Skyward and Earthward

Chapter I. Introductory

" Well," said I, at last, " you will leave me no peace till it is done, so I consent to do it. But mind, I yield reluctantly, and if it fail (as in all probability it will), I hope that you will take the blame to yourselves." The speaker was myself, Arthur Penrice, the writer of these pages ; and those to whom I spoke were my old school and college friend, Trevance, and his wife. Henry Vivian Trevance, of Trevance, in the county of Cornwall, was the sole direct representative of an old family, and the possessor of a large fortune and good landed property. My father's family was quite as old, but his income was a very moderate one ; his tastes, however, were simple and his wants few. He died soon after I had gone up to Oxford; and in less than a year and a halt' my mother died also ; and so I was left with my little sister Edith (about eight years old) almost alone in the world.

Trevance had been an orphan from early childhood, but had lived a very quiet life with an old aunt in the north of Cornwall ; his own place had been let on lease till he came of age, and he himself spent all his holidays with his aunt till he went to college ; so his school friendships were more than usually lasting, because he had few companions elsewhere. There were four of us who were great friends — Trevance, Williams, Smith, and myself. We were about the same age, and had somewhat similar tastes ; we went to the same school, and afterwards to the same college at the same time, so that our early friend ship was unbroken. I was now on one of my annual visits at Trevance, for it was considered a settled thing that I should spend some time there every year. It was August, and there were three besides myself in the drawing room — Trevance and his wife, and one dearer to me than either.

The lamps were still unlighted, and evening was just fading into night, whilst we were sitting at the open window looking at the stars. We had been talking together about old times ; and Trevance and his wife had said to me in reply to an earnest deprecation on my part, — " All flimsy excuses — every one of them. You must ; indeed, you must." And to this it was that I answered, — "Well, you will leave me no peace till it is done, so I consent to do it. But mind, if it fail (as in all probability it will), I hope that you will take the blame to yourselves." And when I had given this answer, there was the warm pressure of a hand which was resting in mine, and a specially loving look from eyes which were always full of love ; and so I was more than rewarded for my tardy compliance with the wish of my friend and his wife.

But what was it that I had consented to do ? It was to do nothing less than to write an account of certain adventures in which Trevance, Williams, Smith, and I had taken a very prominent part. And my reluctance arose from the fact that I was unused to anything of the sort. I could write a plain unvar nished account of things that had taken place ; but would that satisfy the general public ? There are many clever books published, and there are many in which flippancy is made to do duty for cleverness; but as I am not clever (I know), and not flippant (I hope), what chance is there of my book being read ? Those who are really clever will find many things con spicuous by their absence ; and those who fancy them selves clever will think the book insufferably dull. But I had consented to do it, and so the thing has to be done.

Chapter II

To begin at the beginning I must go back to that very definite period the year 18 — . It was in the early spring of that year that Williams, Smith, and I were staying at Trevance with our friend. It was our second visit to the place, and we had just left college, at the age of twenty-two — that happy time of life when the bright tales of hope are not only more attractive, but more persuasive, than the more sober teachings of experience. I have said that we had similar tastes ; and so we had, with a difference. We were all of us more or less fond of science, in some shape or other. Trevance was a fair astronomer, Williams and Smith were good, practical mechanicians, and I was a dabbler in both chemistry and mechanics. Trevance, in addition to his observatory, had fitted up a good laboratory and workshops, in which we spent a sood deal of our time.

Williams and Smith were then busy about a scheme which had many attractions for a mind full of enthu siasm. They had once been with Mr. Glaisher in one of his scientific balloon assents, and from that time had been continually propounding plans for aerial navi gation ; and now they were hard at work finishing a small engine, which promised to do wonders. Every one has noticed how easily a rook or an albatross sails through the air, with wings outstretched and apparently motionless, rising or falling merely by altering the angle which they present to the air: just in the same way did this engine guide its course, with w*ings stretched to a light frame which could be closed or expanded at pleasure. Trevance and I had been experimenting on the ex pansion and condensation of various gases, with a view to working the engines of mines with something less costly than steam-power; and we had succeeded in discovering a compound gas of marvellous expansive power, and of a specific gravity, as compared with that of air, of .000005 to 1.

