Part 4 (1/2)

On reaching the head of the spiral staircase the professor paused for apassage which extended apparently along the middle of the shi+p 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 theazine 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 extre apartht in nue, the valet--whose duties, however, on board the _Flying Fish_ were to be rather those of steward and general handy ress 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 the-saloon, an aparth to the lower edge of the cornice The walls, of unpainted aethereum, were broken up into panels by fluted pilasters with richly- 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 rooain 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 aethereuns, the upholstery being in rich elittered with a brilliant array of plate and glass; and the entire apartht, strealass, 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 aparter questions rushed frory, and the dinner was served, he therefore contented hi to the dinner-table

”Coly, ”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 inforood dinner”

With which re his place at the head of the table, as he was entitled to do in virtue of his ownershi+p 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 accorew extremely animated The topic was, of course, the aerial shi+p and the novel and interesting character of her various equipments The professor speedily redeeth succeeded in co that hitherto sceptical individual that, so far fro detrimental to her, they constituted the principal basis upon which he was justified in his anticipations of her success as an _aerial_ shi+p

Having at length made this perfectly plain, he was next called upon by Lieutenant Mildmay to explain a certain peculiarity in the binnacle coentleman's notice and excited his curiosity

”I observed,” he said, ”that the compass-card bore round its outer riht 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 sned 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 , or, more correctly, to iven direction Having noticed those needles, you doubtless also noticed that across the 'lubber'sin 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 arer extre a s the arc of a circle Now the action of the instru that you wish the shi+p to travel along, say, a southerly course, you manipulate the helm in the usual s round to the lubber's mark The moment that these two accurately coincide you pull toward you a slide in through the slit in the side of the co 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 shi+p's bows remain pointed accurately to the south, the south point on the compass-card continues coincident with the lubber'shappens But should the shi+p deviate ever so slightly from her proper course the heavy, yet sensitive, cos round in sye of the card moves the two slender ar needle at the further extre the arc; and electric coback the shi+p to her original course”

”Capital! Adinald and the lieutenant together, the for:

”Upon ician with powers exceeding those of the hts'”

The professordisclaiician, but only a poor scientist Nevertheless, the wonders of science far exceed those of the 'Arabian Nights,' and ell 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 ht when the adventurous quartette rose froars with the the patient George for the night

Thesaloon, being, like the latter, the full width of the superstructure, andforty feet between the fore and the after bulkheads It was the next roo 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 aethereurouped on pedestals at frequent intervals all round the roo froht of lass, so saloon, suran, both in superbly modelled aethereum cases, occupied opposite sides of the apartment; a very handsome clock, with a set of silvery chi 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 handso 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 , 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 sunshi+ne was streanificent apartment

”The sun has not yet set? Then ill soonfro one of the walls of the apartment, whilst the baronet and the lieutenant stared in disan 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 diht 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 ht and suffused the rooht was again restored

”Another wonder!” exclaie it, professor?”

”Oh! that is a very sielass shades interposed between the electric light above the centre of the skylight and the lass 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 reeablethe saloons, so I introduced them”