ac. I hurried up to see him arrive, for I had not as
yet seen him on his "aero." Mr. Ernest Melton came up, too. Teuta was,
of course, before any of us. She seems to know by instinct when Rupert
is coming.

It was certainly a wonderful sight to see the little aeroplane, with
outspread wings like a bird in flight, come sailing high over the
mountains. There was a head-wind, and they were beating against it;
otherwise we should not have had time to get to the tower before the
arrival.

When once the "aero" had begun to drop on the near side of the mountains,
however, and had got a measure of shelter from them, her pace was
extraordinary. We could not tell, of course, what sort of pace she came
at from looking at herself. But we gathered some idea from the rate at
which the mountains and hills seemed to slide away from under her. When
she got over the foot-hills, which are about ten miles away, she came on
at a swift glide that seemed to throw the distance behind her. When
quite close, she rose up a little till she was something higher than the
Tower, to which she came as straight as an arrow from the bow, and glided
to her moorings, stopping dead as Rupert pulled a lever, which seemed to
turn a barrier to the wind. The Voivode sat beside Rupert, but I must
say that he seemed to hold on to the bar in front of him even more firmly
than Rupert held to his steering-gear.

When they had alighted, Rupert greeted his cousin with the utmost
kindness, and bade him welcome to Vissarion.

"I see," he said, "you have met Teuta. Now you may congratulate me, if
you wish."

Mr. Melton made a long rodomontade about her beauty, but presently,
stumbling about in his speech, said something regarding it being unlucky
to appear in grave-clothes. Rupert laughed, and clapped him on the
shoulder as he answered:

"That pattern of frock is likely to become a national dress for loyal
women of the Blue Mountains. When you know something of what that dress
means to us all at present you will understand. In the meantime, take it
that there is not a soul in the nation that does not love it and honour
her for wearing it." To which the cad replied:

"Oh, indeed! I thought it was some preparation for a fancy-dress ball."
Rupert's comment on this ill-natured speech was (for him) quite grumpily
given:

"I should not advise you to think such things whilst you are in this part
of the world, Ernest. They bury men here for much less."