CHAPTER VIAERONAUTICS
AfterHarry Goodall had finished his conversation with Hawksworth, he became very busy with the help of the gas men and the gardeners. The lower net-lines had been fixed to the hoop and the car, and then, when the balloon stood proudly erect, it presented a most magnificent specimen of the aeronautic art. Directly Trigger returned, and the filling had been completed, Mr Goodall began to inflate some small balloons, which were designed to provide an object lesson of some interest, besides showing what course the large balloon would take when set free.
It happened that on this occasion, which was considered a special and select affair, several of the directors and their friends were present, besides men of scientific knowledge, among whom was Mr Arthur Deck, of Cambridge, who has made so many aerial trips from a pure love and desire to encourage the advancement of ballooning. The last-named gentleman,as well as the directors, declared that they had never seen more interesting miniature balloons than those which were to precede the great ascent. There were only three of them on each frame, but they were of varied colours, having, as Mr Deck thought, rather a political signification, for they had each a crowned head and other devices on the centre belt, which, as the aeronaut pointed out, were symbolical of the Triple Alliance and of Union and Strength.
The three balloons were attached to the corners of a triangular frame of wood, which was well balanced by three lines connected to a central weight hanging beneath the frame.
Mr Goodall, in an unpretentious manner, went on to say that he would next show them another set of balloons. Three more of blue, primrose and green, and they would also be fixed fast to another triangular frame, but the devices on them would at once show that they represented the United Kingdom. Shortly afterwards, whilst casting them free into space, the aeronaut remarked,—
“We must keep an eye on them, for I cannot guarantee that they will remain united.”
This remark produced fresh curiosity.
However, they did hold together for a time, and by so doing, attained a great elevation, but at their culminating point a noise was heard and smoke was seen under the lovely-looking emerald balloon, whichsuddenly became disunited, much to the disturbance of the balance and power of the two firm and secure balloons. It was true, as a spectator said, that the green one shot up like a rocket, but equally true was it that she came down soon afterwards like a stick, in a very shaky and disorganised state, while the two staunch balloons remained fast friends and still held their own, notwithstanding the separation of the green balloon.
“And this illustration will show you,” said the aeronaut, “what may happen when—”
“Home Rule is passed,” cried a wiseacre close by.
However, the illustrations gave satisfaction, and produced a lively cheer without causing any ill-feeling, so that Tom Trigger was called upon next to bring forth the two parachutes, which gave rise to some sensational expectations, especially on the part of a bystander, who looked like a provincial balloonist, and who exclaimed, with a depreciatory laugh,—
“Oh! they are going to do a drop!”
“Are they?” said Trigger; “it will be with something hot then if they do.”
“What a pity,” remarked one of the directors,sotto voce; “that will spoil all.”
The parachutes, however, were attached to the netting of the large balloon—one on each side. Then Mr Brock, the pyrotechnist, came forward with his assistants and produced two hoops, on which a numberof bombshells were fixed, and these petards gave rise to singular apprehensions, but the aeronaut explained as did the firework maker, that they would not prove risky according to the way in which Mr Goodall intended to employ them, as they could not explode until they and the parachutes were lowered a certain distance from the balloon, and even then a second precautionary measure would have to be resorted to before any explosion could take place. They were simply designed to illustrate the application of parachutes for warlike purposes, and were not intended for bringing down acrobatic balloonists in safety.
This lucid and unlooked-for explanation proved so far satisfactory, that the amateur aeronaut and his assistant took their places in the car, when the after arrangements were so carefully made that the liberation of the balloon was not attended by so much risk as the uninitiated expected. The ascent was grand in the extreme, and when the first parachute was detached, and it immediately spread out, all fear was lost in admiration, particularly when the first shell dropped about 200 feet and exploded with the sound of a twelve-pounder; then followed another shell, which burst at about 500 feet lower down, and after that a succession of discharges took place, illustrative of the manner in which naval or military forces could be harassed through the instrumentality of parachutes and bombs in conjunctionwith balloons, either with or without the personal aid of practical men in the car. And Mr Goodall further demonstrated, by the use of a second parachute, how the line of bombardment could be kept up, and how a number of comparatively small balloons could thus sustain a properly organised aerial attack, without any far-fetched pretensions of introducing navigable machines of foreign types, which would not act as designed perhaps. But, with those proposed, it would only be necessary to take up a suitable position on the windward side of a hostile force to apply with advantage such up-to-date contrivances which have not as yet been turned to an available account in the way set forth in these pages, for it is indisputable that “The Powers that be” are too often looking abroad for new lights and men with unpractical schemes, while they ignore experienced air-travellers at home, who could show them a more excellent method of using balloons and parachutes, even without waiting for navigable machines, which would admittedly facilitate such operations in mid-air if they could be depended upon to act in the way they have been promised to do by sanguine inventors. It must not be forgotten, however, that military aeronauts, in the pursuit of their speciality, could not rely upon grand expectations during the tug of war. At such a time, in an emergency,England would have to provide the right men in the right place, and to build only such contrivances as had been thoroughly tested.
