He had formed quite definite plans of what he should do in certain emergencies, and he felt a new strength in his confidence that he should succeed in the business that had brought him into the hills.
At the abandoned bridge he threw himself down and gazed off through a narrow cut that afforded a glimpse of the Springs, where the electric lights gleamed as one lamp.

Shirley Claiborne was there in the valley and he smiled with the thought of her; for soon--perhaps in a few hours--he would be free to go to her, his work done; and no mystery or dangerous task would henceforth lie between them.
He saw march before him across the night great hosts of armed men, singing hymns of war; and again he looked upon cities besieged; still again upon armies in long alignment waiting for the word that would bring the final shock of battle.

The faint roar of water far below added an under-note of reality to his dream; and still he saw, as upon a tapestry held in his hand, the struggles of kingdoms, the rise and fall of empires.

Upon the wide seas smoke floated from the guns of giant ships that strove mightily in battle.

He was thrilled by drum-beats and the cry of trumpets.