CHAPTER IV
The Great Airship
"Hold tight all! Don't move or you will make the platform sway, and thenit will be a job to keep your footing. Ah--up we go!"
The cheery individual, who had dropped so suddenly as if from the sky,bringing help to Dicky and his crew, called out loudly, once he hadcontrived with their help to cut asunder the lashings that bound theunconscious figure of the man they had come to rescue, and had liftedhim aboard the platform which had borne him from aloft. He signalled atonce, and then, as we have recorded, the platform shot upward attremendous speed, while the brilliant light shedding its beams upon themwent out of a sudden.
"I'd as soon be aloft in a gale on a dirty dark night, so I would," thebulky Hurst began to grumble, while he clutched at the smooth floor ofthe platform, and finding no hold there, sought for the edge and grippedit. For all had sunk upon their knees, standing being almost out of thequestion, and in any case hardly a position to attract any of thecompany. "There ain't no sayin' where this here platform ends and whereit begins, and if you was to fall where'd you go to!"
"Where? Davy Jones's locker!" laughed Hawkins, though his hoarse tonestold how the situation impressed him. "Right slick down to Davy Jones.Just you quit grumblin', my lad, and get a hold on with your eyebrows."
"Silence, men!" came sharply from Dicky. The precarious position inwhich he found himself, his unusual surroundings, and the uncertainty ofthe future making him quite irritable. "Now, sir, will you kindlyexplain where you are taking us. And first, let me thank you for turningup just in the nick of time."
"Not at all! Not at all! Delighted to be able to lend a helping hand tosome of my own service."
"Navy, sir?" asked Dicky, though he felt sure of that fact from the veryfirst.
"What else, my lad? Commander Jackson, at present engaged inexperimental work."
"Aeronautics?" ventured Dicky.
"Perhaps; you'll see. Hold tight! Now that the light has been switchedoff it makes this platform none too safe. That is, for anyone not asailor. Ah! They're slowing down the motor. We'll be aboard in a jiffy."
Their upward flight had indeed taken but a matter of a minute, andalready they were hundreds of feet above the sea. Not that they couldtell that for certain. But every one of the rescued crew had theuncomfortable feeling that they were poised high in the air, with butthis flimsy platform between them and destruction. However, a fewseconds later they became aware of a dull, droning noise, hithertoinaudible, while the speed of their strange lift had slowedconsiderably.
"Keep your hands off the edge of the platform!" shouted their rescuer."Ah! Here we are! Come aboard, Mr. Provost."
The change from darkness to brilliant light was positively stupefying,even more than it had been in the reverse direction. For now, as Dickyand his crew crouched on the platform, fearful of moving to right orleft lest they should lose their footing, there was a gentle bump, aflooring above their heads lifted, and in an instant they foundthemselves in a wide gallery blazing with light and occupied by threeindividuals. Another second and the platform came to a rest on a levelwith the flooring of this gallery, while a well-groomed, white-headedman stepped forward to greet them.
"Welcome!" he cried. "Well done, Commander Jackson! I was in a fevertill I saw you had them all on board. Gentlemen, allow me to welcome youon your arrival."
It was Andrew Provost, well set up, thin and spare, and exceedingly welldressed. More than that it was Andrew Provost with a new light in hiseye. He was almost truculent, and none who took the trouble to look athim could doubt the fact that if ever there were a successful and acontented man it was Andrew Provost.
"Permit me," he said, "to introduce my nephew, Mr. Joseph Gresson, theinventor and builder of this wonderful ship. Step in, gentlemen, andlet us provide you with dry clothing and refreshment."
"And allow me to introduce Mr. Midshipman Hamshaw," cried CommanderJackson, beaming upon the party. "Now, Mr. Provost, I think we hadbetter do something for this poor fellow who was lashed to thewaterplane. Let Alec take care of our guests for the moment."
