I trust that this letter will relieve you of further search, my only regret being that our destination must be kept a secret from you. Give my respects to all your old-fashioned friends above and below.
I remain
Your humble
And devoted servant
Mechanus
P.S. Cassandra sends her love.
Raphael stared at the letter a moment. Then he ran to the door, and back into the great hallway. Here he stopped and looked desperately about. It was almost impossible to go back. He thought of the roof, the roof and the eagles.
All the elevator doors stood open. Raphael stepped into the nearest one and grasped the starting lever. Up, up he shot with dizzy speed. He wondered, as they passed floor after floor, how tall the castle was. Where should he stop? Perhaps the elevator would shatter itself against the roof and drop him down the long shaft.
The car jarred and came to a sudden stop. Raphael jerked back the elevator door and stepped into a long corridor. Peering up between the landing and the cage, he saw the roof itself just above him. He was on the top floor.
The boy ran along the corridor, and so came to a room where he discovered a huge aeroplane lying black and shining in its hangar. Raphael did not even stop to look at the machine, but hurried toward the great door which filled one end of the room. It was made of steel, thick and impassive. This was the entrance he had noticed from the outside. He pushed at it frantically, and beat his hands on the great locks. He might as well have tried to overthrow the castle itself.
Raphael had nearly given up in despair when he noticed a small lever on the wall. He reached over and pulled it down. With a click and whir the door swung smoothly back, and the boy stepped out onto the roof.
‘Eagles! Eagles!’ he shouted.
In a moment Chief of All the Eagles in the Sky wheeled into sight.