"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 ship 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 shining 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, shining 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?"
Silently the two men obeyed her gesture and opened the small compartment fixed at what might be called the hull end of the air-ship.
The interior was seen to be lined with the same round discs which covered the walls of the vessel, every disc closely touching its neighbour. With extreme caution and delicacy Morgana set one of the tubes she held upright in the socket made to receive it, and as she did this, fine sharp, needle like flashes of light broke from it in a complete circle, filling the whole receptacle with vibrating rays which instantly ran round each disc, and glittered in and out among them like a stream of quicksilver. As soon as this manifestation occurred, Morgana beckoned to her two a.s.sistants to shut the compartment. They did so with scarcely an effort, yet it closed down with a silent force and tenacity that suggested some enormous outward pressure, yet pressure there seemed none. And now a sudden throbbing movement pulsated through the vessel--its huge folded wings stirred.
"Quick! Tell them below to lose no time! Open the shed and let her rise!--when the contact is once established there will not be half a second to spare!"
Hurriedly the man Gaspard, though obviously terrified, shouted the necessary orders, while Morgana went to the other end of the ship where Rivardi opened for her the second compartment into which she fixed the second tube. Once again the circular flashes broke out, but this time directly the compartment was closed down, the shining stream of light was seen to run rapidly and completely round the interior of the vessel, touching every disc that lined the walls as with the sparkling point of a jewel. The wings of the ship palpitated as with life and began to spread open....
"Let her go!" cried Morgana--"Away to your place, pilot!" and she waved a commanding hand as Rivardi sprang to the steering gear--"Hold her fast! ... Keep her steady! Straight towards the sun-rise!"
As she spoke, a wonderful thing happened--every disc that lined the interior of the ship started throbbing like a pulse,--every little white k.n.o.b in the centre of each disc vibrated with an extraordinary rapidity of motion which dazzled the eyes like the glittering of swiftly falling snow, and Gaspard, obeying Morgana"s sign, drew down at once all the rose silk covering which completely hid the strange mechanism from view. There was absolutely no noise in this intense vibration,--and there was no start or jar, or any kind of difficulty, when the air-ship, released from bondage, suddenly rose, and like an actual living bird sprang through the vast opening gateway of the aerodrome and as it sprang, spread out its wings as though by its own volition. In one moment, it soared straight upright, far far into s.p.a.ce, and the men who were left behind stood staring amazedly after it, themselves looking no more than tiny black pin-heads down below,--then, with a slow diving grace it righted itself as it were, and as if it had of its own will selected the particular current of air on which to sail. It travelled with a steady swiftness in absolute silence,--its great wings moved up and down with a noiseless power and rhythm for which there seemed no possible explanation,--and Morgana turned her face, now delicately flushed with triumph, on the pale and almost breathless Gaspard, smiling as she looked at him, her eyes questioning his. He seemed stricken dumb with astonishment,--his lips moved, but no word issued from them.
"You believe me now, do you not?" she said--"We have nothing further to do but to steer. The force we use re-creates itself as it works--it cannot become exhausted. To slow down and descend to earth one need only open the compartments at either end--then the vibration grows less and less, and like a living creature the "White Eagle" sinks gently to rest. You see there is no cause for fear!"
While she yet spoke, the light of the newly risen sun bathed her in its golden glory, the long dazzling beams filtering through mysterious apertures inserted cunningly in the roof of the vessel and mingling with the roseate hues of the silken sheathing that covered its walls.
So fired with light she looked ethereal--a very spirit of air or of flame; and Rivardi, just able to see her from his steering place, began to think there was some truth an the strange words of Don Aloysius--"Sometimes in this wonderful world of ours beings are born who are neither man nor woman and who partake of a nature that is not so much human as elemental--or, might not one almost say atmospheric?"
At the moment Morgana seemed truly "atmospheric"--a small creature so fine and fair as to almost suggest an evanescent form about to melt away in mist. Some sudden thrill of superst.i.tious fear moved Gaspard to make the sign of the cross and mutter an "Ave,"--Morgana heard him and smiled kindly.
