There was, indeed, the makings of a very pretty quarrel when the Letter arrived. It was about a mile long, and began to talk at once.
“I'm from the Inventor,” he said, and hope rose in the heart of each heated Principle. “It's really absurdly simple. All the Pilot has to do is to touch a button, and at his will, VARY the area of the Surface, the Angle of Incidence, and the Camber! And there you are—Maximum Climb or Maximum Speed as required! How does that suit you?”
“That suits us very well,” said the Surface, “but, excuse me asking, how is it done without apparatus increasing the Drift and the Weight out of all reason? You won't mind showing us your Calculations, Working Drawings, Stress Diagrams, etc., will you?”
Said the Letter with dignity, “I come from an Inventor so brilliantly clever as to be far above the unimportant matters you mention. He is no common working man, sir! He leaves such things to Mechanics. The point is, you press a button and——”
“Look here,” said a Strut, rather pointedly, “where do you think you are going, anyway?”
“Well,” from the Letter, “as a matter of fact, I'm not addressed yet, but, of course, there's no doubt I shall reach the very highest quarters and absolutely revolutionize Flight when I get there.”
Said the Chalk, “I'll address you, if that's all you want; now drift along quickly!” And off went the Letter to The Technical Editor, “Daily Mauler,” London.
And a League was formed, and there were Directors with Fees, and several out-of-service Tin Hats, and the Man-who-takes-the-credit, and a fine fat Guinea-pig, and all the rest of them. And the Inventor paid his Tailor and had a Hair-Cut, and is now a recognized Press Expert—but he is still waiting for those Mechanics!
“I'm afraid,” said the Slide-rule, who had been busy making those lightning-like automatic calculations for which he is so famous, “it's quite impossible to fully satisfy all of you, and it is perfectly plain to me that we shall have to effect a Compromise and sacrifice some of the Lift for Speed.”
Thud! What was that?