"Alec! Alec! Of course; where is the fellow? Ah! There you are! Comehere, sir," cried Andrew, in mock tones of severity, beckoning to ayouth who till now had stood in the background. "This is Mr. MidshipmanHamshaw, in command of the rescued party. Take him along to your cabinand provide him with clothes. Hand the six men over to Sergeant Evans,and ask him to see at once to their wants. There! I leave it to you.We'll see what can be done for this poor fellow."
With his head still in a curious whirl, and his eyes turning from onestrange object to another Dicky obediently followed the young fellow whohad just been introduced as Alec, while Hawkins and the remainder of thecrew stepped along the curiously smooth, elastic floor of the galleryafter them. They reached a door, opened it and passed through, findingthemselves in a second wide gallery. But this was different from theother; for it had doors on either side, while a railed-in square offlooring near the centre showed a hatchway, leading by a shallow flightof steps to a deck below, from which came the low hum of a motor.
"Sergeant Evans!" shouted Alec, and repeated the call.
"Here, sir!"
One of the many doors opened, and a tall, soldierly man appeared dressedin the smart livery of a mess waiter. "Got something hot, sir," he saidbrusquely. "I guessed food would be wanted, and so I set the cook towork to prepare it. But they're wet, sir."
He nodded to the young naval officer and his men, and looked at themwith interest.
"Drenched," said Alec. "Pass the men along to Peters. Tell him to ferretout clothing for 'em, and give 'em a meal. I'll take the officer to mycabin, and we'll be in the saloon in five minutes."
The sergeant went off at once along the gallery, motioning to Hawkinsand his comrades to follow; while Alec dived in through an adjacent doorand ushered Dicky into as nice a cabin as he had ever seen. Indeed, itcontrasted more than favourably with his own quarters aboard the vesselfrom which he had so recently parted. It was flooded with light from acouple of electric burners, and heated by a stove fitted in the farcorner which was also operated by electricity. There were pictures onthe walls, secured in a manner which he had never observed before, whilethe walls themselves were of a milky-white colour.
"Sit down over here," cried Alec, doing the honours with obvious pride."You see, this cabin communicates with the next, and there's a commonbathroom. That'll be the place in which to pull off your wet togs. Hopinto a hot bath as soon as you've got 'em off. By then I'll have acomplete rig-out for you. We're about the same height and size, eh?"
He had been looking his guest up and down sharply, admiring his uniform,in spite of its drenched condition. And short though his scrutiny hadbeen Alec had come to the conclusion that Mr. Midshipman Hamshaw was aright good fellow. As for Dicky himself, the novelty of his surroundingsand the strange adventure through which he had passed had altogetherkept his attention from his new comrade. He had merely noticed that Alecwas a straight, active-looking fellow, with a pleasant smile and a jollymanner about him. Now, as he thanked him for his kind attention he gavethe young man a quick, frank glance, which missed very little.
"I say, thanks awfully," he began. "What's--what's your other name?"
"Jardine--Alec Jardine. But Alec's good enough. Yours is Hamshaw, isn'tit, Dicky?"
"Yes, Dicky," grinned the midshipman. "It's stuck to me ever since I wasat Osborne. I hate it, I can tell you. Makes one think one is a girl.It's an awful nuisance looking so frightfully young, ain't it?"
They could condole with one another there, for Alec Jardine sufferedfrom the same infliction. To be precise, he was within two months of themidshipman's age, no longer a boy, and not yet a man. And as is oftenenough the case with youth, he resented the position, found his ageembarrassing, and his obvious juvenility a nuisance to say the least ofit. But he did not allow it to damp his good spirits.
"We'll get over it, that's one good thing," he laughed. "I say, this issimply a rippi
ng ship. You'll have an eye opener. But pull those togsoff; I was thinking that mine would about fit you."
"To a T. Tell me about the ship--an airship I suppose? Something like aZeppelin?"
