Haunte came last; grasping the staff which held the upper male stone, he proceeded to erect it, after removing the cap. Maskull then obtained his first near view of the mysterious light, which, by counteracting the forces of Nature, acted indirectly not only as elevator but as motive force. In the last ruddy gleams of the great sun, its rays were obscured, and it looked little more impressive than an extremely brilliant, scintillating blue-white jewel, but its power could be gauged by the visible, coloured mist that it threw out for many yards around.
The steering was effected by means of a shutter attached by a cord to the top of the staff, which could be so manipulated that any segment of the male stone's rays, or all the rays, or none at all, could be shut off at will. No sooner was the staff raised than the aerial vessel quietly detached itself from the rock to which it had been drawn, and passed slowly forward in the direction of the mountains.
Branchspell sank below the horizon. The gathering mist blotted out everything outside a radius of a few miles. The air grew cool and fresh.
Soon the rock masses ceased on the, great, rising plain. Haunte withdrew the shutter entirely, and the boat gathered full speed.
"You say that navigation among the mountains is difficult at night,"exclaimed Maskull. "I would have thought it impossible."Haunte grunted. "You will have to take risks, and think yourself fortunate if you come off with nothing worse than a cracked skull.
But one thing I can tell you - if you go on disturbing me with your chitchat we shan't get as far as the mountains."Thereafter Maskull was silent.
The twilight deepened; the murk grew denser. There was little to look at, but much to feel. The motion of the boat, which was due to the never-ending struggle between the male stones and the force of gravitation, resembled in an exaggerated fashion the violent tossing of a small craft on a choppy sea. The two passengers became unhappy.