The general respectfully answered: “At your service, Your Royal Highness.”
“Truly, did you follow it all?”
The question was put in a very skeptical tone.
“Not all. Much was too nebulous. Man’s a visionary—a dreamer ... no ground under his feet.”
“Well, yes,” remarked Victor Adolph, smiling; “in this epoch of aviation, this thing ‘the ground under the feet,’ seems to lose its importance.”
Several of Toker’s guests at this juncture entered Franka’s box.... The prince took his departure:—“I want to look up the speaker. I must shake hands with him.”
Helmer had in the mean time been conducted by Toker into the royal loge. Not without emotion did he make his bow before the two powerful rulers. If by any chance his message had worked upon their wills, this might turn into action pregnant with results. Power is no illusion. A democratic spirit may regret that any one person should exercise it and may desire to change the fact, but no democrat need be blind to the importance of this fact as long as it exists. Abundant opportunities for doing things are placed in the hands of rulers, even when they are no longer autocrats, so that they might easily shorten the distance that separates idea and accomplishment.
Naturally, Helmer had no expectation that the King and the President would say to him: “Dear Sir, what you have said to-day will give the direction to our future activities.”—But at all events, they had listened to him and listened with sufficient interest to express the desire now to talk with him. Who could tell if this might not expedite the fulfillment of what he had wanted to suggest to his auditors?
The trivial ceremony of the presentation, of the friendly hand-shaking, the rather unmeaning questions and answers, went off in the conventional manner; yet Helmer did not prize the opportunity any the less: the seed of his work might have fallen on fruitful soil. After three minutes the whole affair was at an end and Helmer was stepping down into the hall. He intended to seek out Franka whose presence attracted him, but he was instantly surrounded by a crowd of people congratulating him on his discourse or asking him what he meant by this or that passage in it.
A gentleman approached him and introduced himself:—“My name is Henri Juillot,” said he in French; “I am an engineer and I built a dirigible airship myself.”