"I suppose that now you and all will be able to do without ships and railways? I presume we shall be independent of cabs and omnibuses?"
Once more there was a smile. I was answered. "Of course," I continued, "you will be able to take your aërial contrivances to all the countries of the earth? What is there to prevent you from starting flying-machines from London to Paris, or Berlin, or even Timbuctoo?" Again there was a pleasant smile. Evidently my guess was a good one.
"You will be able to travel thousands of miles without the assistance of rails? You will dispense with land and water? All you will require will be the atmosphere, and that is always with us—always at our service."
Again my suggestions remained uncontradicted.
"It is truly marvellous," I remarked; "truly marvellous! And you have commenced? You have been able to float through the air for a dozen, a hundred feet?" There was a smile once again.
"And yet, perhaps, as railways and steamships are still 'firm' on the Stock Exchange, it may be just as well to allow our holdings in those securities to remain undisturbed? What do you think? It is scarcely time to speculate for a fall?" Once more he smiled, and as smiling is infectious, I joined him in his merriment.
TO A VETERAN CHAMPION.
[At Clifton, on Aug. 9, in Gloucestershire v. Middlesex, Dr. W. G. Grace completed his 1000 runs in first-class matches this summer. The other players who share this distinction are Abel, Albert Ward, and Brockwell.]