"A Zeppelin! Why, that type of ship can't hold a candle to this one!"declared Alec loftily. "I've seen 'em. They're fine to look at, fast,and have big lifting capacity. But see how they behave. Let it blow justa little hard, and they're done for, that is if they happen to beoutside their sheds and run out of petrol. It's only a week or more agosince one of them lost her way in a fog, ran out of spirit, and wasforced to descend. She dropped into the hands of the French, my boy, andthey soon had every one of her cherished secrets laid bare. Don't youmake any mistake. This ship's not a Zeppelin. She's in a differentstreet; she's just splendid."
The unstinted praise of a vessel with which he was as yet unacquaintedwhetted Dicky's appetite for a complete inspection. But not yet. He waswet and cold, and decidedly hungry. The news that Sergeant Evans hadimparted had made his mouth water. Dicky reminded himself that there wasa hot meal in prospect, and so that it might not be delayed he draggedoff his wet clothes, and immersed himself in a bath of steaming hotwater that Alec had made ready for him. In about ten minutes heannounced that he was fully dressed.
"And as hungry as a hunter," he told his new friend. "You wait and trythe same experience. I was almost in our gunroom. In any case I couldtell you what we were to have for dinner, because in a ship you can'tkeep all galley smells away from your messroom. Then they passed theword for Mr. Hamshaw. Of course I had to go, leaving the other fellowsto sit down to a meal which I really wanted. An hour's steaming made meravenous, and then came our ducking. I say, lead the way there's a goodfellow. But I'd like to see my men before I take a bite myself. Eh?"
"Quite right. Look to your command first, then to number one. Followdown the passage."
Dressed in Alec's clothing, and looking spruce and smart, Dicky followedhis friend down the gallery, through the door by which Hawkins and hiscomrades had departed, and so into the quarters of the crew of thisstrange vessel. Nor did there seem to be need for anxiety for thewelfare of the gallant fellows who had accompanied him upon the steampinnace. Already they were changed and dressed in clothing hurriedlydragged from lockers. Surrounded by swinging bunks on either side, withone huge electric lamp shedding its light upon them, they were seatedabout a long table with half a dozen strangers amongst them.
"All aboard and comfortable, sir," grinned Hawkins, standing as hisofficer appeared. "We've fallen amongst friends, and liberal ones too,sir."
"And have got a meal here what ain't supplied every day of the week bythe Admiralty, sir," gurgled Hurst. "Not by a long way."
Dicky grinned his delight; and then, suddenly recollecting that it wasnot exactly the thing for an officer to listen to what might beconstrued as abuse of the Admiralty, he turned on his heel and motionedto Alec to lead the way.
"And you mean to tell me that we're high up in the air, floating inspace!" he cried.
"One moment. Here we are--three thousand two hundred feet up," saidAlec, stopping just outside the door of the men's quarters to inspect abarometer affixed to the wall. "That high enough?"
Dicky was at once conscious of a creepy feeling down his back. "What!"he gasped. "Three thousand feet?"
"Every inch of it. As safe as if you were on land; safer, perhaps,because you never know what's going to pass overhead nowadays, do you?What with airships and aeroplanes, the land's beginning to be adangerous place to inhabit. Come along. You wait till it's daylight andyou can see below. You'll get used to the height in a jiffy, and you'llagree that flying's magnificent. Here we are. Sergeant Evans!"
He dived in through a doorway, ushering his friend into a large saloon,in the centre of which stood a table laid ready for dinner. And hereagain we record but the bare fact when we say that Mr. MidshipmanHamshaw positively gasped. He was dumbfounded at the luxury he foundhere, at the brilliant lights, at the huge table groaning with silverand glassware, at the laden sideboard, and at the richness of thedecorations. Whoever heard of such things aboard a ship sailing in theair?
"Wonderful!" he cried. "Why, I imagined there would be nothing butmachinery--huge, oily engines thumping and thudding away at one's side,with just an odd corner for the captain and crew to rest in. This ismagnificent; there's nothing better in all London."
