III
It was a little before seven o'clock on the morning of Saturday thatOliver stepped out of the motor that had carried him to WimbledonCommon, and began to go up the steps of the old volor-stage, abandonedfive years ago. It had been thought better, in view of the extremesecrecy that was to be kept, that England's representative in theexpedition should start from a comparatively unknown point, and this oldstage, in disuse now, except for occasional trials of new Governmentmachines, had been selected. Even the lift had been removed, and it wasnecessary to climb the hundred and fifty steps on foot.
It was with a certain unwillingness that he had accepted this post amongthe four delegates, for nothing had been heard of his wife, and it wasterrible to him to leave London while her fate was as yet doubtful. Onthe whole, he was less inclined than ever now to accept the Euthanasiatheory; he had spoken to one or two of her friends, all of whom declaredthat she had never even hinted at such an end. And, again, although hewas well aware of the eight-day law in the matter, even if she haddetermined on such a step there was nothing to show that she was yet inEngland, and, in fact, it was more than likely that if she were bent onsuch an act she would go abroad for it, where laxer conditionsprevailed. In short, it seemed that he could do no good by remaining inEngland, and the temptation to be present at the final act of justice inthe East by which land, and, in fact, it was more than likely that ifshe were to be wiped out, and Franklin, too, among them--Franklin, thatparody of the Lord of the World--this, added to the opinion of hiscolleagues in the Government, and the curious sense, never absent fromhim now, that Felsenburgh's approval was a thing to die for ifnecessary--these things had finally prevailed. He left behind him athome his secretary, with instructions that no expense was to be sparedin communicating with him should any news of his wife arrive during hisabsence.
It was terribly hot this morning, and, by the time that he reached thetop he noticed that the monster in the net was already fitted into itswhite aluminium casing, and that the fans within the corridor and saloonwere already active. He stepped inside to secure a seat in the saloon,set his bag down, and after a word or two with the guard, who, ofcourse, had not yet been informed of their destination, learning thatthe others were not yet come, he went out again on to the platform forcoolness' sake, and to brood in peace.
London looked strange this morning, he thought. Here beneath him was thecommon, parched somewhat with the intense heat of the previous week,stretching for perhaps half-a-mile--tumbled ground, smooth stretches ofturf, and the heads of heavy trees up to the first house-roofs, set,too, it seemed, in bowers of foliage. Then beyond that began the serriedarray, line beyond line, broken in one spot by the gleam of ariver-reach, and then on again fading beyond eyesight. But whatsurprised him was the density of the air; it was now, as old booksrelated it had been in the days of smoke. There was no freshness, notranslucence of morning atmosphere; it was impossible to point in anyone direction to the source of this veiling gloom, for on all sides itwas the same. Even the sky overhead lacked its blue; it appeared paintedwith a muddy brush, and the sun shewed the same faint tinge of red. Yes,it was like that, he said wearily to himself--like a second-rate sketch;there was no sense of mystery as of a veiled city, but rather unreality.The shadows seemed lacking in definiteness, the outlines and grouping incoherence. A storm was wanted, he reflected; or even, it might be, onemore earthquake on the other side of the world would, in wonderfulillustration of the globe's unity, relieve the pressure on this side.Well, well; the journey would be worth taking even for the interest ofobserving climatic changes; but it would be terribly hot, he mused, bythe time the south of France was reached.
Then his thoughts leaped back to their own gnawing misery.
* * * * *
It was another ten minutes before he saw the scarlet Government motor,with awnings out, slide up the road from the direction of Fulham; andyet five minutes more before the three men appeared with their servantsbehind them--Maxwell, Snowford and Cartwright, all alike, as was Oliver,in white duck from head to foot.
They did not speak one word of their business, for the officials weregoing to and fro, and it was advisable to guard against even thesmallest possibility of betrayal. The guard had been told that the volorwas required for a three days' journey, that provisions were to be takenin for that period, and that the first point towards which the coursewas to lie was the centre of the South Downs. There would be no stoppingfor at least a day and a night.
Further instructions had reached them from the President on the previousmorning, by which time He had completed His visitation, and received theassent of the Emergency Councils of the world. This Snowford commentedupon in an undertone, and added a word or two as to details, as the fourstood together looking out over the city.
Briefly, the plan was as follows, at least so far as it concernedEngland. The volor was to approach Palestine from the direction of theMediterranean, observing to get into touch with France on her left andSpain on her right within ten miles of the eastern end of Crete. Theapproximate hour was fixed at twenty-three (eastern time). At this pointshe was to show her night signal, a scarlet line on a white field; andin the event of her failing to observe her neighbours was to circle atthat point, at a height of eight hundred feet, until either the two weresighted or further instructions were received. For the purpose ofdealing with emergencies, the President's car, which would finally makeits entrance from the south, was to be accompanied by an _aide-de-camp_capable of moving at a very high speed, whose signals were to be takenas Felsenburgh's own.
So soon as the circle was completed, having Esdraelon as its centre witha radius of five hundred and forty miles, the volors were to advance,dropping gradually to within five hundred feet of sea-level, anddiminishing their distance one from another from the twenty-five milesor so at which they would first find themselves, until they were as nearas safety allowed. In this manner the advance at a pace of fifty milesan hour from the moment that the circle was arranged would bring themwithin sight of Nazareth at about nine o'clock on the Sunday morning.
* * * * *
The guard came up to the four as they stood there silent.
"We are ready, gentlemen," he said.
"What do you think of the weather?" asked Snowford abruptly.
The guard pursed his lips.
"A little thunder, I expect, sir," he said.
Oliver looked at him curiously.
"No more than that?" he asked.
"I should say a storm, sir," observed the guard shortly.
Snowford turned towards the gangway.
"Well, we had best be off: we can lose time further on, if we wish."
It was about five minutes more before all was ready. From the stern ofthe boat came a faint smell of cooking, for breakfast would be servedimmediately, and a white-capped cook protruded his head for an instant,to question the guard. The four sat down in the gorgeous saloon in thebows; Oliver silent by himself, the other three talking in low voicestogether. Once more the guard passed through to his compartment at theprow, glancing as he went to see that all were seated; and an instantlater came the clang of the signal. Then through all the length of theboat--for she was the fastest ship that England possessed--passed thethrill of the propeller beginning to work up speed; and simultaneouslyOliver, staring sideways through the plate-glass window, saw the raildrop away, and the long line of London, pale beneath the tinged sky,surge up suddenly. He caught a glimpse of a little group of personsstaring up from below, and they, too, dropped in a great swirl, andvanished. Then, with a flash of dusty green, the Common had vanished,and a pavement of house-roofs began to stream beneath, the long lines ofstreets on this side and that turning like spokes of a gigantic wheel;once more this pavement thinned, showing green again as betweeninfrequently laid cobble-stones; then they, too, were gone, and thecountry was open beneath.
Snowford rose, staggering a little.
"I may as well tell the guard now," he said. "Then we need not beinterrupted aga
in."