into the next chamber, closing the door behind him, and they found
themselves in a small room some ten feet square by seven feet in height.
This room, in common with the diving-room, was brilliantly lighted by
an electric lamp inclosed in a lantern of abnormally thick glass.
"Arrived here," continued the professor, "we are all ready to sally
forth upon our submarine explorations; all we have to do therefore is,
first to fill the chamber with water by means of this valve, then open
the trap-door and step forth upon the bottom of the sea."
As the professor said this he released the fastenings of the door, and
it fell down, forming a sort of inclined plane, over which they passed,
to find themselves once more on the solid earth, under the ship's
bottom, with the starboard bilge-keel rising like a wall of silver
before them. They passed along the lane formed by this keel and the
cylindrical bottom of the ship, and then stepped back with one accord to
take another glance aloft at the huge bulk of the ship as she towered
high above them. They now became conscious of the sounds of vigorous
hammering and of men's voices in the direction of the river gable of the
building shed, and on looking in that direction they saw that the
contractor, whom the professor had engaged for the purpose, was already
at work with his men removing the boarding which had hitherto concealed
the _Flying Fish_ from passers-by on the river, thus making a way for
the exit of the ship a little later on.
The little party had re-entered the hull by way of the trap-door, and
the professor had just made the fastenings once more secure, when, far
away aloft from somewhere within the recesses of the ship, they heard
the loud, sonorous, sustained note of a gong.
"Ah, that is good!" exclaimed Herr von Schalckenberg, rubbing his hands;
"that is the dinner gong; and I am hungry. Come, my friends, to the
dining saloon, and let us partake of the first of, I hope, many pleasant
meals on board the _Flying Fish_."
CHAPTER FOUR.
THE NOVEL BEGINNING OF A SINGULAR VOYAGE.
On reaching the head of the spiral staircase the professor paused for a
moment to direct the attention of his companions to a long passage which
extended apparently along the middle of the ship to the fore-end of the
superstructure. The passage was about five feet wide, and the ceiling
was of ground glass, through which a flood of light streamed brilliantly
down.
"In that direction," said the professor, "are to be found, first, the
kitchen, pantry, larder, and store-room; then next to them come my
laboratory and workshop, with the armoury and magazine on the opposite
side; then the quarters of the cook and the valet; next these again are
the bath-rooms and lavatories; and finally, at the extreme end of the
passage, there are the state-rooms or sleeping apartments, eight in
number--four for ourselves and four spare ones."
George, the valet--whose duties, however, on board the _Flying Fish_
were to be rather those of steward and general handy man--stood during
the progress of this brief explanation with his hand on the handle of
the saloon door; and now, as the professor turned and nodded, he flung
the door wide open and stood aside for the baronet and his friends to
enter.
They now found themselves in the dining-saloon, an apartment thirty feet
square and about ten feet high to the lower edge of the cornice. The
walls, of unpainted aethereum, were broken up into panels by fluted
pilasters with richly-moulded capitals, each panel having a frosted
border covered with delicate tracery, whilst the central portion of the
panel was left plain and polished, serving the purpose of a mirror, in
which the room and its multiplied reflections on the opposite wall was
again reflected in a long perspective. The floor was covered with a
rich Turkey carpet, into which one sank ankle deep; the chairs, sofas,
the massive sideboard, the wide table, in fact all the furniture in the
room, was constructed of aethereum and modelled after the choicest
designs, the upholstery being in rich embossed velvet of a delicate
light-blue shade. The table glittered with a brilliant array of plate
and glass; and the entire apartment was suffused with rich, soft,
rainbow-tinted light, streaming down through the magnificent coved
skylight of stained glass, which served instead of ceiling to the
saloon.
"Superb!"
"Magnificent!"
"Exquisite!"
Such were the exclamations which burst from the professor's companions
as they paused to look about them and take in all the details of the
splendidly furnished and decorated apartment. A dozen eager questions
rushed from their lips; but Herr von Schalckenberg was hungry, and the
dinner was served, he therefore contented himself with bowing profoundly
and pointing to the dinner-table.
