At noon I went into the galley and prepared dinner, while Torrence kept watch above on the upper deck, where there was also a duplicate controlling board. We had eaten nothing since the previous night; the excitement of getting off having kept the thought of food from entering our heads, but now we were hungry. It was undoubtedly the first time since the creation that a meal had been cooked and eaten at that elevation over Northhampton, but it was none the worse for that, and two hungrier men could not have honored the occasion. From our seats in the saloon we had a good outlook upon every side. Forward we looked directly ahead through the cuddy ports—aft—through our stern lights in the galley, and upon either side were great sliding windows. The watch was, of course, only to guard against any unexpected elevation in the land, such as a hill, otherwise—or even had we been a little higher—we might have drawn the blinds and run on with impunity. After dinner we threw the scraps overboard, and went on deck for a smoke, and watched the country steadily slipping away beneath us. We were fanned by a gentle breeze, which might have been stiffer, but such wind as there was, was blowing dead aft.
"This," said Torrence, looking about him with pride, "is what I call the climax of living. Above your enemies; above your friends; and out of reach of all the petty annoyances of earth!"
I was as jubilant as he, and found it quite as difficult to conceal my emotions, which were altogether natural; for has not flight been always regarded as a prerogative of angels? and has not man aspired to it as the most perfect form of migration? The exhilaration was beyond description; and as we swept on through that long summer day, there was a sense of power and freedom which no other form of locomotion could impart.
"I could never be content to live down there again!" I said, flipping the ashes from my cigar overboard.
"Nor I," said Torrence; "not after this experience. The sky is good enough for me!"
Toward evening we could hear the tinkling of bells and lowing of herds, and catch an occasional shout of surprise from a frightened farmer, as we dipped a little nearer earthward, and then skurried aloft and away, before he had time to recover his equanimity. At a small village in the southern part of Lincolnshire we pounced suddenly upon a traveling circus, and stampeded the entire crowd, not one of which will ever forget us. It was the grandest game imaginable; to come swooping down to within fifty or seventy-five feet of the ground, over an unsuspecting congregation of countrymen, and then dart onward and upward amid their shouts of consternation. However, we did not indulge in this sort of thing often, not wishing to incur the risk of being fired at. It showed, nevertheless, the absolute control we had over the machine, and was interesting from a scientific, as well as a humorous point of view.
Toward sundown I smelled salt air, and knew we were approaching the sea. Then we ran into a bank of mist, and the earth was lost to view. I asked Torrence where we were heading for, and he said:
"I am going to run around the city of Hull; leaving it a few miles upon our right, so as not to attract attention, and then cross over to Norway."
"You surely don't intend to try the North Sea to-night!" I exclaimed in surprise.
"Why not? There is no danger," he answered.