"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.