Whittinghame, as captain, headed the starboard watch, with the doctor as his assistant for executive duties in the after-part of the ship; for Hambrough was not content to act simply as surgeon to the ship's company. Williamson was chosen as first quartermaster of the watch, the rest of the division consisting of ten "deck hands" and five mechanics for engine-room duties.
Dacres had charge of the port watch, Setchell being responsible for the after-guard during the "watch on deck". The stalwart Irishman, Callaghan, was appointed quartermaster, and the rest of the crew consisted of an equal number of hands to that of the captain's watch.
The men were then served out with small-arms, the rifles being up-to-date automatic weapons firing twenty-two cartridges and having a range and velocity equal to the latest service rifles. Bayonets were also issued, and since the crew had had a thorough training whilst they were serving in the Royal Navy they were now able to pick up their drill without much difficulty.
Under Dacres' orders they were exercised for nearly an hour. The ex-sub-lieutenant had reason to be very well satisfied with them, and expressed his opinion to Whittinghame that if necessary they could give a very good account of themselves. As for the men, they recognized that they had an officer over them who knew his work, and they respected him accordingly.
At length the eventful Saturday came round, and just after eight o'clock the fore-section of the airship was taken out of its shed and, to use Dacres' expression, "sent aloft."
The bow portion, with its complement of nine men, was the first to leave the ground, anchoring at a height of seventy-four feet from the surface—the "ground-tackle" consisting of a bridle with a single loop running through a huge pulley fixed in the earth, and back to the bow division of the "Meteor."
No. 2 section was sent up, and by means of a wire hawser hauled into position, so that the cam-action could come into play. Only three and a half minutes elapsed between the time of its leaving the ground and of its being united to the bow-section.
Divisions 3 and 4 were "launched" and joined up in a similar fashion, "and then there was one," as the nursery rhyme goes.
Dacres found himself with six men to man the aftermost section of the airship. He had already "got the hang of it," although he could not quite see how any of the crew could be left behind to guide the huge fabric on its ascent to unite to the still greater bulk that floated serenely above the tree-tops, her propellers churning slowly ahead to counteract the faint breeze that blew from the south-west.
"Give the word for the men to get aboard, sir," said Callaghan, who, being an ex-gunner's mate, knew how to prompt judiciously young officers who were not quite up to their work.