It was at least flattering to Andrew Provost's taste, since he had beenthe designer of all this magnificence. But who could expect DickyHamshaw to take notice of rich carpets, of glittering silver, of famouspictures clinging to silk-brocaded walls, when there was food beforehim? He was ravenous. Had Alec had any doubts about the matter before,this smart and jolly young sailor soon set them at rest. He tackled thatmeal with the same dash and energy with which he had undertaken the taskthat had sent him post haste away in the steam pinnace. It was, perhaps,half an hour later when, having eaten to his own and Alec's content, heleaned back in his chair, accepted with a wonderful assumption ofcoolness the cigarette which Sergeant Evans offered him, and setting aflaming match to the weed, tossed his head back and sent a cloud ofsmoke upward. A moment later he had leaped to his feet with anexclamation of amazement. He might have suddenly come upon a pin-pointby the cry he gave. But undoubtedly something of real importance hadcreated this excitement. He stood with his head tossed back, his eyesfixed upward, and his lips parted.
"What's that?" he asked. "It startled me. I--I've never seen anythinglike it. One appears to be looking through an enormous window intospace. What's the meaning of it?"
His excitement caused Alec to smile, though he, too, looked hisadmiration as he gazed upward.
"Wait a moment," he said. "I'll switch off the light here and then theeffect will be greater. Now, how's that?"
Well might Dicky give vent to exclamations of surprise and even ofadmiration, for, as he said, he had never seen anything nearly like thisbefore. Up till now he had been far too busy with his meal to take noteof anything but his immediate surroundings. But now, when he quite bychance cast his eyes upward, it was to become aware of the fact thatthis saloon apparently boasted of no ceiling. If it had one, then it wastransparent; while, more wonderful than all, the supporting gas bag ofthis airship, which he imagined must be above, had all the appearance ofbeing non-existent. Far overhead there burned one single electric lamp,casting its rays far and wide, illuminating the interior of the saloonbrightly. But it appeared to hang to nothing, to be supported by no beamor rod, while the saloon itself in which he stood was, so far as hecould see, attached to nothing. It was merely floating in the air,riding in space in the most uncanny and inexplicable fashion.
"Jingo!" he cried, feeling that strange, creepy sensation down his backagain. "We're--we're safe, I hope?"
"As a house," laughed Alec. "But it does give one the creeps, don't it?The first night we were aboard and I looked upward it gave me quite aturn, even though I knew all the ins and outs of this wonderful vessel.Looks as if we were hanging here from nothing, eh?"
Dicky admitted the fact, with something approaching a gasp.
"And yet you're as sure as sure can be that such a thing is out of thequestion, absolutely impossible?"
"Well, yes," admitted the young officer, not too enthusiastically, forthat uncanny feeling that he was high in the air, and might easily findhimself falling with terrible rapidity, assailed him. And who can blamethe midshipman? Who that has found himself suddenly at the edge of atall cliff and looked over has not been assailed by a sensation ofuneasiness, by the natural desire to reach firmer and more secureground, to retire from a spot which might easily be filled with perils?Then think of Dicky Hamshaw high above the sea, aboard a ship the sizeand shape and contour of which were unknown to him, standing in a gildedsaloon to all appearances open to the sky, with no ropes, nobeams--nothing, in fact, to show him how it was supported. No wonder heshivered. Even Alec forebore to smile. The situation was unpleasant anduncanny to say the least of it.
"
Place your two hands together and look between them," said Alec,suiting the action to the word. "Don't stare at the light up there, forit's so bright that it half blinds you. Look well to one side. Now. Eh?"
He expected an answer, but Dicky failed to give it. Gasps ofastonishment escaped his wide-parted lips, gasps denoting pleasure andadmiration. For up above, now that he had shielded his eyes from theglare and looked away from the light, he could dimly make out hugegirders stretching from left to right, criss-crossing and interlacingwith one another. Here and there they ended apparently in nothing.Elsewhere they could be traced to their junction with other girders. Andon beyond them, far overhead, he could even see stars, blurred a trifleby the material through which he observed them.
