And behind the scenes he divined, with a shudder of genuine admiration, the figure of the master of the ceremonies, somehow or other grown colossal, as he had thought of him just before going to sleep—­Philip Skale, hidden in the secret places of the building, directing the operations of this dreadful aspect of his revolutionary Discovery....  And yet the thought brought a measure of comfort in its train, for was he not also himself now included in the mighty scheme?...  In his mind he saw this giant Skale, with his great limbs and shoulders, his flowing, shaggy beard, his voice of thunder and his portentous speculations, and, so doing, felt himself merged in a larger world that made his own little terrors and anxieties of but small account.  Once again the sense of his own insignificance disappeared as he realized that at last he was in the full flood of an adventure that was providing the kind of escape he had always longed for.

Inevitably, then, his thought flew to Miriam, and as he remembered her final word to him a few short hours ago in the hall below, he already felt ashamed of the fear with which he had met the beginning of the “test.”  He instantly felt steeped instead in the wonder and power of the whole thing.  His mind, though still trembling and shaken, came to rest.  He drew, that is, upon the larger powers of the Chord.

And the interesting thing was that the moment this happened he noticed a change begin to come over the room.  With extraordinary swiftness the tide of vibration lessened and the sound withdrew; the humming seemed to sink back into the depths of the house; the thrill and delight of his recent terrors fled with it.  The air gradually ceased to shake and tremble; the furniture, with a curious final shiver as of spinning coins about to settle, resumed its normal shape.  Once more the room, and with it the world, became commonplace and dull.  The test apparently was over.  He had met it with success.

Spinrobin, holding the candle straight for the first time, turned back towards the bed.  He caught a passing glimpse of himself in the mirror as he went—­white and scattered he describes his appearance....  He climbed again into bed, blew the candle out, put the matchbox under his pillow within easy reach, and so once more curled himself up into a ball and composed himself to sleep.

Chapter IX

I

But he was hardly settled—­there had not even been time to warm the sheets again—­when he was aware that the test, instead of being over, was, indeed, but just beginning; and the detail that conveyed this unwelcome knowledge to him, though small enough in itself, was yet fraught with a crowded cargo of new alarms.  It was a step upon the staircase, approaching his room.