CHAPTER THREE.
THE "FLYING FISH."
During the whole of the following week stores of various kinds necessary to the comfort and sustenance of the voyagers were being constantly delivered at the building yard, where they were received by the valet and cook of Sir Reginald Elphinstone--the only servants or a.s.sistants of any kind who were to accompany the expedition--and promptly stowed away by them, under the direction of the professor, who was exceedingly anxious to accurately preserve the proper "trim" of the vessel--a much more important and difficult matter than it would have been had she been designed to navigate the ocean only. By mid-day on Sat.u.r.day the last article had been received, including the personal belongings of the travellers, the stowage was completed, and everything was ready for an immediate start.
At three o"clock on the following Monday afternoon the voyagers met in the smoke-room of the "Migrants"" as a convenient and appropriate rendezvous, and, without having dropped the slightest hint to anyone respecting the novel nature of their intended journey, quietly said "Good-bye" to the two or three men who happened to be there, and, chartering a couple of hansoms, made the best of their way to Fenchurch Street railway station, from whence they took the train to Blackwall.
On emerging from the latter station they placed themselves under the guidance of the professor, and were by him conducted in a few minutes to the building yard. The professor was the only one of the quartette who had as yet set eyes on the vessel in which they were about to embark; and the remaining three naturally felt a little flutter of curiosity as they pa.s.sed through the gateway and saw before them the enormous closely-boarded shed which jealously hid from all unprivileged eyes the latest marvel of science. But they were Englishmen, and as such it was a part of their creed to preserve an absolutely unruffled equanimity under every conceivable combination of circ.u.mstances, so between the whiffs of their cigars they chatted carelessly about anything and everything but the object upon which their thoughts were just then centred.
But the baronet"s equanimity was for a moment upset when the professor, after a perhaps unnecessarily prolonged fumbling with the key, threw open the wicket which gave admission to the interior of the shed, and, stepping back to allow his companions to precede him, exclaimed in tones of exultant pride, in that broken English of his which it is unnecessary to further reproduce:
"Behold, gentlemen, the embodiment of a scientist"s dream--the _Flying Fish_!"
The baronet advanced a pace or two, then stopped short, aghast.
"Good heavens!" he e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed. "What, in the name of madness, have you done, professor? That huge object will _never_ float in the air; and I should say it will be a pretty expensive business to get her into the _water_, if indeed it is worth while to put her there."
The other two, the representatives of the army and of the navy, though probably as much astonished as the baronet, said nothing. They knew considerably more than the latter about the capabilities of science; and though they might possibly entertain grave doubts as to the success of the professor"s experiment, they did not feel called upon to express an off-hand opinion that it would prove a failure.
The baronet might well be excused his hasty expression of incredulity.
Towering above and in front of him, filling up the entire s.p.a.ce of the enormous shed from end to end and from ground to roof-timbers, he saw an immense cylinder, pointed at both ends, and constructed entirely of the polished silver-like metal which the professor had called aethereum.
The sides of the ship from stem to stern formed a series of faultless curves; the conical bow or fore body of the ship being somewhat longer, and therefore sharper, than the after body, which partook more of the form of an ellipse than of a cone; the curvilinear hull was supported steadily in position by two deep broad bilge-keels, one on either side and about one-third the extreme length of the ship; and, attached to the stern of the vessel by an ingeniously devised ball-and-socket joint in such a manner as to render a rudder unnecessary, was to be seen a huge propeller having four tremendously broad sickle-shaped blades, the palms of which were hollowed in such a manner as to gather in and concentrate the air, or water, about the boss and powerfully project it thence in a direct line with the longitudinal axis of the ship. Crowning the whole there was a low superstructure immediately over and of the same length as the bilge-keels, very much resembling the upper works of a double- bowed vessel such as are some of the small Thames river steamers. This was decked over, and afforded a promenade about two hundred feet long by thirty feet wide. And, lastly, rising from the centre of this deck there was a s.p.a.cious pilot-house with a dome-like roof, from the interior of which the movements of the vessel could be completely controlled. The entire hull of the vessel, excepting the double-bowed superstructure, was left unpainted, and it shone like a polished mirror.
The superstructure, however, was painted a delicate grey tint, with the relief of a ma.s.sive richly gilded cable moulding all round the shear- strake and the further adornment of a broad ribbon of a rich crimson hue rippling through graceful wreaths of gilded scroll-work at bow and stern, the name _Flying Fish_ being inscribed on the ribbon in gold letters. Altogether, notwithstanding her unusual form, the aerial ship was an exceedingly graceful and elegant object, and, but for her enormous proportions, looked admirably adapted for her work.