"Well, of all the wonderful things of which I have ever heard, thisbeats all!" he gasped at last. "What's the thing made of? There aregirders above there heavy enough to carry a 'Dreadnought'. There's ahuge framework that looks as if it were constructed of solid bars ofsteel; and yet, to look at them in a half light, which just throws outtheir outline, one realizes that they are made of something else,something transparent--yes, that's the term--for when one stares directat the light, knowing full well that there are more girders in thatdirection, none of them can be detected. George, this beats everything!What's the meaning of it all?"
"The meaning of it all! Why, that Joe Gresson is about the smartestfellow you ever heard of, that he's had the courage to employ asubstance for the framework, and almost every part of this ship, whichthe average engineer would treat with scorn. In short, he's thediscoverer of a substance which he calls celludine, which isn'tcelluloid, nor common glass, nor talc, and yet which is wonderfully likeall three substances. You'll hear more about it, my boy. You'll get thesame idea of Joe that I and all the others have. Look here! Just rapyour knuckles against the wall of the saloon."
Dicky did as he was bidden, though he was still so astonished at thenews given him that he did not even trouble to ask the reason.
"Well, how does it feel? Of course, there's a silk covering. Under thatis the celludine. There's the same stuff here under the carpet."
"Hard, and yet it gives," said Dicky. "Appears to be very thin, and yet,I imagine, is very strong."
"That's celludine," cried Alec triumphantly. "Every wall, every door andframe is composed of it. Only here, where there are cabins--and onedoesn't want to be stared at all day long--it's coloured a milky white,and so isn't transparent. But the ceiling is, that's why you can lookaloft and see the stars floating overhead. But come along. We'll take abreather. I'll lead you to a spot that'll raise your hair, but will giveyou a better idea of this airship than you can possibly have imagined."
They left the saloon at once, and passing along the gallery paused tolook into a room on the far side. There they found Commander Jackson,Andrew, and Joe comfortably seated, smoking and chatting quietly.
"Ah, comfortably dressed and fed, my lad?" sang out the Commander.
"Yes, thank you, sir," smiled Dicky. "And, I say, sir, what a ship we'vegot to!"
"You'll say so to-morrow, when you've looked over her," came the answer."Where are you two youngsters off to?"
"Aloft," sang out Alec. "I'm going to give him a scare, and get him usedto the situation. But how's the foreigner, please?"
"Conscious and tucked up in a warm bed," answered Andrew. "There, cutalong, you two. But no mischief, mind. I don't care if I'm responsiblefor Alec, but I'll not be having the Admiralty pouring all theirindignation upon my unprotected head because of the loss of amidshipman."
That set Dicky flushing, while the Commander laughed loudly.
"There, off you get," he cried. "Trust a midshipman to look out forhimself."
They closed the door, hastened along the gallery, and passing through asecond door found themselves in the gallery upon which Dicky had firstset foot. Alec led him to the precise spot where the lift had finallyhalted, and pointed to an opening overhead.
"It's the main hoist," he explained. "If we want to pick something upfrom down below we lower that platform, just as we did to fetch yourparty. If we desire to get aloft to the top of the ship we step aboardthe platform, now provided with rails; just so, Dicky, my boy, see thatall's secure and safe, and then touch a button. Whiz! Up we go!"
It was a case of whiz with a vengeance. Dick had obediently followed hisguide on to this lift, and now he felt his knees bend beneath him, whilethe smooth, elastic floor on which he stood shot upward at terrificspeed, flashing through an oblong opening in the framework overhead, aframework quite transparent for the most part, with that arc lightflashing down upon them without the smallest hindrance.
"Saves climbing, don't it?" shouted Alec, for the noise of a motordrowned the ordinary voice. "But if the thing refuses to work you canmount to the top of the ship by a stairway erected round the lift. Ah!Here we are. Hang on to your hat; it's blowing."
