CHAPTER VIII
CONDITIONS CHANGE
THE sun was getting lower in the heavens, but having spent so much time in the murky twilight of the clouds, the light still seemed very bright to them.
The clouds beneath them remained unchanged. Kiwi looked straight down and watched them as they drifted by until he became almost giddy. He called Jack’s attention to the shadow of the plane racing across this uneven surface.
Soon the sun disappeared from view, but the uncanny light still held. They flew on and on. There was nothing to see in all this vast plain.
No one seemed to be able to reason out where this uncanny light was coming from since the sun had set. All felt that a change had come over them. Where a few minutes before they had stared at disaster, now they ceased to worry about their engine or its failure.
The plane nearly flew itself. There were no bumps, and it needed very slight correction at the controls to keep it on its course. The clear light seemed to come from tiny bright particles in the air such as one sees on a dewy morning.
Gradually Kiwi became conscious of something ahead. Far off on the horizon the rolling clouds seemed to merge into something else. Could it be hills that he saw? He looked at their altimeter. It showed that they were flying at about twelve thousand feet. He glanced back to the horizon, and the land seemed plainer. He thought he must be dreaming. He rubbed his eyes vigorously and looked again. It was still there.