This gas we had just applied to a model pumping-engine, in which the gas, after being passed into a condenser, was expanded again, so that a constant circulation was kept up ; just as the blood, returning from the body, is sent by the heart to the lungs to be oxygenized, and then returned to the heart to be sent through the body again. It was an accident which connected this discovery of ours with the schemes of Williams and Smith ; for I had filled a child's India-rubber balloon with the gas, and was amusing myself with trying what weight it would be able to lift up, when, as I was stooping to fasten on some of the weights, I lost my balance, and fell with my whole weight on the little fragile-looking balloon ; but, strange to say, it was not injured in the least degree. I then took it up and examined it, and I found that the toughness and strength and elasticity of the India-rubber were increased in a most astonish ing manner, as may be seen from the following experi ment.

I made a small quantity of gunpowder into a cart ridge, which I put into the empty balloon, and con nected with an electric battery by means of a wire. I then fastened the neck of the balloon securely round the wire, and fired the cartridge ; the balloon suddenly expanded, so that the India-rubber became as thin as the most delicate membrane, and when I began to untie the neck the pressure from within was so great that the last turns of the string burst with a crack, and the confined gas rushed out almost as if it had been just discharged from a gun. Trevance was at the time in the workshops inspect ing the engine which Williams and Smith had just com pleted, so that he knew nothing of the discovery which I had made. After a while he returned to the laboratory, eager to tell me the result of his inspection.

" Penrice," he said, as soon as he entered, " I do be lieve that those fellows have solved the problem. That engine of theirs works well, and will certainly be able to navigate the air ; especially if they can use our gas for the motive power. But the difficulty of course is to construct a balloon large enough and strong enough to carry the apparatus without being too un wieldy." " .Jo? fiol ttov cttco," I replied. " How many notable inventions have been useless for want of the ttov <ttco." " Come and judge for yourself, then, unbeliever." And having said this, Trevance took me with him to the workshop ; and there was the engine suspended from some of the tie-beams of the roof. When we came in Williams and Smith set it in motion by means of steam, and showed us the working of it ; and certainly it seemed to us likely to realize the hopes of its makers.

" Well, you fellows have succeeded so far," I said ; " but how about the 7rov o*tw for your engine ? " " Aye, there's the rub," said Williams. " Well, set your wits to work," I rejoined. " Nil nisi labor, which means, you know, nothing without brains. Get to work at once, and build your car of gal vanized iron, with hollow sides, and make it like a good roomy boat, capable of holding a dozen people, with pro visions for a year. Do this, and the balloon to support such a car and its occupants will come in time, no doubt." " Get along with you ; you are only laughing at us." " Not a bit of it," I answered ; "I'm in sober earnest; and to prove it, I mean to go to London by to-night's mail train, and stay there till the middle of next week, in order to see about the balloon. In the meantime, do you set all hands to work at 1,000-horse power, and get your car made."

I could hardly persuade them that I was not joking. but at last I got them to consent to work at the car, and then I started off for the station, and just managed to catch the mail train, by which I reached London early on Friday morning. I had slept a good part of the way, so that after a bath and breakfast I was tolerably fresh, and then I sallied forth. How lazy the great city seemed, only just awaking to life, and yet before long to be full of bustle, and crowd, and confusion. Mj* destination was the factory of the Britannia Rubber Company, at Bow Common; and when I arrived there the manager had not yet made his appearance, but whilst awaiting his coming I was kindly shown over the works, which are well worth a visit. After this I was shown into the manager's presence, and began at once with my business.

"Could they make a child's toy balloon twenty times the usual size ? " " Yes." " Was there any limit to the size of which it could be made ? " " Theoretically, no ; practically, yes ; they could not make one larger than the place in which it was made." This was quite enough for me ; I therefore told him that I wanted one thirty-five feet high, twenty feet long, and fifteen feet wide at the broadest part, and a vertical section of which should be of the ordinary balloon or pearshape. He stared, and said that if I inflated a balloon of that size it would soon break and be worthless. I politely told him that was my business ; all that he had to do was to make it, and deliver it to me uninflated ; I would run all other risks. I asked him also to let me have about a hundred yards of the same material a yard wide, and when all was ready, to send it with the balloon and with ten gallons of India-rubber varnish to the Great Western Railway Hotel, where I was staying.

