“You once spoke of Atlantic liners,” he at last remarked to the professor; “but surely this craft is larger than the largest Atlantic liner afloat. What are her dimensions?”
“She is six hundred feet long, by sixty feet diameter at the point of her greatest girth,” quietly replied the professor.
“And do you mean to tell me that such a monster will ever float in the air?” ejaculated the baronet, his incredulity returning and taking possession of him with tenfold tenacity.
“I do,” answered the professor firmly, his self-love at length becoming slightly ruffled. “In that ship you shall to-night soar higher into the empyrean than mortal has ever soared before; and after that you shall, if you choose, sleep calmly until morning at the bottom of the English Channel. By and by at the dinner-table I will endeavour to demonstrate to you, my dear friend, that it is her immense proportions alone which will enable her to float in so thin a fluid as air.”
“Very well,” said the baronet in the tones of a man still utterly unconvinced; “if you say so, I suppose I must doubt no more. Now, please, introduce to us the novel details of this wonderful craft of yours.”
“With pleasure,” answered the professor, his brow clearing and a gratified smile suffusing his countenance. “A few minutes will suffice to show you all that can be seen from the outside. Those small circular pieces of glass which you perceive let into the hull here and there are, as you have no doubt already surmised, windows to enable us to observe what is passing outside. The larger windows at the bow and stern protect powerful electric lamps, and are exclusively for the purpose of lighting up our surroundings when we are at the bottom of the sea. This,”—pointing to what looked like a circular trap-door in the bottom of the ship, some fifteen feet from the centre on the port side—“is the anchor recess; and this,”—pointing to a corresponding arrangement on the starboard side—“is the door through which we shall obtain egress from and access to the ship when she is at the bottom of the sea.”
“Do you mean by that, that we are going to leave the ship and walk about on the bed of the ocean?” asked the baronet.
“Certainly,” answered the professor with a look of surprise. “Our exploration of the ocean’s bed will probably be one of the most interesting incidents of the expedition.”
The baronet shrugged his shoulders and the professor continued:
“These bilge-keels serve a threefold purpose; they enable the ship to rest steadily and firmly on the ground, as you see, which, from her peculiar form, she could not otherwise do; they also form the sheaths, so to speak, of four anchors to fasten her securely to the ground either above or beneath the water—a most necessary precaution, believe me; and they also add considerably to the cubical contents of the water-chambers, with which they communicate, which will help to sink the ship to the bottom. Lastly, there is the propeller, the only peculiarities of which are its great diameter—fifty feet—its enormous surface area, and the fact that it is attached to the hull in such a way as to admit of its being turned freely in any direction, thus dispensing with all necessity for a rudder.”