“Why have you left the hull unpainted, professor? I suppose you had some good reason for so doing?” remarked the colonel, chiming into the conversation.
“I had no less than three good reasons for leaving the hull of the ship unpainted,” answered the professor. “In the first place, aethereum is quite insensible to the attacks of air and water—it never oxidises, and paint was therefore unnecessary for its preservation. In the next place, the quantity of paint necessary to cover that enormous surface would weigh something considerable; and, as I have throughout the work taken the utmost pains to keep down all the weight to the lowest ounce consistent with absolute safety, I rejected it on that account. And lastly, I take it that we are anxious to avoid all unnecessary observation; and I believe this cannot be better accomplished than by preserving the brilliant metallic lustre of the hull, which, especially when we are floating in mid-air, will reflect the tints of the surrounding atmosphere, and so make it almost impossible to distinguish us.”
“Except when the sun’s rays fall directly upon us, eh, professor?” remarked Mildmay.
“In that case,” returned the professor, “observers will see a dazzling flash of light in which all shape will be indistinguishable.”
“And we shall thus be mistaken for a meteorite,” exclaimed the baronet somewhat sarcastically. “Excellent! admirable! I really must congratulate you, professor, upon the wonderful foresight with which you seem to have provided for every possible and impossible emergency. Now, what is the next marvel?”
“There is nothing more down here. We will now proceed on board, if you please, gentlemen,” said the professor; and he forthwith led the way up a ladder which leaned against the vessel’s lofty side. This conducted them as far as the upper curve of her cylindrical bilge, at which point they encountered a flight of light ornamental openwork steps permanently attached to the ship’s side, up which they passed to the gangway in the stout metal railing which served instead of bulwark, and so reached the spacious promenade deck. Looking down into the yard from this coign of vantage, they seemed to be an enormous height from the ground; and the baronet shrugged his shoulders more expressively than ever as he glanced first below and then around him, realising more fully than ever, as he did so, the immense proportions of his new possession. He said nothing, however, but turned inquiringly to the professor.
“This way, gentlemen, if you please,” said the German, in answer to the look; and he led them aft to what may be styled the quarter-deck.
“You spoke about the weight of a coat of paint on the hull just now, but I see you have planked the deck. The weight of all this planking must be something considerable,” remarked Mildmay.
“A mere trifle; it is only a thin veneering just to give a secure and comfortable foothold,” remarked the professor. He paused at what looked like a trap-door in the deck and said:
“We shall not be always soaring in the air nor groping about at the bottom of the sea; we shall sometimes be riding on the surface; and I have therefore thought it advisable to provide a couple of boats. Here is one of them.”