Fifteen Hundred Miles An Hour 4

Fifteen Hundred Miles An Hour 4

As soon as the meal was over, the ceremony of christening the carriage

was performed by Sandy cracking a bottle of wine against the side, and

as the ruddy liquid streamed to the ground, the Doctor pronounced the

few words that gave to the machine its name of _Sirius_.

 

"Now, my friends, the all-eventful moment has come," he continued,

leading the way to a rope-ladder which was hanging down the dark side

of the _Sirius_, from the doorway high overhead. "Let us bid adieu to

the Earth that bore and fostered us; it may be that our feet touch its

surface for the last time."

 

The night was gloriously fine; not a cloud to hide the spangled

sky. Sandy and his dog were already inside the _Sirius_; and the

light-hearted Scot could be heard singing snatches of North-country

ballads as he hurried to and fro. Sandy was, evidently, little troubled

at the thoughts of Earth. This confidence was inspired by the calm

courage of his master.

 

Graham mounted next, and was soon busy with the machinery, oiling and

wiping with greatest care the shining rods and wheels and cranks,

which he loved almost as deeply as a father loves his children.

 

John Temple then ascended, a little paler perhaps than usual, but calm

and self-possessed as was his wont.

 

Doctor Hermann, after carefully walking round the huge machine to see

that all was clear, gave one last look towards the old house, and then

to the hills he knew and loved so well, before mounting the swaying

ladder, which was pulled up after him by Sandy.

 

All now were waiting for the final signal, which was to fall from the

Doctor's lips. He stood calmly and heroically with the little lever

grasped in his right hand, his watch held in his left. One minute to

midnight! Slowly the minute finger crept round the tiny dial, and the

last few seconds of our stay on earth were slipping away.

 

"Once more, my friends, I ask you if you still adhere to your intention

of accompanying me. There is yet time to draw back."

 

"We are ready and willing, and most anxious to proceed," was the answer

from all.

 

"Then our voyage begins at last," said the Doctor, pressing back the

shining lever. "May health and good fortune attend us on our journey,

and success crown its termination."

 

As the Doctor spoke, the huge machine mounted upwards from its staging,

lightly and buoyantly as a bird, into the midnight sky. All were

exceedingly surprised at the extreme steadiness of the carriage, for it

floated upwards and onwards without any disagreeable motion whatever.

In fact, it was difficult to believe that the carriage was moving at

all.

 

As soon as we got fairly under way the Doctor suggested that we should

go out on the balcony and take a last look at many old familiar

landmarks, and bid a long farewell to Yorkshire. We were travelling

very slowly, about sixty miles per hour, and nearly four miles above

the Earth. We soon crossed the fair vale of York, slumbering peacefully

in the gloom, the lights of towns and railways being distinctly visible

far below us. We passed over grimy Sheffield, with its gleaming

furnaces belching fire and smoke into the night--its glowing coke-ovens

looking like small volcanoes.

 

"I intend to travel comparatively slowly from the immediate

neighbourhood of Earth," remarked the Doctor, "so that we may enjoy

the wonderful sight of that planet's physical features as viewed

from space. Ere morning dawns we shall be sufficiently distant to

get a bird's-eye view of the greater part of Europe; by afternoon,

if all goes well, our vision will be extended to the entire Eastern

hemisphere."

 

The _Sirius_ was now heading rapidly away from Earth; under Graham's

superintendence, the motors were hourly increasing their speed. Like a

sheet of molten silver, the German Ocean shimmered in the moonlight.

 

It was bitterly cold, and the entire party of travellers were soon glad

to return to the warm interior of the _Sirius_, where Sandy had made

everything ready for our comfort. It was now agreed that each should

take his turn at keeping watch and guard generally for two hours,

whilst the others slept.

 

Graham undertook the first two hours of this duty; and the Doctor,

too excited to sleep, remained up with him discussing the novelty of

their position. As for Sandy, he appeared able to sleep under any

circumstances; and Temple was too methodical in his habits to remain up

after the first sensations of departure had worn away.

 

"It seems like a dream to me, Graham, that we are really off at last,"

began the Doctor. "I have looked forward to this time for many long and

weary years."

 

"Ah, Doctor, I cannot describe how I feel to-night. I am more than

gratified to see one who has done so much for me, reaping the harvest

he has sown so patiently."

 

The heavens were now clouded, and rain began to fall heavily, which

necessitated closing the port-holes and door, and setting the

air-condensers to work. It was the Doctor's intention to travel as

long as possible with these open, so that we could obtain enough air

from the atmosphere as long as it continued sufficiently dense for our

requirements, and thus save the condensing apparatus as much wear and

tear as possible.

