Part 14 (1/2)
”It is for you to decide”--he answered--”You know best the possibilities-and the risks---”
”I know the possibilities perfectly,”--she said--”But I know nothing of risks--there are none. This is our safety”--and she drew out from the folds of her cloak, two small packets of cylindrical form--”This emanation of Nature's greatest force will keep us going for a year if needful! Oh man!--I do not mean YOU particularly, but man generally!--why could you not light on this little, little clue!--why was it left to a woman! Come!--let us see the White Eagle in its nest,--it shall spread its wings and soar to-day--we will give it full liberty!”
The dawn was spreading in threads of gold and silver and blue all over the heavens, and the sea flushed softly under the deepening light, as she went towards the aerodrome, he walking slowly by her side.
”Are you so sure?” he said--”Will you not risk your life in this attempt?”
She stopped abruptly.
”My life? What is it? The life of a midge in the sun! It is no good to me unless I do something with it! I would live for ever if I could!--here, on this dear little ball of Earth--I do not want a better heaven. The heaven which the clergy promise us is so remarkably unattractive! But I run no risk of losing my life or yours in our aerial adventures; we carry the very essence of vitality with us.
Come!--I want to see my flying palace! When I was a small child I used to feed my fancy on the 'Arabian Nights,' and most dearly did I love the story of Aladdin and his palace that was transported through the air. I used to say 'I will have a flying palace myself!' And now I have realised my dream.”
”That remains to be proved”--said Rivardi--”With all our work we may not have entirely carried out your plan.”
”If not, it will HAVE to be carried out”--returned Morgana, tranquilly--”There is no reason, moral or scientific, why it should NOT be carried out--we have all the forces of Nature on our side.”
He was silent, and accompanied her as she walked to the aerodrome and entered it. There were half a dozen or more men within, all working--but they ceased every movement as they saw her,--while she, on her part, scarcely seemed to note their presence. Her eyes were uplifted and fixed on a vast, smooth oblong object, like the body of a great bird with shut wings, which swung from the roof of the aerodrome and swayed lightly to and fro as though impelled by some mysterious breathing force. Morgana's swift glance travelled from its one end to the other with a flash of appreciation, while at the same time she received the salutations of all the men who advanced to greet her.
”You have done well, my friends!”--she said, speaking in fluent French--”This beautiful creature you have made seems a perfect thing,--from the OUTSIDE. What of the interior?”
A small, dark, intelligent looking man, in evident command of the rest, smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
”Ah, Signora! It is as you commanded!” he answered--”It is beautiful--like a chrysalis for a b.u.t.terfly. But a b.u.t.terfly has the advantage--it comes to LIFE, to use its wings!”
”Quite true, Monsieur Gaspard!” and Morgana gave him a smile as sunny as his own. ”But what is life? Is it not a composition of many elements? And should we not learn to combine such elements to vitalise our 'White Eagle'? It is possible!”
”With G.o.d all things are possible!” quoted the Marchese Rivardi--”But with man--”
”We are taught that G.o.d made man 'in His image. In the image of G.o.d created He him.' If this is true, all things should be possible to man”--said Morgana, quietly--”To man,--and to that second thought of the Creator--Woman! And we mustn't forget that second thoughts are best!” She laughed, while the man called Gaspard stared at her and laughed also for company. ”Now let me see how I shall be housed in air!” and with very little a.s.sistance she climbed into the great bird-shaped vessel through an entrance so deftly contrived that it was scarcely visible,--an entrance which closed almost hermetically when the s.h.i.+p was ready to start, air being obtained through other channels.
Once inside it was easy to believe in Fairyland. Not a sc.r.a.p of any sort of mechanism could be seen. There were two exquisitely furnished saloons--one a kind of boudoir or drawing-room where everything that money could buy or luxury suggest as needful or ornamental was collected and arranged with thoughtful selection and perfect taste. A short pa.s.sage from these apartments led at one end to some small, daintily fitted sleeping-rooms beyond,--at the other was the steering cabin and accommodation for the pilot and observer. The whole interior was lined with what seemed to be a thick rose-coloured silk of a singularly smooth and s.h.i.+ning quality, but at a sign from Morgana, Rivardi and Gaspard touched some hidden spring which caused this interior covering to roll up completely, thus disclosing a strange and mysterious ”installation” beneath. Every inch of wall-s.p.a.ce was fitted with small circular plates of some thin, s.h.i.+ning substance, set close together so that their edges touched, and in the center of each plate or disc was a tiny white k.n.o.b resembling the b.u.t.ton of an ordinary electric bell. There seemed to be at least two or three thousand of these discs--seen all together in a close ma.s.s they somewhat resembled the ”suckers” on the tentacles of a giant octopus. Morgana, seating herself in an easy chair of the richly carpeted ”drawing-room” of her ”air palace,” studied every line, turn and configuration of this extraordinary arrangement with a keenly observant and criticising eye.
The Marchese Rivardi and Gaspard watched her expression anxiously.
”You are satisfied?” asked Rivardi, at last--”It is as you planned?”
She turned towards Gaspard with a smile.
”What do YOU think about it?” she queried--”You are an expert in modern scientific work--you understand many of the secrets of natural force--what do YOU think?”
”Madama, I think as I have always thought!--a body without soul!”
”What IS soul?” she said--”Is it not breath?--the breath of life? Is it not said that G.o.d 'made man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul!' And what is the breath of life? Is it not composed of such elements as are in the universe and which we may all discover if we will, and use to our advantage? You cannot deny this! Come, Marchese!--and you, Monsieur Gaspard! Call to them below to set this Eagle free; we will fly into the sunrise for an hour or two,--no farther, as we are not provisioned.”
”Madama!” stammered Gaspard--”I am not prepared--”
”You are frightened, my friend!” and Morgana smiled, laying her little white hand soothingly on his arm--”But if I tell you there is no cause for fear, will you not believe me? Do you not think I love my own life?
Oh yes, I love it so much that I seek to prolong it, not risk it by sudden loss. Nor would I risk YOUR life--or HIS!” and she looked towards Rivardi--”HE is not frightened--he will come with me wherever I go! Now, Monsieur Gaspard, see! Here is our breath of life!” And she held up before his eyes the two cylindrically shaped packages she had previously shown to Rivardi--”The Marchese has already had some experience of it”--here she unfastened the wrappings of the packages, and took out two tubes made of some metallic substance which shone like purest polished gold--”I will fix these in myself--will you open the lower end chamber first, please?”