At last the strand came into view with the squat tower, the rusting machinery, and the reservoir back of the house.  There were, however, changes in the scene.  Within a quarter of a mile of the beach tents were set and booths erected.  Seemingly all the city had rushed to this place, and the plain, with its swampy surfaces, was dotted by masses of noisy men and women.  Gerald, finding that approach to the house was impossible from the land side, made a wide detour, and on reaching the shore he was gratified to find it empty.  The local constabulary, powerless to fight off the mob near the house, had devoted their energies to clearing the space about the gas retorts.  After much bother, and only by telling his name, did he pass the police cordon.  Once inside, he rushed to the back door and found, oh! great luck—­Mila.  Dressed in white, to his taste she was angelic.  He had great difficulty in keeping his arms pinioned to his side; but his eyes shone with the truth beating at the bars of his bosom, and Mila knew it.  He felt this and was light-headed in his happiness.

They greeted.  Mila’s face wore a serious expression.

“I’m very glad you have come down.  I think uncle will be glad also.  I am happy to see you again; I have missed you these past weeks.  But my happiness is nothing just now, Gerald! [He started.] My uncle, you must speak with him.  From brooding so much over the Holy Scriptures, and the natural excitement of his discoveries—­they are so extraordinary, dear friend, that he means always to keep them to himself, for he rightly believes that the governments of the world would employ them for wicked purposes, war, the destruction of weaker nations—­he has become overwrought.  You may not know it, he has a very strong, sane head on his shoulders; but this scheme for lifting up the masses, I suspect, may upset his own equilibrium.  And his constant study of the Apocalypse and the Hebraic revelations—­it has filled him with strange notions.  Understand me:  a man who can swim in the air like a fish in the sea is apt to become unstrung.  He has begun to identify himself with the prophets.  He insists on showing biblical pictures,—­worse still, appearing in them himself.”

“How ’appearing in them’?” asked Gerald, wonderingly.

“In actual person.  I, too, have promised to go with him.”

“In a transparency of fire, you mean?  Isn’t it dangerous?” She hung her head.

“No, in mid air, in a fiery chariot,” she murmured.

“The Woman of the Apocalypse!” he cried.  “Oh!  Princess Mila, dearest Mila Georgovics, promise me that you will not risk such a crazy experiment.”  Gerald pressed his fingers to his throbbing temples.

“It is no experiment at all,” she said, in almost inaudible tones; "last night we flew over the house." He stared at her, his hands trembling, and no longer able to play the incredulous.