"Come, gentlemen," exclaimed the baronet laughingly, "take your seats, I
beg. It is evident that we have quite exhausted both the professor's
patience and his strength, and that we shall get no more information out
of him until both have been restored by a good dinner."
With which remark Sir Reginald set the example by taking his place at
the head of the table, as he was entitled to do in virtue of his
ownership of the _Flying Fish_.
The dinner was an admirable one, in all respects quite worthy the
exceptional nature of the occasion; and under its genial influence, and
that of the choice wines which accompanied it, the conversation soon
grew extremely animated. The topic was, of course, the aerial ship and
the novel and interesting character of her various equipments. The
professor speedily redeemed his afternoon's promise to the baronet, and
at length succeeded in completely convincing that hitherto sceptical
individual that, so far from the enormous proportions of the _Flying
Fish_ being detrimental to her, they constituted the principal basis
upon which he was justified in his anticipations of her success as an
_aerial_ ship.
Having at length made this perfectly plain, he was next called upon by
Lieutenant Mildmay to explain a certain peculiarity in the binnacle
compass, which had attracted that gentleman's notice and excited his
curiosity.
"I observed," he said, "that the compass-card bore round its outer rim,
at every quarter point, a small upright needle. As everything on board
here, however apparently insignificant, seems to have its own especial
purpose, I should like to know the purpose which those small needles are
designed to serve."
"Ha, ha, my friend! so you noticed them, did you? I quite expected
that, as a seaman, you very soon would," said the professor. "Well, I
will tell you what they are. They form part of a little device of mine
to render the ship self-steering, or, more correctly, to make the
compass itself steer her in any given direction. Having noticed those
needles, you doubtless also noticed that across the `lubber's mark'
there was a small slit some six inches long in the side of the compass-
box?"
The lieutenant nodded.
"Good!" ejaculated the professor. "Had you looked outside the box you
would also have observed two long slender arms pivoted close together,
their outer and longer extremities being united, and carrying a small
needle which travels, point downwards, along the arc of a circle. Now
the action of the instrument is this. Supposing that you wish the ship
to travel along, say, a southerly course, you manipulate the helm in the
usual manner until the south point of the compass-card swings round to
the lubber's mark. The moment that these two accurately coincide you
pull toward you a small lever within easy reach of your hand, and the
two arms glide in through the slit in the side of the compass-box,
passing one on each side of the needle on the edge of the card, and your
apparatus is then connected up ready for action. Now, so long as the
ship's bows remain pointed accurately to the south, the south point on
the compass-card continues coincident with the lubber's mark, and
nothing happens. But should the ship deviate ever so slightly from her
proper course the heavy, yet sensitive, compass needle at once swings
round in sympathy; the small needle on the edge of the card moves the
two slender arms which embrace it; the downward-pointing needle at the
further extremity of these arms travels along the arc; and electric
communication is at once established with the steering machinery, which
promptly acts in such a way as to bring back the ship to her original
course."
"Capital! Admirable!" ejaculated Sir Reginald and the lieutenant
together, the former continuing:
"Upon my word, professor, you are a veritable wizard--a magician with
powers exceeding those of the most potent of your brethren referred to
in the `Arabian Nights.'"
The professor made a laughing disclaimer. "No, no, my dear sir," said
he, "I am no magician, but only a poor scientist. Nevertheless, the
wonders of science far exceed those of the `Arabian Nights,' and will
well repay the man who cares to patiently study them."
Enlivened by conversation of a character so interesting to all present,
the sitting was prolonged to quite an inordinate length, and though no
one, except perhaps the professor, noted the fact, it was past midnight
when the adventurous quartette rose from the table, and taking their
wine and cigars with them, moved into the music-room, at the same time
dismissing the patient George for the night.
