start downward again, when suddenly
they all noticed a curious swaying motion, as though the earth were
moving under them.

"Now what?" ejaculated the Very Young Man, standing up abruptly, with
his feet spread wide apart.

The ground seemed pressing against his feet as if he were weighted down
with a heavy load. And he felt a little also as though in a moving train
with a side thrust to guard against. The sun was no longer visible, and
the valley was plunged in the semidarkness of twilight. A strong wind
sprang up, sweeping down upon them from above.

The Very Young Man and the Big Business Man looked puzzled; the Doctor
alone of the three seemed to understand what was happening.

"He's moving the ring," he explained, with a note of apprehension in his
voice.

"Oh," ejaculated the Big Business Man, comprehending at last, "so that's
the----"

The Very Young Man standing with his back to the wall and his legs
spread wide looked hastily at his watch. "Moving the ring? Why, damn
it----" he began impetuously.

The Big Business Man interrupted him. "Look there, look!" he almost
whispered, awestruck.

The sky above the valley suddenly had become suffused with red. As they
watched it seemed to take form, appearing no longer space, but filled
with some enormous body of reddish color. In one place they could see it
broken into a line of gray, and underneath the gray, two circular holes
of light gleamed down at them.

The Doctor shuddered and closed his eyes; his two friends stared upward,
fascinated into immobility.

"What--is--that?" the Very Young Man whispered.

Before he could be answered, the earth swayed under them more violently
than before. The red faded back out of the sky, and the sun appeared
sweeping up into the zenith, where it hung swaying a moment and then
poised motionless. The valley was flooded again with light; the ground
steadied under them and became quiet. The wind died rapidly away, and in
another moment it was as though nothing unusual had occurred.

For a time the three friends stood silent, too astonished for words at
this extraordinary experience. The Doctor was the first to recover
himself. "He moved the ring," he said hurriedly. "That's twice. We must
hurry."

"It's only quarter past ten. We told him not till eleven," protested the
Very Young Man.

"Even that is too soon for safety," said the Doctor back over his
shoulder, for already he had started downward.

It was nearly twelve