The rest of the day, as well as Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, I spent in making purchases of things that we should be likely to want, not forgetting a net for the balloon, preserved meat, biscuits, etc., in large quantities. There was so much to be done that it was not till Thursday morning that all my business was completed ; then I telegraphed to Trevance to meet me, sent off my purchases by goods train, and took my ticket to go down by the flying express. The journey was a long one, and it was not till between eight and nine in the evening that I reached my station ; but when I arrived there I found Trevance waiting for me. " Well, old fellow," he called out, when he saw me, "here I am, break and all, in obedience to your telegram; where are your impedimenta? By-the by, what a go-ahead race those old Romans must have been to call their baggage by such a name.

Here, porter, stow the things away there ; and you, Penrice, jump up here on the box." " All right, sir," said the porter, when he had put in my luggage ; and off we go. As soon as we were fairly on our way, Trevance began to question me. Where had I been ? What had I been doing ? Why did I not write ? " My dear Trevance," I said, " if you w*ish to have your questions answered, do be a little less rapid. Here you have asked three questions in a breath ; and if I had not pulled you up, nobody knows how far you would have rattled on. However, here are your an swers in proper order : — No. 1, to London ; No. 2, making purchases ; No. 3, because I did not choose." " What an old humbug you are," he retorted ; " why can't you tell a fellow what he wants to know ? " "Well, then," I replied, " I will give you a second edition, revised, corrected, and enlarged : — No. 1, to various shops in London ; No. 2, purchasing a balloon and sundry stores ; No. 3, because I wished to keep the matter to myself."

My companion, however, would hardly listen to No. 3, for before I had well finished he said, — "Why, surely you have not been mad enough to buy a balloon ! " " I must confess myself to have been guilty of that folly," was my reply ; " since my friends have been mad enough to make a car and an engine for it." I then told him what I had done ; and when1 I described the India-rubber balloon, and said that it would contain about 15,000 cubic feet of gas, and lift with ease a weight of 150,000 lbs., it was amusing to watch the gradually deepening seriousness of his face, which I could see well in the bright moonlight. He evidently thought me a most egregious simple ton, though he did not quite like to say so. He tried to convince me that such a balloon could never carry any weight, that the net must cut it, that the least thing would tear it, that even if it could raise the car from the ground, no person who had the least regard for his own life would trust himself to it.

To all this I only replied, — " Well, we shall see. So he no longer tried to convince me, feeling sure that the mere attempt to inflate the balloon would render it a thing of shreds and tatters. The conviction with which his mind was impressed, that no life or limb would be endangered, because there could not possibly be an ascent, restored him to his equanimity; so when we met Williams and Smith in the hall as we entered the house, he called out to them, — "Here, I've brought you the most original and eminent aeronaut out of Bedlam. You would not believe me if I were to tell you what he means to do, and how he means to clo it ; you must hear it from his own lips." " What, old fellow," asked Williams, " have you brought us the ttov arm that you talked about the other day ? " " So he would have you believe," said Trevance ; " but it is evident that he has no understanding for himself, much less for any one else."

"Trevance," I said, sternly, "that foolish habit of making bad puns " " Hear, hear." " Hear, hear," cried the others ; and so my assumed sternness dissolved in laughter, and we entered the dining-room. The balloon had not arrived, and even if it had come it could not have been shown; but many were the jokes and much the bantering which I had to endure, as one or the other pretended to describe it. All this, however, was easy enough to bear, for I knew the wonderful effect of the gas upon the India-rubber, which they did not. I then inquired about the pi*ogress of the car, and finding that it was not quite finished, I said that I should not show them the balloon till everything was ready for it. There was some grumbling at this announcement, but I declared that I was inexorable.

