Soon the deep blue below changed to varying shadows. They were over land once more. The panorama that passed beneath them never lost its charm. Here, faintly glowing, were the lights of a tiny village. Were they asleep, those people? Probably not. Too early for that. Some were reading, some studying, some playing games, those simple kindly people who live in small villages.
The village vanished and only a single light, here and there, like reflections of the stars, told where farm houses stood. A city loomed into sight, then passed on into the unknown.
“It’s like life,” Florence said soberly. “We are always passing from one unknown to another.
“And speaking of unknowns—” her voice changed. “Do you think the industrial spy who is still in your employ is a man or a woman?”
“We have no means of knowing.” Danby spoke soberly. “To find this out if you can, this is to be part of your task.”
“If I can,” Florence whispered to herself, after a time.
So they rode on through the night. Danby Force seldom spoke. This riding in an airplane appeared to cast a spell of silence over him. Perhaps, at times, he slept. Florence could not tell. She did not sleep. The experience was too novel for that. Twice she caught the gleam of colored lights and knew they were meeting another plane. She tried to imagine what it would be like when everyone traveled by air. But would that time come? Who could tell?
It was still dark when Danby Force, after looking at his watch, said:
“We’ll be there in ten minutes. You shall go to my house for ten winks of sleep.”
True to his prediction, the plane went roaring down to a small landing field. They disembarked, were met by a small man in a green uniform and were led to a powerful car. Having taken their places in the back seat, they were whirled away to at last mount a hill by a winding road and stop before a tall gray stone house surrounded by very tall trees.