Part 17 (1/2)

Mind and eye ran down the long line of the ages. He saw Goths and Vandals, Germans and Gauls pouring through the pa.s.ses upon Italy, and then almost in his own time he saw that other, the equal of Hannibal, almost exactly the same age, leading another army over the mighty mountains into the rich plains below. He watched the short figure of Napoleon, and behind him the invincible French youth, born of the republic, dragging their cannon through the snow to victory.

”Open your eyes, John, are you going to sleep?”

”I was never further from sleep, and my eyes were so wide open that I saw more than I ever did before in my life.”

”And what did you see, my wise John?”

”I saw generals and nations crossing the mountains down there. I saw through a s.p.a.ce of many centuries, and the last I saw was your Napoleon leading his troops over the Great St. Bernard to Marengo.”

Lannes' eyes flamed like stars.

”And the great marshal whose name I bear was there with him,” he said.

”It was near Marengo that he won his Dukedom of Montebello. Napoleon cannot come back, but victory may perch again on the banners of France.”

John understood him. He knew how Frenchmen must have writhed through all the years over Gravelotte and Sedan and Metz. He knew how deeply they must have felt the taunt that they were degenerate, and the prediction of their enemies that they would soon sink to the state of a second cla.s.s power. He knew how Americans would have felt in their place, and, while he had never believed the sneers, he knew they had been made so often that some Frenchmen themselves had begun to believe them. He understood fully, and the ties that were knitting him so strongly to Lannes increased and strengthened.

”They were really republicans who won the victories of Napoleon,” he said, ”and you have been a republic again for forty-four years.

Republics give life and strength.”

”I think they do, and so does a liberal monarchy like that of England.

Freedom makes the mind grow. Well, I hope we've grown so much that with help we'll be able to whip Germany. What's become of the Alps, John?”

”The clouds have taken 'em.”

There was nothing now in the south but a vast bank of gray, and presently John felt drops of rain on his face. Besides, it was growing much colder. He did not know much about flying, but he was quite sure that in the midst of a great storm of wind and rain they would be in acute danger. He looked anxiously at Lannes, who said rea.s.suringly:

”We'll go above it, John. It's one of the advantages of flying. On earth you can't escape a storm, but here we mount so high that it pa.s.ses beneath us. After you get used to flying you'll wonder why people trust themselves on such a dangerous place as the earth.”

John caught the twinkle in his eye, but he was learning fast, and his own heart thrilled too as they swung upward, rising higher and higher, until the thin air made the blood beat heavily in his temples. At last he looked down again. The earth had vanished. Vast clouds of gray and black floated between, and to John's startled eyes they took on all the aspects of the sea. Here the great swells rolled and tumbled, and off far in the north stretched a vast smooth surface of tranquility. But beneath him he saw flashes of light, and heard the heavy mutter as of giant guns. High above, the air was thin, cold and motionless.

A troubled world rolled directly under them, and the scene that he beheld was indescribably grand and awful. The clouds were in conjunction, and thunder and lightning played as if monstrous armies had crashed together. But here they sailed steadily on a motionless sea of air. He shared the keen pleasure that Lannes so often felt. The _Arrow_ suddenly became a haven of safety, a peaceful haven away from strife.

”Aren't you glad you're not down there?” asked Lannes.

”Aye, truly.”

”The winds that blow about the world, and the clouds that float where the winds take them appear to be having a terrible commotion, but we are safe spectators. Monsieur Jean the Scott, I wonder if the time will ever come when we'll have a flying machine that can manufacture its own air to sail in. Then it could rise to any height.”

”Phil, you're dreaming!”

”I know I am but I'm not dreaming any more than you were just now when you saw Napoleon and his army crossing the Alps. Besides who can forecast the achievements of science? Why, man who was nothing but a savage yesterday is just getting a start in the world! Who can tell what he'll be doing a million years from now? Think of going on, and on in the void, and maybe arriving on Venus or Mars!”

”In that case we'll find out whether that Mars ca.n.a.l story is true or not.”

Lannes laughed.

”I come back to earth,” he said, ”or rather I come back to a point a safe distance above it. How's our storm making out?”

”It seems to be moving westward.”