When Harry Goodall’s balloon lost the weight of the parachutes and their appendages, it rose to a considerable elevation, exceeding 7000 feet from the earth, and here he was compelled to lessen his altitude, as the drift of the upper current was straight for the mouth of the river; but as he was not more than three miles in a direct line from the Crystal Palace, he determined at this distance to try his old preceptor’s idea of long-distance signalling, which he proceeded to do in the following way.
He had with him a smaller balloon which was not very much more than half inflated with air, effected by means of a fan. He had informed his friend, Mr Deck, before starting, that if he lowered this from a reel, which was fixed across the hoop to four times the length of the balloon and car, the signal would mean a distance of 250 feet, a second indication on the scale would imply 500 feet, and these relative heights would enable the spectators to form some idea of what the barometrical height really was; as the first signal, indicative of 250 feet, would be nearly equal to a quarter of an inch less pressure, and the 500 feet signal of the inverted air balloon would imply nearly half an inch of reducedpressure of air near the barometer. Thus this long-distance signalling, which the writer of these remarks first introduced at the Crystal Palace in the year 1880, would enable the spectators to form an approximate estimate of the height attained by the balloon, though previously no such intimation had ever been given from the explorers to those who were watching their ascent from below.
Another useful plan was adopted by the amateur aeronaut as he left the palace grounds. Upon being asked by a director present, if he would give the word to “let go,” so that all the men might do so at the same moment, he replied,—
“Certainly not. My plan is to detach the balloon at a favourable moment by this instrument which acts instantaneously as a liberator. It is the system adopted by the colleague of Mr James Glaisher, F.R.S., in the scientific ascents made over thirty years ago, and which the famous meteorologist so much approved of.”
Whilst Harry Goodall and his assistant were actively engaged up aloft, they had not much time to survey the surrounding country, although the counties of Surrey, Kent, Essex and Middlesex were very beautifully stretched out in a map-like form beneath them, for their course had to be narrowly watched owing to their proximity to Gravesend Long Reach and towards the Nore Lightship. Besides, itwas not the aeronaut’s desire to make a prolonged trip, as, for one reason, he felt anxious about his property in the workroom, and for another he wanted to ascertain more as to what the man Eben had stolen, and whether he had been set free after Tom Trigger left the palace, or whether he was locked up for the night, for it was quite evident that his assistant had formed a very unfavourable opinion of him.
When the aeronaut found that, by a somewhat different undercurrent, his balloon was getting near to Northfleet Marsh, and that they were sinking fast, it became necessary to watch the course of a large, full-rigged vessel which was being towed up to one of the docks, and just as they were skimming over the ship, and Harry Goodall was wondering why the crew did not cheer, he suddenly drew in his head from looking over the car as if he had been shot, and said,—
“I have made a discovery, Trigger; we are right over theNeptune, my father’s ship from Sydney. See, there stands Captain Link with his cap in his hand, and there, too, on the poop, is my Uncle Goodall with his head down, apparently reading a letter.”
“Perhaps someone is dead on board, sir,” observed Trigger, with a serious look, just as they became enveloped in the black smoke of the tug, so that theysaw no more of the vessel until they were over the sea-wall on the Essex banks of the river.
“My uncle told me,” said Harry Goodall, “that he was expecting the arrival of Captain Link, but I am awfully sorry to have passed right over theNeptune, as it looks like sheer defiance, knowing his dislike to ballooning. No wonder that my uncle held down his head, and that the crew were as silent as the grave.”
“I didn’t notice the flag, sir, if it was at half-mast; but I sha’n’t look back, as they say it is unlucky.”
“Then don’t do it, Tom; besides, can’t you see that the grapnel is near the ground. We may as well pull up on this Essex marsh so as to get close to the railway station over there, for I feel as if some disaster has taken place, or as if something were going to happen somehow. But tell me, Trigger, what is that glittering in your side pocket?”
“Only my revolver, sir. Things looked so queer this morning that I thought we ought to be prepared for squalls, and if you don’t mind, sir, I’ll pop some cartridges in the chambers, as there is no fear now of any bumping. Your presentiment just reminded me of it; anyhow there is no harm in being ready for any rough customers.”
By-and-by they saw that people were running in the course of the balloon.
