All our operations had to be conducted on a shelf of rock not two feet wide, and the place was so littered with the carcasses of the vipers we had killed that the only way to sit or lie down was by perching upon the chests.
Gradually the sun sank and twilight fell. Nearly all of us were impatient to start as soon as possible, but Allerton restrained us.
“We have waited long and endured much to gain this position,” said he. “It would be reckless folly to spoil our prospects now by acting prematurely.”
So we waited, hour after hour, until the patience of even our staid blacks was well-nigh exhausted. Archie grumbled and growled continually, while Joe whistled softly to himself. Pedro fell asleep and only escaped falling into the precipice by Ned’s quick grasp on his arm as he was rolling off a chest.
Finally Allerton looked at his watch for the twentieth time.
“Midnight,” he announced. “I think we may risk it now.”
We were getting used to the trick of inflating our gas-jackets. In a few moments each man was a miniature balloon, with wings ready to direct his flight. We expanded the coverings of the chests until they floated gently, and were about the same weight as the air itself. Then we examined our electrites, to which we all attached fresh storage belts, saw that guns and revolvers were loaded and in working order, and then were prepared to undertake the most important phase of our adventure.
The moon was up again and the stars bright and gleaming. While we might have preferred darkness, if allowed a choice, we were obliged to make the best of a night that seemed alive and thrilling with heavenly radiance. We could see what we were doing, anyway, and since we were exploring an unknown country that fact was comforting to a degree.
Once more we looped ourselves together by means of the cord, and then at Allerton’s command we turned on the gas until we began to float gently upward.
Using our wings, which were becoming less awkward to us, we guided ourselves toward the center of the mountain top. Within a quarter of an hour we were poised directly over it.