METROPOLIS
They stared into. the eyes which were bending over them. They glanced sideways and searched across the sky. A rushing black point in the scarlet of the westerly sky, from which the sun had sunk.... The aeroplane. . . . Now it had indeed carried out its will and was Bying towards the sun, fmther and fmther westward. At its wheel sat the man who would not turn back, as dead as could be. The airman's cap hung down in shreds from the gaping skull, on to the bull-like shoulders. But the fists had not lost hold of the wheel. They still held it fast.... Farewell, pilot.... The face which lay in the young girl's lap began to smile, began to ask. Where was the nearest town? There was no town, far and wide. Where was the nearest railway? There was no railway, far and wide. Josaphat pushed himself up. He looked about him. Sb'etching out far and wide were fields and meadows, hemmed in by forests, standing there in their evening stillness. The scarlet of the sky had faded away. The crickets chirped. The mist about the distant, solitary willows brewed milky white. From the hallowed purity of the great sky the first star appeared with still glimmer. "I must go," said the man with the white, deathlike face. "You must rest, first," said the young girl. . The man's eyes looked up at her in astonishment. Her clear face, with its low, unintelligent brow and its beautiful, foolish mouth stood out, as if under a dome of sapphire, against the sky which curved above her. «Aren't you afraid of me?" asked the man. "No," said the young girl. The head of the man fell into her lap. She bent forward and covered up the shivering body with the billowing, silver silk. "Rest... :. said the man witll'i sigh. She made no reply. She sat quite motionless. 115
