"It's not a balloon," flared up Dicky angrily, and for the rest of the evening he explained his ideas. I was not sufficiently an engineer to appreciate the cleverness of them.
During the week before Weston's trial flight, a rumor ran through the village, which surprised everyone. It was said that Miss Destiny intended to go away from Burwain. As she had lived in the village all her life and seemed to be as deeply rooted as a tree, it appeared strange that in her old age she should venture to seek fresh fields and pastures new. But I guessed that she intended to go in search of Striver, whom she believed had possession of the jewels. I tried to get speech with her, but she would not admit me into her house, nor would she come to The Lodge in response to an invitation from Gertrude. I wished to learn if she knew the whereabouts of the ex-gardener, since I guessed she was bent upon finding him. But I could not learn where she was going, although Lucinda set the rumor afloat in the village that her mistress intended to leave Burwain. But I could guess the devouring flame of avarice in Miss Destiny's heart which made her thus uproot herself. She would go through fire and water to get the jewels, which she believed Striver possessed, and I found myself pitying the man, guilty as I believed him to be, when I thought of that halting Nemesis of a witch coming up to his side. Miss Destiny was starting on the chase, and she would never stop hunting until she pulled down her quarry. Death alone would end her pursuit.
However, the days passed by and she still lingered in her miserable home. Burwain began to wear quite a festive air during those early January weeks, for reporters came from London to inspect the airship, and many idle people gathered outside the yard to pick up chance information. Dicky showed me his craft at a private view, and explained the mechanism to me, with certain reservations touching upon his particular method of flying. His secrets, I understood, had to do with the steering of the vessel, and with some way he had of driving her forward in the teeth of the wind. I am so ignorant of technical terms that I cannot explain much that he told me: nor would it be fair, since inventors do not wish their ideas to be stolen. But I grew almost as excited as Dicky when the great day arrived.
It was a Tuesday morning, fine and sunny, with scarcely a breath of wind, and the inventor could have secured no finer weather for his attempt. A crowd of people from Tarhaven and Gattlingsands and other places came to see the experiment, and quite a number of reporters had appeared, representing the most popular London journals. The gates of the yard were thrown open, and a considerable crowd gathered within the hitherto inviolated precincts. Amongst them I walked, with Gertrude beside me. Everyone in the village was there, I verily believe, to see the novelty of an airship taking flight. Even fat John Gilfin, with his nearly as stout wife, waddled along, looking at the queer machine bulking largely in the middle of the yard.
The airship consisted of a slim, cigar-shaped bag, netted over. From this a long narrow trough of basketwork was slung, at each end of which was a propeller. The light machinery to drive this was in the middle, but this being hidden under a bonnet of tin, I could not see what was used to set the wheels working. That was one of Weston's secrets. The inventor himself was busy in the trough adjusting various parts of the gear, and shouting out orders to different workmen. The whole ship itself was bound to earth by sundry ropes and was tugging and straining at them like a thing of life. When those ropes were loosened the ship would flash up into the air like a released bird, and then Dicky, seated behind his machine in the basketwork cradle, would show his skill in steering it this way and the other. As the wind was extremely faint, he would have every advantage. I forgot to say that there were steering vans like wings spreading from the trough, and these could be raised or lowered at will. But, wanting technical knowledge, as I have explained, I fear my description of the famous craft is not particularly good. It was an airship, that was all I knew, and I was curious to see it climb the sky.
Amongst the crowd I unexpectedly saw the quaint little figure of Miss Destiny, dressed in black as usual. I pointed her out to Gertrude, and we tried to get near her, as I was still curious to learn if she had any idea of Striver's whereabouts. But she kept her keen eyes on our every movement and dodged us with such success that we never could approach her.
"What can she be afraid of?" asked Gertrude, perplexed.
"She's afraid of being asked questions," I replied.
"I believe she knows where that man is to be found--though Lord only knows how she can have learned his whereabouts. She intends to run him down and get the jewels all to herself."
"But what will she do with them?" asked Gertrude, bewildered.