increase his madness.
He knew that Mimi was close at hand, though he had lost sight of her. He
spoke loudly, and the sound of his own voice, though it was carried from
him on the sweeping wind as fast as the words were spoken, seemed to
exalt him still more. Even the raging of the elements round him appeared
to add to his exaltation. To him it seemed that these manifestations
were obedient to his own will. He had reached the sublime of his
madness; he was now in his own mind actually the Almighty, and whatever
might happen would be the direct carrying out of his own commands. As he
could not see Mimi, nor fix whereabout she was, he shouted loudly:

"Come to me! You shall see now what you are despising, what you are
warring against. All that you see is mine--the darkness as well as the
light. I tell you that I am greater than any other who is, or was, or
shall be. When the Master of Evil took Christ up on a high place and
showed Him all the kingdoms of the earth, he was doing what he thought no
other could do. He was wrong--he forgot _Me_. I shall send you light,
up to the very ramparts of heaven. A light so great that it shall
dissipate those black clouds that are rushing up and piling around us.
Look! Look! At the very touch of my hand that light springs into being
and mounts up--and up--and up!"

He made his way whilst he was speaking to the corner of the turret whence
flew the giant kite, and from which the runners ascended. Mimi looked
on, appalled and afraid to speak lest she should precipitate some
calamity. Within the niche Lady Arabella cowered in a paroxysm of fear.

Edgar took up a small wooden box, through a hole in which the wire of the
runner ran. This evidently set some machinery in motion, for a sound as
of whirring came. From one side of the box floated what looked like a
piece of stiff ribbon, which snapped and crackled as the wind took it.
For a few seconds Mimi saw it as it rushed along the sagging line to the
kite. When close to it, there was a loud crack, and a sudden light
appeared to issue from every chink in the box. Then a quick flame
flashed along the snapping ribbon, which glowed with an intense light--a
light so great that the whole of the countryside around stood out against
the background of black driving clouds. For a few seconds the light
remained, then suddenly disappeared in the blackness around. It was
simply a magnesium light, which had been fired by the mechan