The music-room was a much larger apartment than the dining saloon,
being, like the latter, the full width of the superstructure, and
measuring forty feet between the fore and the after bulkheads. It was
the next room abaft the dining saloon, and was even more elaborately
furnished and decorated than the latter. The walls, divided up in the
same manner as those of the other apartment, were adorned with choice
pictures, and exquisite statues of frosted aethereum were grouped on
pedestals at frequent intervals all round the room. A coved and
panelled ceiling of decorated aethereum sprang from the upper edge of
the richly moulded cornice; and a skylight of magnificent stained glass,
somewhat similar to that of the dining saloon, surmounted the whole. A
grand piano and a noble chamber organ, both in superbly modelled
aethereum cases, occupied opposite sides of the apartment; a very
handsome clock, with a set of silvery chimes for the quarters and a deep
rich-toned gong for the hours, occupied a conspicuous position on a wall
bracket; chairs, couches, and divans of seductive shape and ample
capacity were dotted here and there about the rich carpet; and a
handsome table occupied the centre of the room, supporting and
reflecting in the silvery depths of its undraped top a noble epergne of
choice hot-house flowers.
"Why, how is this?" exclaimed the colonel as he sank into the luxurious
depths of a most inviting arm-chair; "my watch must be all wrong, and
your clock there is also wrong, professor; they both assert that it is
half-past twelve o'clock, yet the sun has not yet set," pointing aloft
to the skylight, through which a brilliant flood of sunshine was
streaming down into the magnificent apartment.
"The sun has not yet set? Then we will soon make it do so," laughingly
remarked the professor, rising from his seat and approaching one of the
walls of the apartment, whilst the baronet and the lieutenant stared in
dismay at their own watch-faces. The German began to manipulate a
couple of tiny knobs which occupied unobtrusive positions in the base of
one of the pilasters, and the sunlight gradually deepened into a rich
orange hue, then changed to a soft pearly grey, which gradually deepened
into a dim delicious twilight in which little was visible save the
pictured glass in the skylight above; then it gradually brightened
again, and presently a flood of glorious silvery moonlight streamed down
through the skylight and suffused the room. Finally, with an
instantaneous change, the brilliant sunlight was again restored.
"Another wonder!" exclaimed Sir Reginald. "How do you manage it,
professor?"
"Oh! that is a very simple matter," was the reply; "it is merely a
cunning arrangement of variously tinted glass shades interposed between
the electric light above the centre of the skylight and the mirrors
which reflect the light down through the stained glass into the room.
As you probably noticed when on the deck, there are no actual skylights
in the usual acceptation of the term; ours are only make-believes; but
they struck me as affording an agreeable means of lighting the saloons,
so I introduced them."
In further conversation, diversified by music, the time slipped rapidly
away; and at length the clock on the bracket proclaimed that it was two
hours after midnight.
As the sonorous strokes of the gong announced the fact, the professor
rose to his feet, and in a voice tremulous with sudden nervous
excitement, said:
"Gentlemen, the hour for our departure, the hour which is to witness the
success or failure of our grand experiment, has arrived. The river and
the streets of the great city are by this time nearly or quite deserted;
and we may therefore hope that our movements will attract little or no
notice. Are you ready?"
"Ready!" ejaculated the baronet; "of course we are, my dear sir. Is not
this the moment to which we have all been anxiously looking forward for
more than two years? Proceed, professor, we will follow you; and
whatever orders you may give us shall be obeyed to the letter."
"Come, then," said the professor; and he led the way through the dining
saloon and up the grand staircase to the lower compartment of the pilot-
house, and thence out on deck.
To their eyes, fresh from the brilliantly lighted saloons, the night
appeared intensely dark; but in a minute or two, becoming accustomed to
the gloom, they were able to perceive that the ladder had been taken
away from the ship's side, and also that the contractor had completed
his task of removing the planking at the river end of the shed, thus
clearing a way for the exit of the great ship. They walked to the after
extremity of the deck, and from that point were not only able, in the
breathless stillness then prevailing, to distinctly hear the gurgle and
rush of the river, but also to dimly make out the shining, swirling
surface of the water as the flood-tide swept past them.