Dick felt a fresh gale of wind fanning his cheek, which alone told himthat he was now in the open. He followed his friend across a flat,smooth deck and found himself clutching to a railing. And now for thefirst time he began to gather some information as to the contour andsize of this amazing vessel. He might have been upon the upper deck of asecond _Lusitania_, only this deck shelved off gradually on either sidetill it was lost in the darkness. That arc lamp, however, helped himwonderfully, and pacing beside Alec he began soon to wonder at thelength of the ship as well as at her breadth. She was immense. It washard indeed to believe that she was actually floating in space. And yetthat must be so, for Alec bade him look downward.
"See for yourself," he said. "We're right forward, close to her nose,and there are no cabins beneath us. You can see clear through the shipdown to the ocean. See the beacon lights along the shore, the lights ofthe vessels, and the blaze away there in the distance. That's where yourship is lying."
Even at night-time the sight was an amazing one, and left Dickstupefied. But what would it be in the morning, when there was nodarkness to hinder his sight, and when he would be able to gaze directlydownward from that terrific height?
"Let's go down," he said after a while. "I feel positively silly outhere. I suppose it's because I'm not used to such a sight. How did youfeel when you first attempted it?"
Alec laughed outright. "Feel? Awful!" he cried. "Everyone does at first,and wonders whether they're funking. Wait for the day. You'll get tolove the view, particularly when you've learned how safe this vessel is.Come along; to-morrow there'll be a heap to show you."
They turned back toward the lift again and paused there for a moment.For beyond doubt there was at every turn something to attract theattention. A minute before it had been the lights about the Needles, thelamps on the shipping, the blaze from the Solent, where the warshipswere lying at anchor. Now it was the interior of the ship, seen throughher transparent upper casing. Yes, there was the saloon, with SergeantEvans and a helper clearing the table. Nearer at hand were AndrewProvost, Joe Gresson, and Commander Jackson, still smoking and chattingas they lolled in their chairs. While away aft, in the men's quarters,the figures of Hawkins and Hurst and his shipmates were distinctlyvisible. They were smoking heavily, and between the clouds of smokeHawkins's arm could be seen moving with some animation.
"He's just it," he was reiterating, "that there midshipmite is asartiful as a bag o' monkeys, and if he was to be left aboard this ship,why, there'd be mischief brewing, particularly with the young gentthat's joined him."
And how Dick Hamshaw wished that he might remain. The first glimpse ofthis amazing vessel made him long for the day to come, so that he mightinvestigate every corner. Then, he supposed, he'd have to depart. He andhis men would take their places on that platform again and be lowered toterra firma. But the most unlikely things happen. He found that to bethe case when he and Alec again joined their elders.
"Read that," said Commander Jackson, tossing a sheet of paper towardshim. "We sent a wireless to your ship, and told 'em of your rescue. Itseems they'd just heard of this a
irship through the Admiralty, and hadorders to detail a party for her working. We've saved 'em the trouble.Read it."
Dick did, with flushing cheeks and beating heart. "Glad hear safetyMidshipman Hamshaw and crew of pinnace," he read. "Have received ordersfrom Admiralty to detail an officer and party for work aboard theairship. Keep Mr. Hamshaw and party if considered suitable."
"Hooray!" shouted Dick, filled with delight.
"One moment," interrupted the Commander with a quizzing grin. "Ifconsidered suitable, I think. Well, now, one has to consider."
"Don't scare the young fellow," cried Andrew jovially. "There, Dick,we'll take you. Just go along and tell your men, and then turn in.You've had enough adventure and excitement for the evening."
When, ten minutes later, Dick laid his head upon a soft pillow andpulled the clothes about him he could not believe that he was reallyaboard a flying vessel, could not credit the fact that he and his menwere resting three thousand feet above the ocean.