Simultaneously with the landing there was a loud pop, while Billie's
senses reeled with the stunning suddenness of the impact. Next second
the machine had darted to a safe distance, and Billie could see the man
gnawing frantically at the back of his hand. Too late; his hand went
stiff, and his arm twitched spasmodically. The fellow made a step or two
forward, then swayed where he stood, his whole body rigid and strained.
An expression of the utmost terror was upon his face; he could not utter
a sound, although his companions shrieked in horror. Another second and
the man fell flat, twitching convulsively; and in a moment or two it was
all over. He was dead!
And then the truth burst upon the watcher. In fact, it seemed to come to
all four at the same time, probably by reason of their mental
connections. Neither of them could claim that he or she had previously
guessed a tenth of its whole, ghastly nature.
The "cane" which Smith had seen had not been cane at all; it had been
grass. The "beetle" in the stream had not been the giant thing he had
visualized it; neither had that fish been the size he had thought.
Van Emmon's "gold mine" had not been a pit in any sense of the word; it
had been the inside of the blossom of a very simple, poppy-like flower.
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