"The air is absolutely motionless," said the professor. "No more
favourable moment could possibly have been chosen for the difficult task
of moving the _Flying Fish_ out of her present cramped quarters, and we
will at once avail ourselves of it. Lieutenant, I will ask you to
return here presently on the `look-out,' as you sailors term it. Your
duty will be to see that when we move out of the shed we do not come
into collision with anything. Perhaps you, colonel, will kindly go to
the other end the deck, also on the `look-out;' and, as for you, Sir
Reginald, I must ask you to stand on the deck just outside the
pilothouse, to see that the electric lamp on the top of it does not come
into collision with the roof-timbers, and so drag the roof off the shed.
But as it is necessary that you should all become acquainted with the
working of the ship, you had better be with me in the pilot-house until
we are actually ready to move."
"Now," continued the professor when the quartette had made their way to
the upper floor of the pilot-house, which was moderately illuminated by
an electric lamp of small power, "the first thing to be done is to place
the tiller of the ship in a horizontal position, and thus bring into
action the automatic balancing gear. So! It is done. The next thing
is to expel the air from the entire hull of the ship, excepting, of
course, the comparatively insignificant portion reserved for habitation,
and this I do by injecting vapour into the several compartments. The
vapour drives out the air, and then, condensing like steam, creates, if
required, a perfect vacuum. This large wheel controls the valve which
we now want to open. I turn it this way, so--and now we shall see what
will happen."
Two large dials were attached to the side of the pilothouse, close
together; and upon these the professor now intently fixed his gaze. The
index-hands of both were seen to be moving. A period of perhaps half a
minute elapsed, and then the professor, suddenly shutting off the
vapour, went over and closely inspected both dials.
"Good!" he exclaimed, after a single keen glance at each of them.
"Gentlemen, let us congratulate each other. Our experiment is a SIGNAL
SUCCESS!"
"How do you know that, professor? How can you tell?" eagerly asked his
companions.
"Look at these two dials; they will tell you," replied the professor.
"This dial," tapping one with his finger, "indicates the weight of the
ship, or the pressure with which she bears upon the ground. This one,"
indicating the other, "shows the pressure of air inside the hull of the
ship. The first, as you see, shows that the ship is now pressing upon
the ground with a force of less than a single ton--in other words, she
now weighs less than one ton. The air-gauge shows that there is still
an air pressure of six pounds per square inch inside the hull, and we
therefore have, as I expected we should, a large margin of buoyancy.
Now, lieutenant, do me the favour to turn on the vapour once more, very
cautiously. Steady! _Stop_! There, Sir Reginald, the index has
reached zero, and your ship is now as nearly as possible without weight;
and if a man were now underneath her, he might, notwithstanding her
gigantic proportions, easily raise her upon his shoulders. Now comes
the delicate part of our operation. To your stations on the deck
quickly, gentlemen, if you please."
The professor's companions, just a trifle excited, perhaps, hurried away
to their posts, and the scientist was left alone. The circular windows
in the sides of the pilothouse were all left open, and in through them
presently floated the voice of the lieutenant shouting:
"All ready abaft, professor."
"All ready at this end," replied the colonel.
The professor reversed the engines, turned on the vapour _very_
cautiously indeed, and simultaneously, with the engines below only just
barely moving, the huge propeller began to whirl round at a speed of
some sixty revolutions a minute.
A breathless pause of perhaps two seconds followed, and then the
professor, his forehead damp with nervous perspiration, heard:
"Hurrah! She's away!" from the lieutenant.
"She moves; she moves!" from the colonel.
And, "By Jove, she is actually moving!" from the baronet.
Slowly but surely the _Flying Fish_ backed out of the building-shed,
until nearly half her immense length projected beyond the walls. Then
the voice of the baronet was heard exclaiming:
"Ho! stop her! The electric lamp will not clear the roof, I am afraid.
