Woodley is now on his feet, and the two men standing close together, intently listen.
They have no need to listen long; for their eyes are above the tops of the bushes that border the river’s bank, and they see what is disturbing the water.
Two horses are crossing the stream. They have just got clear of the timber’s shadow on the opposite side, and are making towards mid-water.
Clancy and Woodley, viewing them from higher ground, can perceive their forms, in silhouette, against the shining surface.
Nor have they any difficulty in making out that they are mounted. What puzzles them is the manner. Their riders do not appear to be anything human!
The horses have the true equine outline; but they upon their backs seem monsters, not men; their bodies of unnatural breadth, each with two heads rising above it!
There is a haze overhanging the river, as gauze thrown over a piece of silver plate. It is that white filmy mist which enlarges objects beyond their natural size, producing the mystery of mirage. By its magnifying effect the horses, as their riders, appear of gigantic dimensions; the former seeming Mastodons, the latter Titans bestriding them!
Both appear beings not of Earth, but creatures of some weird wonder-world—existences not known to our planet, or only in ages past!