his eyes opened slowly and he looked around.on three sides space met his vision, just dusky blue sky with floating banks and wisps of vapor.but far off to the south, rising like mighty battlements, he saw a dim line of mountains clad in snow.then it all came back to him.he was aloft in the _arrow_, the first time that he had ever awakened in the void between the stars and his own planet.there was lannes at the rudder, looking a little bent and shrunken now, but his hand was as delicate and true as ever.the machine hummed softly and steadily in his ears, like the string of a violin.philip! he cried in strong selfreproach, show me how, and ill sail the _arrow_ for a while and you can rest.lannes shook his head and smiled.youre an apt student, he said, but you couldnt learn enough in one lesson, at least not for our purpose.besides, ill have plenty of rest soon.were going to land in an hour.behold your first sunrise, seen from a point a mile above the earth! he swept his free hand toward the east, where the suspicion of silver had become a certainty.in the infinity of space a mile was nothing, but all the changes were swift and amazingly vivid to john.the silver deepened, turned to blue, and then orange, gold and red sprang out, terrace after terrace, intense and glowing.then the sun came up, so burning bright that john was forced to turn his eyes away.fine, isnt it? said lannes appreciatively.its good to see the sunrise from a new point, and were up pretty high now, john.we must be, as i said, nearly a mile above the earth.why do we keep so high? partly to escape observation, and partly because were making for a cleft in the mountain straight ahead of us, and about on our own level.in that cleft, which is not really a cleft, but a valley, well make our landing.its practically inaccessible, except by the road were taking, and our road isnt crowded yet with tourists.look how the light is growing! see, the new sun is gilding all the mountains now with gold! even the snow is turned to gold! his own wonderful eyes were shining at the tremendous prospect, outspread before them, peak on peak, ridge on ridge, vast masses of green on the lower slopes, and now and then the silver glitter of a lake.the eyes of him who had been so stark and terrible in the battle were now like those of a painter before the greatest picture of the greatest master.the alps! exclaimed john.aye, the alps! hundreds of thousands of you americans have come all the way across the sea to see them, but few of you have ever looked down on them in the glow of the morning from such a height as this, and you are probably the only one who has ever done so, after an allnight fight and flight for life.which makes them look all the better, philip.its been a wonderful night and flight as you call it, but ill be glad to feel the solid mountain under my feet.besides, you need rest, and you need it badly.dont try to deny it.i wont, because what you say is true, john.my eyes are blurred, and my arms grow unsteady.in that valley to which we are going nobody can reach us but by way of the air, but, as you and i know, the air has our enemies.do you see any black specks, john? not one.i never saw a more beautiful morning.its all silver, and rose and gold, and its not desecrated anywhere by a single german flying machine.try the glasses for a longer look.john swept the whole horizon with the glasses, save where the mountains cut in, and reported the same result.the heavens are clear of enemies, he said.then in fifteen minutes the _arrow_ will be resting on the grass, and well be resting with it.slowly, now! slowly! doesnt the machine obey beautifully? they sailed over a river, a precipice of stone, rising a sheer two thousand feet, above pines and waterfalls, and then the _arrow_ came softly to rest in a lovely valley, which birds alone could reach before man took wings unto himself.the humming of the motor ceased, and the machine itself seemed fairly to snuggle in the grass, as if it relaxed completely after long and arduous toil.it was in truth a live thing to john for the time, a third human being in that tremendous flight.he pulled off his gloves and with his stiffened fingers stroked the smooth sides of the _arrow_.good old boy, he said, you certainly did all that any plane could do.im glad youve decided the sex of flying machines, said lannes, smiling faintly.boats are ladies, but the _arrow_ must be a gentleman since you call it old boy.yes, its a gentleman, and of the first class, too.its earned its rest just as you have, philip.dont talk nonsense, john