Part 5 (1/2)

Can you give us a little light on the subject, professor?”

By way of reply the professor pressed a knob, and the laht upon the scene, when it becaround, 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 shi+p at once began to settle down

”So! That will do; all clear You ain now as fast as you please,” said the baronet

Once an 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 ave the wheel connected with the vapour-valve another turn; the engines increased their speed; and the great shi+p at once shot rapidly out over the streaines, turned a thin streaan 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 stillin the air, as you assured us would be the case, but I cannot yet fully realise the fact; I feel like a ive me time to become familiar with this new er be any doubt as to the success of your labours; and I accordingly offer you ratulations”

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 sae shi+p rose steadily higher in the air, the long lines of lighted gas-laradually the whole of the great city lay spread out below thehfares 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 ruon or the rattle of a cab over the stone-paved streets, the barking of a dog, the crow of so trucks at one or another of the oods stations dotted here and there all over thealong in the open country beyond; all floated up to the distinctness at first, then fainter and fainter, until at length they died coher 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 ain descend; I therefore propose that we return to the pilot-house, shut ourselves in, and at once test the soaring powers of the shi+p 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 rely difficult to breathe as we reach theinside, 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 the all the s; then the professor turned a full jet of vapour into the air-cha a perfect vacuuan to reatly 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

It was no very easy h the thin yet obdurate walls of the pilot-house; but by the tiers experienced a distinct sensation of chilliness, whilst the s of the pilot-house were thickly coated with a delicate frost tracery Still the baroh not so rapidly as at first, indicating that the shi+p was still soaring upward; and with every inch fall of thestudy of th the ht of eleven inches only, and the professor gave vent to a great sigh of relief And when it further dropped to ten inches he could no longer contain himself

”Gentlemen,” he exclaimed, ”rejoice with me The conquest of the mountains is ours We are now as nearly as possible on a level with the topmost peak of Everest, the most lofty projection on the earth's surface; and in due ti our feet on that as yet untrodden spot, and of leaving a record to that effect behind us”

At length the ht inches, and there it stopped; the li Fish's_ buoyancy was reached

The professor stood intently regarding the barometer tube for some time; then he turned and said to his companions:

”Gentle of the barometer which man has ever witnessed, and which indicates that we are at this moment farther from our mother earth than mortal has ever journeyed before Huhteen thousand five hundred and seventy-six feet Gay-Lussac rose in his balloon to the her elevation of twenty-three thousand feet, only to be eclipsed by your own countryht of twenty-seven thousand six hundred feet But it was left for _us_,feat of aeronautical science, by attaining to the extraordinary altitude of thirty-four thousand six hundred feet, or more than six and a half miles of perpendicular elevation above the sea-level _Now_, Sir Reginald, what think you of your latest acquisition, the _Flying Fish_?”

”I think her by far the most wonderful creation of which I have ever heard or read, and,” (with a bow to the professor) ”every orthy of the truly remarkable man to whom she owes her existence If her power to penetrate the hitherto unexplored depths of the ocean is at all coions of the air, I foresee that our voyage is likely to be fruitful in startling incident and in the discovery of many hitherto unsuspected secrets of nature

Nohat do you propose that we shall next do, professor?”

”I propose,” said von Schalckenberg, ”that, having tested the _Flying Fish's_ capabilities ofinto the air, we should now ascertain what she can do in the way of _navigating_ the atmosphere; after which ill try her powers as a sublish Channel is to be found in a submarine valley called the 'Hurd Deep;' it is situate about six miles north of the 'Casquets,' and lies ninety-four fathoms (or five hundred and sixty-four feet) below the surface of the water I propose (subject to your approval) toadvantage of our presence there toarmour Does this meet with your approval?”