"I am not an evil spirit, my friend!" she said--"You need not exorcise me! I am nothing but a student with a little more imagination than is common, and in the moving force which carries our ship along I am only using a substance which, as our scientists explain, "has an exceptional capacity for receiving the waves of energy emanating from the sun and giving them off." On the "giving off" of those waves we move--it is all natural and easy, and, like every power existent in the universe, is meant for our comprehension and use. You cannot say you feel any sense of danger?--we are sailing with greater steadiness than any ship at sea--there is scarcely any consciousness of movement--and without looking out and down, we should not realise we are so far from earth.
Indeed we are going too far now--we do not realize our speed."
"Too far!" said Gaspard, nervously--"Madama, if we go too far we may also go too high--we may not be able to breathe!..."
She laughed.
"That is a very remote possibility!" she said--"The waves of energy which bear us along are concerned in our own life-supply,--they make our air to breathe--our heat to warm. All the same it is time we returned--we are not provisioned."
She called to Rivardi, and he, with the slightest turn of the wheel, altered the direction in which the air-ship moved, so that it travelled back again on the route by which it had commenced its flight. Soon, very soon, the dainty plot of earth, looking no more than a gay flower-bed, where Morgana"s palazzo was situated, appeared below--and then, acting on instructions, Gaspard opened the compartments at either end of the vessel. The vibrating rays within dwindled by slow degrees--their light became less and less intense--their vibration less powerful,--till very gradually with a perfectly beautiful motion expressing absolute grace and lightness the vessel descended towards the aerodrome it had lately left, and all the men who were waiting for its return gave a simultaneous shout of astonishment and admiration, as it sank slowly towards them, folding its wings as it came with the quiet ease of a nesting-bird flying home. So admirably was the distance measured between itself and the great shed of its local habitation, that it glided into place as though it had eyes to see its exact whereabouts, and came to a standstill within a few seconds of its arrival. Morgana descended, and her two companions followed. The other men stood silent, visibly inquisitive yet afraid to express their curiosity. Morgana"s eyes flashed over them all with a bright, half-laughing tolerance.
"I thank you, my friends!" she said--"You have done well the work I entrusted you to do under the guidance of the Marchese Rivardi, and you can now judge for yourselves the result It mystifies you I can see! You think it is a kind of "black magic"? Not so!--unless all our modern science is "black magic" as well, born of the influence of those evil spirits who, as we are told in tradition, descended in rebellion from heaven and lived with the daughters of men! From these strange lovers sprang a race of giants,--symbolical I think of the birth of the sciences, which mingle in their composition the active elements of good and evil. You have built this airship of mine on lines which have never before been attempted;--you have given it wings which are plumed like the wings of a bird, not with quills, but with channels many and minute, to carry the runlets of the "emanation" from the substance held in the containers at either end of the vessel,--its easy flight therefore should not surprise you. Briefly--we have filled a piece of mechanism with the composition or essence of Life!--that is the only answer I can give to your enquiring looks!--let it be enough!"
"But, Madama"--ventured Gaspard--"that composition or essence of Life!--what is it?"
There was an instant"s silence. Every man"s head craned forward eagerly to hear the reply. Morgana smiled strangely.
"That," she said--"is MY secret!"
CHAPTER IX
"And now you have attained your object, what is the use of it?" said Don Aloysius.
The priest was pacing slowly up and down the old half-ruined cloister of an old half-ruined monastery, and beside his stately, black-robed figure moved the small aerial form of Morgana, clad in summer garments of pure white, her golden head uncovered to the strong Sicilian sunshine which came piercing in sword-like rays through the arches of the cloister, and filtered among the cl.u.s.tering leaves which hung in cool twining bunches from every crumbling grey pillar of stone.
"What is the use of it?" he repeated, his calm eyes resting gravely on the little creature gliding sylph-like beside him. "Suppose your invention out-reaped every limit of known possibility--suppose your air-ship to be invulnerable, and surpa.s.sing in speed and safety everything ever experienced,--suppose it could travel to heights unimaginable, what then? Suppose even that you could alight on another star--another world than this--what purpose is served?--what peace is gained?--what happens?"
Morgana stopped abruptly in her walk beside him.