an't understand--"

"My time is valuable," said the wee yellow man, as he shook hands.
"Good-bye, and a pleasant journey." With that he smacked the Cloud
Horse smartly on the flank, and in a moment it was racing into the
West at a most terrific pace.

Of course, now that aeroplanes have been invented, flying is not
thought so wonderful as once it was. But loafing along through the air
in a biplane or a monoplane at eighty or a hundred miles an hour is a
very tame business when you compare it with racing the day round the
world on a Cloud horse. And Neville is very probably the only person
who has ever done that yet.

Almost before he knew what had happened, he had left evening far
behind and was riding in broad daylight. The cloud Horse had ridden
high in the air, and Neville saw the broad country, with plains and
hills and forest lands, stretched far beneath him. An instant later,
and the land was no longer below him, but the wide sea, sparkling in
brilliant sunlight.

Before he had time to notice very much he had reached mid-day, high
over a strange foreign land, and was racing through the morning toward
the dawn. So quickly did he go that there was little chance of seeing
anything clearly; but he had glimpses of many strange sights. Many
ships he saw upon the sea--small ships and stately steamers crawling
over the ocean like strange water-beetles. Once, as the Cloud Horse
drifted low, Neville saw a beautiful sailing-ship, with all sails set,
and strange-looking men upon the deck. They looked very like pirates,
and perhaps they were; but Neville had no time to make sure, for the
very next minute he was over a wild land where he saw a horde of black
men, with spears and clubs, hunting an elephant through a clearing in
a great jungle. As he looked, the elephant turned to charge the
hunters; but what happened then Neville did not see, for in a moment
more he was above a great city with crowds of people in the
streets--people dressed in strange, bright-coloured clothes--and there
were bells ringing and whistles blowing. Then a great desert spread
beneath him, with no living thing in sight but a great tawny lion
prowling over the sand. Then came the sea again, and more ships; and
the light began to grow dim, for he was nearly half-way round the
earth, and was approaching the dawn.

Dimmer grew the light, and dimmer yet, just as though evening were
coming--and before him, Neville saw the dawn like a silvery gateway in