upply
would not last for more than another hour or so, but I could afford to
use it to the last drop, since a single magnificent vol-plane could at
any time take me to the earth.

"Suddenly I was aware of something new. The air in front of me had lost
its crystal clearness. It was full of long, ragged wisps of something
which I can only compare to very fine cigarette-smoke. It hung about in
wreaths and coils, turning and twisting slowly in the sunlight. As the
monoplane shot through it, I was aware of a faint taste of oil upon my
lips, and there was a greasy scum upon the woodwork of the machine. Some
infinitely fine organic matter appeared to be suspended in the
atmosphere. There was no life there. It was inchoate and diffuse,
extending for many square acres and then fringing off into the void. No,
it was not life. But might it not be the remains of life? Above all,
might it not be the food of life, of monstrous life, even as the humble
grease of the ocean is the food for the mighty whale? The thought was in
my mind when my eyes looked upwards and I saw the most wonderful vision
that ever man has seen. Can I hope to convey it to you even as I saw it
myself last Thursday?

"Conceive a jelly-fish such as sails in our summer seas, bell-shaped and
of enormous size--far larger, I should judge, than the dome of St.
Paul's. It was of a light pink colour veined with a delicate green, but
the whole huge fabric so tenuous that it was but a fairy outline against
the dark blue sky. It pulsated with a delicate and regular rhythm. From
it there depended two long, drooping green tentacles, which swayed slowly
backwards and forwards. This gorgeous vision passed gently with
noiseless dignity over my head, as light and fragile as a soap-bubble,
and drifted upon its stately way.

"I had half-turned my monoplane, that I might look after this beautiful
creature, when, in a moment, I found myself amidst a perfect fleet of
them, of all sizes, but none so large as the first. Some were quite
small, but the majority about as big as an average balloon, and with much
the same curvature at the top. There was in them a delicacy of texture
and colouring which reminded me of the finest Venetian glass. Pale
shades of pink and green were the prevailing tints, but all had a lovely
iridescence where the sun shimmered through their dainty forms. Some
hundreds of them drifted past me, a wonderful fairy squadron of strange,
unknown ar