Can you give us a little light on the subject, professor?"
By way of reply the professor pressed a knob, and the lamp itself
flashed its dazzling light upon the scene, when it became apparent that
the ship had gradually risen from the ground, bringing the top of her
lamp just above the level of the last tie-rod of the roof.
"Can you drop her a little? Six inches will do it," said the baronet.
The professor opened the air-valve and the ship at once began to settle
down.
"So! That will do; all clear. You may go astern again now as fast as
you please," said the baronet.
Once more the great propeller began to revolve, and presently the
baronet, from his position under the foremost end of the pilot-house,
remarked:
"Now she is all clear, professor; the whole of the pilothouse is outside
the shed. A bold dash astern now and we shall be clear fore and aft in
another moment."
The professor extinguished the electric lamp; gave the wheel connected
with the vapour-valve another turn; the engines increased their speed;
and the great ship at once shot rapidly out over the stream and clear of
everything. Then the professor stopped the engines, turned a thin
stream of vapour into the air chambers, and the huge fabric began to
slowly rise perpendicularly in the air. Herr von Schalckenberg waited
until he saw that they were fairly above the level of the roofs on both
sides of the river; then he left the pilot-house and, joining the
baronet on the deck outside, said, in a voice of undisguised exultation:
"Well, Sir Reginald, what think you _now_ of the _Flying Fish_?"
"I think her, professor, a wonderful creation of a still more wonderful
man. I see that we are steadily rising in the air, as you assured us
would be the case, but I cannot yet fully realise the fact; I feel like
a man in a dream; you must give me time to become familiar with this new
marvel--this new triumph of science. But there can no longer be any
doubt as to the success of your labours; and I accordingly offer you my
most hearty thanks and congratulations."
The colonel and the lieutenant also hastened to offer theirs, and then
the whole party sauntered to the side, and, leaning upon the guard-rail
which took the place of bulwarks, stood gazing upon the scene below.
Not that there was very much to see; the sky was obscured by a thin
almost motionless canopy of cloud, and the moon, in her last quarter,
had not yet risen; the darkness was therefore profound. At the same
time it was novel and interesting to watch how, as the huge ship rose
steadily higher in the air, the long lines of lighted gas-lamps in
street after street became visible, until gradually the whole of the
great city lay spread out below them like a map, with the thoroughfares
indicated by faint twinkling lines of fire. And, as they continued to
rise, the various disjointed sounds which, even at that early hour,
pervaded the city, began to reach their ears: the rumbling of a wagon or
the rattle of a cab over the stone-paved streets, the barking of a dog,
the crow of some unnaturally wakeful rooster, the clank of shunting
trucks at one or another of the many goods stations dotted here and
there all over the metropolis, the distant whistle and rattle of a train
speeding along in the open country beyond; all floated up to them with
almost startling distinctness at first, then fainter and fainter, until
at length they died completely away as the _Flying Fish_ gradually
attained a higher altitude. Then they entered the bank of cloud which
overspread the city, and the air, which had hitherto been warm, became
suddenly chill and damp.
"Now, my friends," said the professor, "there will be little or nothing
more to see until we again descend; I therefore propose that we return
to the pilot-house, shut ourselves in, and at once test the soaring
powers of the ship by rising to the highest attainable altitude."
"Agreed!" said the baronet. "But why shut ourselves in?"
"Because," answered the professor, "it will not only grow rapidly colder
as we rise, but, if we remain outside, we shall also find it
increasingly difficult to breathe as we reach the more rarefied air;
whereas, by remaining inside, we shall be sheltered from the cold and
shall be able to breathe the denser air which we shall take up with us."
They accordingly entered the pilot-house, shutting the door after them,
and closing all the windows; then the professor turned a full jet of
vapour into the air-chambers for a moment, producing a perfect vacuum
therein, and the ship at once began to mount into the ether with greatly
accelerated speed, as they could easily see by watching the barometer,
the bulb of which, completely protected, was situate outside the walls
of the pilot-house.