Then I could have fallen upon Hawkins from the rear and tied him into knots, and even dismembered him if necessary—and escaped.
But things are what they are, and Hawkins is more than a match for me; so he banged the door angrily and grasped the lever.
“Now, observe with great care the superbly gentle motion with which she rises,” he instructed me.
I prepared for that familiar head-going-up-and-the-rest-of-you-staying-below sensation and gritted my teeth.
Hawkins pulled at the lever. The Hydro-Vapor Lift quivered for an instant. Then it ascended the shaft—and very gently and pleasantly.
“There! I suppose you've trembled until your collar-buttons have worked loose?” Hawkins said contemptuously, turning on me.
“Not quite that,” I murmured.
“Well, you may as well stop. In a moment or two we shall have reached the top floor; and there, if you like, you can get out and climb down sixteen flights of stairs.”
“Thank you,” I said sincerely.
“This, of course, is only the slow speed,” Hawkins continued. “We can increase it with the merest touch. Watch.”