Here must be what we are waiting for, Corpang. But what on earth
carries it?"

He stroked his beard contemplatively, and then, fearing that they had
not been seen, stepped onto the highest rock, bellowed loudly, and made
wild motions with his arm. The flying-boat, which was only a few hundred
yards distant, slightly altered its course, now heading toward them in a
way that left no doubt that the steersman had detected their presence.

The boat slackened speed until it was travelling no faster than a
walking man, but the irregularity of its movements contin