seized
it in both his own. Upon the young man's face was the look of a
victorious king returning from conquest. For a few minutes disconnected
exclamations were all that any of the party could utter. Then Seaton,
loosening slightly his bear's hold upon Dorothy, spoke.

"She flies!" he cried exultantly. "She flies, dearest, like a ray of
light for speed and like a bit of thistledown for lightness. We've been
around the moon!"

"Around the moon!" cried the two amazed visitors. "So soon?" asked
Vaneman. "When did you start?"

"Almost an hour ago," replied Crane readily; he had already taken out
his watch. His voice was calm, his face quiet, but to those who knew him
best a deeper resonance in his voice and a deeper blue sparkle in his
eyes betrayed his emotion. Both inventors were moved more than they
could have told by their achievement, by the complete success of the
great space-cruiser upon which they had labored for months with all the
power of their marvelous intellects. Seaton stood now at the summit of
his pride. No recognition by the masses, no applause by the multitudes,
no praise even from the upper ten of his own profession could equal for
him the silent adulation of the two before him. Dorothy's exquisite face
was glorified as she looked at her lover. Her eyes wonderful as they
told him how high he stood above all others in her world, how much she
loved him. Seeing that look; that sweet face, more beautiful than ever
in this, his hour of triumph; that perfect, adorable body, Seaton forgot
the others and a more profound exaltation than that brought by his
flight filled his being--humble thankfulness that he was the man to
receive the untold treasure of her great giving.

"Every bit of mechanism we had occasion to use worked perfectly," Crane
stated proudly. "We did not find it necessary to change any of our
apparatus and we hope to make a longer flight soon. The hour we took on
this trip might easily have been only a few minutes, for the Lark did
not even begin to pick up speed."

* * * * *

Shiro looked at Crane with an air of utter devotion and bowed until his
head approached the floor.

"Sir," he said in his stilted English. "Honorable Skylark shall be
marvelous wonder. If permitting, I shall luxuriate in preparing suitable
refreshment."

The permission granted, he trotted away into the house, and the
travelers invited their visitors to inspect the new craft. Crane an