ion of the stars in the
sea beneath him, and knew that he would encounter no more obstacles
between Timor, which he had just passed, and Port Darwin.

His concern now was to pick up the light which, according to the
Admiralty's sailing directions, shone from an iron structure a hundred
and twenty feet high, about a mile south of Point Charles, the western
extremity of Port Darwin. Approaching the port from the west, as he
was, he should have no difficulty in seeing the light at a distance of
eighteen or twenty miles, the sky being clear. But as time went on
neither he nor Rodier caught sight of the red speck for which they
were looking. Half-past eight came, local time, as nearly as Smith
could calculate it by his watch, which still registered London time;
and even allowing for the hours lost he should by now have touched
land. He was beginning to feel anxious when he suddenly found land
below him--a land of dense forests, apparently low and flat. The
question was, whether this was the mainland of Australia or an island,
possibly Bathurst Island, north of Port Darwin. It was impossible to
tell. There was no time to ponder or weigh possibilities; yet if he
took the wrong course he might be hours in discovering his mistake,
and this part of Australia being almost wholly uninhabited he might
fail to find any guidance even if he descended. By a rapid guess--it
could not be called reasoning--he concluded that he had probably
steered a too southerly course, and that he would do right if he now
steered to the north-east. His indecision had lasted only a few
seconds; he brought the aeroplane round until she flew over the line
of breakers washing the shore, and followed the coast at full speed.

Within a quarter of an hour both the men caught sight at the same
moment of the red glow of the light, which grew in brilliance as they
approached it, and then diminished as the lamp revolved. Steering now
to the east, in ten minutes they were sailing over the town of
Palmerston, the capital of the Northern Territory. The lighted
streets, crossing at right angles, formed a pattern below them like
the diagram for the game of noughts and crosses. They found a landing
place a little to the north-east of the town, beyond the railway, and
having safely come to earth, Smith left Rodier to attend to the engine
and hastened towards the nearest house, a sort of bungalow of wood and
iron. Sounds of singing came from within.

A Chinaman opened t