Under other circ.u.mstances the professor would probably have been seriously offended at the baronet"s incredulous exclamation; but as it was he was so confident of his success--so gratified and triumphant altogether--that he could afford to be not only forgiving but actually tolerant. He therefore replied to Sir Reginald only with a mute smile of amused compa.s.sion for the baronet"s lamentable ignorance and unbelief.
The professor"s smile somewhat rea.s.sured Sir Reginald, though he still continued to eye his novel possession very dubiously.
"You once spoke of Atlantic liners," he at last remarked to the professor; "but surely this craft is larger than the largest Atlantic liner afloat. What are her dimensions?"
"She is six hundred feet long, by sixty feet diameter at the point of her greatest girth," quietly replied the professor.
"And do you mean to tell me that such a monster will ever float in the air?" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the baronet, his incredulity returning and taking possession of him with tenfold tenacity.
"I do," answered the professor firmly, his self-love at length becoming slightly ruffled. "In that ship you shall to-night soar higher into the empyrean than mortal has ever soared before; and after that you shall, if you choose, sleep calmly until morning at the bottom of the English Channel. By and by at the dinner-table I will endeavour to demonstrate to you, my dear friend, that it is her immense proportions alone which will enable her to float in so thin a fluid as air."
"Very well," said the baronet in the tones of a man still utterly unconvinced; "if you say so, I suppose I must doubt no more. Now, please, introduce to us the novel details of this wonderful craft of yours."
"With pleasure," answered the professor, his brow clearing and a gratified smile suffusing his countenance. "A few minutes will suffice to show you all that can be seen from the outside. Those small circular pieces of gla.s.s which you perceive let into the hull here and there are, as you have no doubt already surmised, windows to enable us to observe what is pa.s.sing outside. The larger windows at the bow and stern protect powerful electric lamps, and are exclusively for the purpose of lighting up our surroundings when we are at the bottom of the sea.
This,"--pointing to what looked like a circular trap-door in the bottom of the ship, some fifteen feet from the centre on the port side--"is the anchor recess; and this,"--pointing to a corresponding arrangement on the starboard side--"is the door through which we shall obtain egress from and access to the ship when she is at the bottom of the sea."
"Do you mean by that, that we are going to leave the ship and walk about on the bed of the ocean?" asked the baronet.
"Certainly," answered the professor with a look of surprise. "Our exploration of the ocean"s bed will probably be one of the most interesting incidents of the expedition."
The baronet shrugged his shoulders and the professor continued:
"These bilge-keels serve a threefold purpose; they enable the ship to rest steadily and firmly on the ground, as you see, which, from her peculiar form, she could not otherwise do; they also form the sheaths, so to speak, of four anchors to fasten her securely to the ground either above or beneath the water--a most necessary precaution, believe me; and they also add considerably to the cubical contents of the water- chambers, with which they communicate, which will help to sink the ship to the bottom. Lastly, there is the propeller, the only peculiarities of which are its great diameter--fifty feet--its enormous surface area, and the fact that it is attached to the hull in such a way as to admit of its being turned freely in any direction, thus dispensing with all necessity for a rudder."
"Why have you left the hull unpainted, professor? I suppose you had some good reason for so doing?" remarked the colonel, chiming into the conversation.
"I had no less than _three_ good reasons for leaving the hull of the ship unpainted," answered the professor. "In the first place, aethereum is quite insensible to the attacks of air and water--it never oxidises, and paint was therefore unnecessary for its preservation. In the next place, the quant.i.ty of paint necessary to cover that enormous surface would weigh something considerable; and, as I have throughout the work taken the utmost pains to keep down all the weight to the lowest ounce consistent with absolute safety, I rejected it on that account. And lastly, I take it that we are anxious to avoid all unnecessary observation; and I believe this cannot be better accomplished than by preserving the brilliant metallic l.u.s.tre of the hull, which, especially when we are floating in mid-air, will reflect the tints of the surrounding atmosphere, and so make it almost impossible to distinguish us."
"Except when the sun"s rays fall directly upon us, eh, professor?"
remarked Mildmay.
"In that case," returned the professor, "observers will see a dazzling flash of light in which all shape will be indistinguishable."
"And we shall thus be mistaken for a meteorite," exclaimed the baronet somewhat sarcastically. "Excellent! admirable! I really must congratulate you, professor, upon the wonderful foresight with which you seem to have provided for every possible and impossible emergency. Now, what is the next marvel?"