 

We soon passed through the rain clouds, and then the view from above

them was entrancingly grand. Far as the eye could reach, below and

round us, stretched one vast silvery expanse of cloud, lit up with

brilliant moonbeams, and so solid in appearance that we felt a strange

yearning desire to descend and wander about the fleecy wastes.

 

Dawn was now fast spreading over the heavens. All through that night of

excitement the Doctor and Graham watched together, but Sandy and Temple

were up with the first streak of light. The Earth was still enshrouded

in shadow.

 

But our speed had now to be increased, and by the time the Eastern

hemisphere was bathed in sunshine we were travelling a thousand miles

per hour, shooting upwards to the zenith, but drifting meantime nearly

south, towards the equator. Hour after hour increased the glorious

aspect of the Earth below, which had the appearance of a shallow basin,

the horizon all round us seeming almost level with the _Sirius_. The

Earth's concave, instead of convex appearance, was a puzzle to all but

the Doctor, who lucidly explained the phenomenon to us.

 

By mid-day our instruments declared our height above the Earth to be

close upon eight thousand miles! Stupendous as this altitude may seem,

none of our party experienced the slightest degree of discomfort, so

long as the condensers were kept at work; but a few moments' pause in

their movement produced alarming symptoms, especially in Graham, whose

bulky frame (he stood six feet eight, and was well made in proportion,

a giant among men) seemed to require a larger amount of air than any

of the rest of us. As we rapidly shot upwards, at a speed fifteen

times greater than the fastest express train, the Earth was constantly

changing in appearance.

 

All small objects were entirely lost to view; only the continents,

largest islands, oceans, and seas being visible. The land and sea

changed colour rapidly, until the former merged from dark brown to

nearly black, and the water from deepest blue to yellow of such

dazzling brightness as to be most trying to the eyes. We could

distinctly see the noble range of snow-capped Himalayas, glittering

beautifully in a dark setting, but the Cape of Good Hope was lost in a

dense bank of cloud. As nearly as we could determine, we were now above

the Persian Gulf; the entire coast-line of the Eastern hemisphere could

be followed at a glance. Due north and south the polar regions glowed

in dazzling whiteness, like two brilliant crescents on the horizon. The

season of the year was too early to make satisfactory observations of

the northern polar regions; for even had land extended to that pole,

we should have been unable to detect it, as it would, of course, have

been still lying deep in snow. The south polar region was much more

favourable to our examination, and, beyond the border of eternal ice

and snow, a dark mass could be detected in the district of the pole

itself, which is probably land, but at the immense distance from which

we viewed it, it was impossible quite satisfactorily to determine.

Although we were such a vast distance from the Earth, she seemed to be

quite close, though on a much-reduced scale, and no words can describe

the awful grandeur of her appearance. Towards evening we had the novel

experience of seeing an appalling thunderstorm many thousands of miles

below us, over the wide expanse of the Indian Ocean.

 

We had now for hours been depending upon the air from our condensers.

In fact we did not find breathable atmosphere for more than five

hundred miles above the surface of the Earth. As the Doctor had

predicted, the ether in these remote regions was quite dense enough to

be transformed into air suited to the requirements of man. The Doctor's

delight at all these wonderful scenes was unbounded. His enthusiasm

was almost painful in its intensity. "Glorious! Glorious!" was his

oft-repeated exclamation, as he made rapid notes of the ever-changing

phenomena around us. He was too excited to eat; too full of his many

experiments to rest; too eager to gather this unparalleled scientific

harvest, to sleep! Gradually the sun seemed to sink into the waste of

waters behind the western rim of Earth, throwing a lurid glare across

the sea, which now looked like liquid gold, and then turned to deepest

purple as the last rays shot upwards into immeasurable space.

 

Faster and faster we sped; the motors at last working to their utmost

limits, the dial registering our speed at precisely fifteen hundred

miles per hour. None of us yet experienced the slightest inconvenience,

either from the immense altitude we had reached, or the terrible

velocity with which we were travelling upwards. By midnight, the Doctor

calculated our distance from the Earth to be 25,874 miles. Addressing

Temple and Graham, he said:

 

"I think, my friends, that we ought to congratulate ourselves on the

exceedingly promising state of our enterprise. In the first place, our

carriage is progressing as favourably as we could wish; everything is

in the smoothest working order; our air is of the purest; we have food

in abundance; water in plenty; light and warmth, as much as we desire.

Twenty-four hours ago we were on the Yorkshire fells; we are now well

on our way to that New World we are all so eagerly looking forward to

reach. When we left Earth, the planet Mars was glimmering low over the

southern horizon; it is now in our zenith. We are fast