nd sinuous tiger, all grace,
and all power. Danger was the breath of life to him, and a mile above
the earth, with only a delicate frame work holding him in the air he was
as easy and confident as one who treads solid land.

John unbuckled the strap which had held him in the _Arrow_, stepped out
and fell full length upon the grass. His knees, stiff from such a long
position in one attitude, had given way beneath him. Lannes, laughing,
climbed out gingerly and began to stretch his muscles.

"You've something to learn yet about dismounting from your airy steed,"
he said. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Not a bit," replied John, sitting up and rubbing his knees. "The grass
saved me. Ah, now I can stand! And now I can move the rusty hinges that
used to be knees! And as sure as you and I live, Philip, I can walk
too!"

He flexed and tensed his muscles. It was a strange sight, that of the
young American and the young Frenchman capering and dancing about in a
cleft of the Alps, a mile above the valley below. Soon they ceased, lay
down on the grass and luxuriated. The heavy suits for flying that they
had worn over their ordinary clothing kept them warm even at that
height.

"We'll rest until our nerves relax," said Lannes, "and then we'll eat."

"Eat! Eat what?"

"What people usually eat. Good food. You don't suppose I embark in the
ship of the air like the Arrow for a long flight without provisioning
for it. Look at me."

John did look and saw him take from that tiny locker in the _Arrow_ a
small bottle, two tin cups, and two packages, one containing crackers,
and the other thin strips of dried beef.

"Here," he said, shaking the bottle, "is the light red wine of France.
We'd both rather have coffee, but it's impossible, so we'll take the
wine which is absolutely harmless. We'll get other good food elsewhere."

He put the food on a little mound of turf between them, and they ate
with hunger, but reserve. Neither, although they were on the point of
starvation would show the ways of an animal in the presence of the
other. So, their breakfast lasted some time, and John had never known
food to taste better. When they finished Lannes went back to the locker
in the Arrow.

"John," he said, "here are more cartridges. Reload your automatic, and
keep watch, though nothing more formidable than the lammergeyer is ever
likely to come here. Now, I'll sleep."

He rolled under the lee of a bank, and in two minutes was sleeping