226 Shadowings 



ing. At last I touched the stones but very, 

 very lightly, with only one foot ; and instantly 

 at that touch I went up again, rose to the 

 level of the eaves. People stopped to stare at 

 me. I felt the exultation of power superhuman ; 

 I felt for the moment as a god. 



Then softly I began to sink ; and the sight of 

 faces, gathering below me, prompted a sudden 

 resolve to fly down the street, over the heads of 

 the gazers. Again like a bubble 1 rose, and, with 

 the same impulse, I sailed in one grand curve to a 

 distance that astounded me. I felt no wind ; 

 I felt nothing but the joy of motion triumphant. 

 Once more touching pavement, I soared at a 

 bound for a thousand yards. Then, reaching 

 the end of the street, I wheeled and came back 

 by great swoops, by long slow aerial leaps of 

 surprising altitude. In the street there was dead 

 silence : many people were looking ; but nobody 

 spoke. I wondered what they thought of my 

 feat, and what they would say if they knew 

 how easily the thing was done. By the merest 

 chance I had found out how to do it; and the 

 only reason why it seemed a feat was that no 

 one else had ever attempted it. Instinctively I 

 felt that to say anything about the accident, which 