"There is nothing more down here. We will now proceed on board, if you please, gentlemen," said the professor; and he forthwith led the way up a ladder which leaned against the vessel"s lofty side. This conducted them as far as the upper curve of her cylindrical bilge, at which point they encountered a flight of light ornamental openwork steps permanently attached to the ship"s side, up which they pa.s.sed to the gangway in the stout metal railing which served instead of bulwark, and so reached the s.p.a.cious promenade deck. Looking down into the yard from this coign of vantage, they seemed to be an enormous height from the ground; and the baronet shrugged his shoulders more expressively than ever as he glanced first below and then around him, realising more fully than ever, as he did so, the immense proportions of his new possession. He said nothing, however, but turned inquiringly to the professor.
"This way, gentlemen, if you please," said the German, in answer to the look; and he led them aft to what may be styled the quarter-deck.
"You spoke about the weight of a coat of paint on the hull just now, but I see you have planked the deck. The weight of all this planking must be something considerable," remarked Mildmay.
"A mere trifle; it is only a thin veneering just to give a secure and comfortable foothold," remarked the professor. He paused at what looked like a trap-door in the deck and said:
"We shall not be always soaring in the air nor groping about at the bottom of the sea; we shall sometimes be riding on the surface; and I have therefore thought it advisable to provide a couple of boats. Here is one of them."
He stooped down, seized hold of and turned a ring in the flap, and raised the trap-door, disclosing a dark pit-like recess of considerable dimensions. Letting the flap fold back flat on the deck, the professor then stooped down and grasped the handle of a horizontal lever which lay just below the level of the deck, and drew it up into a perpendicular position, and, as he did so, a pair of davits, the upper portions of which had been plainly visible, rose through the aperture close to the protecting railing, bringing with them a handsomely modelled boat hanging from the tackles. The professor deftly turned the davits outward, and there hung the boat at the quarter in the exact position she would have occupied in an ordinary ship.
"Bravo, professor; very clever indeed!" exclaimed Mildmay. "But what is the object of those four curved tubes projecting through the boat"s bottom?"
"Those tubes," answered the professor, "are the boat"s means of propulsion. You see," he explained, "being built of aethereum, the boat is extremely light, and draws so little water that a screw propeller would be quite useless to her. So I have subst.i.tuted those tubes instead. One pair, you will observe, points toward the stern, and one pair toward the bow. The boat"s engine is a powerful three-cylinder pump, and it sucks the water strongly in through the tubes which point forward, discharging it as powerfully out through those which point astern; thus drawing and driving the boat along at a speed of about twelve knots per hour, which is as fast, I fancy, as we shall ever want her to go. If you want to go astern the movement of a single lever reverses the whole process. There is a similar boat on the other side."
The boat having been returned to her hiding-place, the professor next led his friends to the structure which occupied the centre of the deck.
It was a perfectly plain erection, with curved sides meeting in a kind of stem and stern-post at its forward and after ends, with a curved dome-like roof, several small circular windows all round its sides, and no apparent means of entry.
"Why, how is this, professor? You have actually built your pilot- house--for such I suppose it is--without a door," exclaimed the baronet with returning good-humour as he perceived that, even in the event of the _Flying Fish_ failing to fly, he would still have a very wonderful ship for his money.
"As you have rightly supposed, this _is_ the pilot-house," answered the professor, with one hand pressing lightly against the gleaming wall of the structure. "But as to its being without a door, you are mistaken, for there it is."
And as he spoke a door, hitherto unnoticed in the side of the building, flew open.
"Why, you are a veritable magician, professor! How on earth did you manage that?" exclaimed the colonel.
"Easily enough," answered the professor. "Just look here, all of you.
This is a secret door which it is necessary you should all know how to open. Now, there are four of us, are there not? Very well; find the fourth rivet from the bottom in the fourth row from the after end of the building--here it is--push it to your left--_not_ press it; pressing is no good--and open flies the door. Push the rivet to the _right_ when the door is open, and you shut it--so," suiting the action to the word.
"Now, Sir Reginald, let me see if you can open that door."
The baronet opened and closed the door without difficulty; and then the other two essayed the attempt with similarly successful results.
"That is all right," commented the professor. "Now step inside, please; and close the door--so: when you want to open it from the inside you simply turn this handle--so, and open it comes."
The quartette now found themselves inside the pilothouse, which proved to be two stories in height. On their right hand they beheld the companion-way leading to the interior of the ship, with a wide flight of stairs of delightfully easy descent, handsomely carpeted, and a magnificent ma.s.sive handrail and bal.u.s.ters of gleaming aethereum. The square opening to the companion-way was also protected by a similar handrail and bal.u.s.ters, producing an exceedingly rich effect and seeming to promise a corresponding sumptuousness of fitting in the saloons below.