Chapter III

The next morning Trevance had the largest of the workshops cleared out for me, and in this all my Lon don purchases were placed on their arrival, and the key of it was delivered into my hand. But the first thing that I did was to go and see how Williams and Smith had got on with the car. I found that this had been built, as I wished, just like a large deep boat, about thirty-five feet long, by ten feet wide. But there was something to be done to it before it would quite come up to my requirements ; so I made my suggestions, which, after much counsel and consideration, were adopted. The following description will give some idea of what the car was when it was finally completed : — First there was the boat as originally made; then the bow and stern were heightened and enclosed, so as to make two cabins eight feet long, by ten feet wide, and six feet high, with windows on each side ; the aftercabin was fitted up for a sleeping-room, while the fore cabin was the engine-room and store-room; and the middle compartment was our sitting-room, with seats around a table, and our scientific instruments placed so as to be easily accessible.

Over the whole was placed a light arched roof of galvanized iron, from the sides and ends of which hung India-rubber curtains, which could be let down so as to make all snug. Two stout grapnels were hung over the sides, attached to long ropes ; and two reflectors were so placed that we could readily see what was below the car. I have said that the fore-cabin was our store-room, but in point of fact every foot of available space, under our seats and elsewhere, was packed with stores. It was not till after some weeks had passed that we could consider everything ready for our first experimental trip, as I called it, though the others predicted a failure as regarded my part of the scheme. When at length the engine was fixed, wings fitted, stores and everything else in place, the car was brought to the door of my workshop to be in readi ness for the balloon.

I had plenty of time, whilst all this work was going on, for getting the balloon ready. First of all I partially ■2 filled it with our gas, and found it quite free from the least leakage. Then I put the net over it, and inflated. it still more, suffering it to remain in that condition for some days, so that the gas ,might have time to act thoroughly upon the India-rubber. I was glad to find that I could now subject the balloon to exceedingly rough usage without doing it the slightest damage. The extra hundred yards of India-rubber which I had ordered with the balloon I also submitted to the action of the gas ; and then a portion of it was used for the curtains which were hung from the roof of the car. Two India-rubber tubes were fixed to this roof so as to open into the neck of the balloon ; one tube, with a valve opening inwards, was to convey the gas to the balloon ; the other, with a heavilyweighted valve opening outwards, to convey the gas from the balloon to the condenser.

All the cords supporting the car were brought down from the net through holes in the sides of the car to a windlass in the bottom ; and by turning the windlass the balloon could be contracted or even brought down almost flat upon the roof of the car, the gas being forced into the condenser. This windlass would not need to be used except in case of a storm occurring, or if we wished to descend ; for if at any time the balloon became unduly distended, owing to too great an ex pansion of the gas, we could easily allow the redundant gas to pass into the condenser by lessening the weight on the valve of the emptying pipe. I have omitted to mention that all the hollow iron work as well as the hollow sides of the car were filled with gas. It may be asked how we expected to be able to make way against a strong head wind.

In such a case we should contract our balloon to a very small size on to the roof of the car, and expand our wings at the requisite angle; then the wind, acting on the plane surfaces of the wings, would carry us onward just as a bird is carried on without any flapping of his wings.

Chapter IV

The eventful day at length arrived— a calm bright day about the end of May. We were all in a state of great excitement: I, because the chief responsibility rested upon me ; and the others, because, although they professed to believe that the balloon would be a failure, yet there was a strong hope that it might prove to be otherwise. The balloon was brought out, the neck of it fastened to the roof of the car, that portion which was left open for the two tubes hermetically closed around them, the cords brought down through the sides of the car and fastened to the windlass, and then the inflation began. As this proceeded, and the balloon stretched out thinner and thinner, Trevance and the others chaffed me most unmercifully. " Well," began Williams, " I must say that your ttov o-TOi looks uncommonly fragile."

" Why," said Smith, " the net will cut it to pieces before it is sufficiently inflated." Then Trevance took it up, "I say, why did you get such an expensive affair ? You might surely have done it cheaper by blowing a monster soap-bubble. Will any one with half a grain of sense trust himself to a flimsy thing like this ? " " Well, Trevance," I replied, " I don't know about that; but I rather expect that you will trust your self." " Come, old chap, don't be savage," he said. " You shall go up first ; and when you come down, you shall tell us how you like it. As you blew the bub — I mean, as you made the balloon, it is but fair that you should have the honour and glory of being the first to go up in it." I let the laugh go round, because I was pretty sure that the balloon would be a success. A man who is in the right can afford to be laughed at ; but when he is conscious that the laugh is deserved, what can he do but get angry ?

The car was now moored to a large block of granite lying in the yard, by a rope of about twenty feet long ; and then I got in and looked around to see that everything was in proper order. The balloon was gradually distending itself, and presently the cords straightened out, and the car was lifted from the ground, and rose up as high as the mooring-rope would allow. For the first time in my life I was afloat in the air, and I had the satisfaction of feeling that the balloon would accomplish all that I anticipated. Visions of voj'ages to be undertaken and of various countries to be visited passed through my mind, and I was enjoy ing the rest which is so delightful after any mental excitement, when I was recalled to myself by hearing Williams shouting out from below, — " Balloon ahoy ! Do you mean to live up there altogether, and never come down again ?

" " All right ; I'm coming," was my answer. So I applied myself to the windlass, and forcing a large quantity of the gas into the condenser, I brought myself to the ground. The others were now eager for an ascent with a longer mooring-rope, so we lengthened it to about three hundred feet ; and when the whole of oui* party had taken their places, the gas was allowed to re-enter the balloon at a very moderate rate, so that we ascended gradually to the full height which our rope would permit. Several times we applied the -contractor, forcing the gas into the condenser, and bringing the balloon down towards the earth, then rising again by allowing the gas to return. After doing this frequently, we tried our wings ; having brought the balloon within a few feet of the ground, we re-ascended, and found that by a proper use of our wings we could steer our course in any direction that we pleased.

This was very gratifying, for it was the very thing that Williams and Smith had proposed to themselves when they made their engine. But much as we enjoyed ourselves at the elevation to which we had attained, it was very evident that we were not quite satisfied. First one and then another would look at the ground below, then at the balloon, then at the country beyond, and then again at the country im mediately beneath us. At last Trevance spoke, — " What do you say to casting off from our moorings and taking a short sail ? " It was the very thought which had been passing through the minds of all of us. " Carried unanimously by a large majority," said Smith; and he and Williams immediately began to let go the rope. " Stop a minute ; don't be rash," I called out. " It strikes me that there is at least one important objec tion to our doing what Trevance proposes."

" Out with it, let us hear what it is," he said. " Well, don't you think that for the sake of our own characters we should be satisfied with what we have done, and attempt nothing further ? I remember that the question was asked not so very long ago by one of the wisest of our party, ' Will any one with half a grain of sense trust himself to a flimsy thing like this ? ' There fore, I say, rest and be thankful, without running a risk which will prove us to be altogether devoid of sense." " Quite right ; I deserve it," said Trevance. " But I never could have believed that this delicate-lookinsr substance could have become so tough as it is. " I could not have believed it myself," I replied, " unless I had seen it before." And then I told them how I had made the discoveiy by accident. By this time we had got free from our moorings, and we rose rapidly to a height of about two thousand feet; but the motion was so easy that we did not appear to be moving at all.

It was very curious to look down upon the various objects on the earth from such an unusual point of view. The houses looked strange when we could see little besides their roofs ; cattle and men, too, appeared like dots moving on the ground ; the rivers were little silver threads running amongst the fields ; and the sea in the distance, upon which the sun was shining, looked like an immense plate of burnished gold. But whilst we were looking at all these things with new feelings, men and cattle disappeared, houses were lost to sight, and the whole country looked like a large coloured map. We were still rising rapidly, and after a little while it began to feel very cold. On looking at the barometer, I found that we were about fifteen thousand feet high, so it was time to think of coming down ; we therefore contracted the balloon, and as we had been steering due north, we put about and now steered south.

Whilst descending slowly, we took our dinner, and found that our trip had not impaired our appetites. When we had come down low enough to discover our whereabouts, we saw that we were about four miles from Trevance ; we therefore rose again a few hundred feet, and then descended on the lawn in front of the house, greatly delighted not only with our little voyage, but also with the ease with which we could manage the balloon.