“Sing out, Tom,” said Mr Goodall, “and tell thatfellow who is spearing eels to mind the trail of the grapnel—there he stands close to that person with spectacles.”
“Spectacles, sir? Oh, yes, I see him; they’re standing clear now.”
“All right, Tom, the grapnel is fast. I’ll let off gas as quickly as possible, and, as there are several men coming up, suppose you jump out; I’ve crippled her sufficiently for you to do so with safety.”
“But mind you keep an eye, sir, on that party with spectacles. Don’t you see who he is like?”
“All right, Tom; I’ve no time to notice resemblances just now, but I’ll keep an eye on the fellow, anyway.”
The eel-catcher was taken into Trigger’s confidence, with a promise of reward if he stuck to him on one side of the balloon, by pulling down the netting to drive out the gas, while Mr Goodall and another lot of men were drawing down on the other side. Whilst the men were doing this, Mr Goodall held on to the valve line to more quickly let out the gas, but as he did so he crouched down behind the car, so that the man with spectacles did not see him. In the meantime Trigger had placed the crown valve on the shoulders of two men to admit of the gas escaping more readily, and then went to the eel-spearer to give fresh instructions. Now, whilst everybody was gazing intently at the balloon, the man with spectacleswent a little way off, took off his glasses, turned his coat which was a reversible one, and then sauntered slowly back. When Mr Goodall, who was still crouched down, noticed that his coat was quite another colour, and that, in fact, the fellow looked like another person, he became still more watchful of his movements. The man then went towards the crown of the balloon as it lay on the ground, and when the silk was not more than a few feet above the grass, the aeronaut saw the fellow strike a match under the pretence of lighting a cigarette, and then throw it, all ablaze, over the valve. Immediately a long lambent flame shot up to a height of several feet, when Trigger sang out to his master, but Mr Goodall had, directly he saw the match lighted, with great presence of mind, let go the valve line, when the shutters of the valve closed with a resonant flap; thus the flame was fortunately extinguished. Had this step not been taken with the quickness of thought, the entire silk would have been destroyed, and most likely Mr Goodall would have been burnt and other lives endangered.
Tom Trigger immediately flew towards the valve, followed by the fisherman and Mr Goodall, but fortunately no harm had been done, beyond a singeing to the wooden framework. Had it not been held up, however, the silk would have been fired, but Mr Goodall’s prompt release of the cord brought thetwo shutters so close to the frame that the explosion was prevented in the very nick of time.
“Where is that spectacled chap?” asked the eel-catcher. “He told me an hour ago that he was looking for a balloon which would come this way.”
“There he goes!” cried Mr Goodall, who knew him by his altered appearance.
“He is making for the station,” cried the fisherman, “to catch that train coming in from Tilbury!”
“Let us go after him,” cried Trigger, who started with his master and the eel-spearer in pursuit. The man, however, kept well ahead, and Tom became so exasperated at the thought of his escape that he pulled out his pistol and let fly one after another each barrel, holding it well up to allow for distance.
“That is the spy, the shadow man,” cried Tom to his master. “I hope he is hit, sir.”
The result was uncertain, however, as he got into the station and just caught the train, so that when his pursuers came up they ascertained that he had to be pushed into a carriage because he seemed to be lame.
Thus foiled, the aeronauts returned to their work, and engaged a conveyance for the balloon, which was packed into the car and taken to the station, to go by the next train to Fenchurch Street.
On their way back to Sydenham they saw nothing whatever of the incendiary, who, they felt sure, wasEben’s master, and the same person who had been seen that day on the palace tower in disguise.
While in the train, Mr Goodall said to Trigger,—
“There is no doubt, Tom, but that I am beset by a deadly enemy who is trying to injure me, but what for I can’t imagine.”
“Jealousy, sir, depend upon it.”
“Of whom, or of what, Tom?”
“For your having saved that lady, sir.”
“Yes; but he must be actuated by something stronger than that, Trigger. From what my uncle said, he must be a person from Australia, who is said to have been in some way connected with my father in business matters. And now I think of it, that reminds me of a word or two that Hawksworth let drop while you were in the building with Warner.”
“There is no knowing, sir, what this spy fellow is up to, but we shall find out before long, I’ll be bound.”
“Anyhow, Tom, I shall never rest or give up ballooning, until we do cross his path once more.”
“I am glad to hear you say so, sir.”
“Yes, I am curious to know what has gone from the workroom—you recollect, Trigger, there were papers there about flying, which I have not thoroughly read yet; still, I should be sorry to lose them.”
“Do you refer to Professor Scudder’s writings, Mr Goodall?”
“Yes; though I daresay they are of an impracticable kind; at the same time, I should not like to find that they are in the hands of our enemies.”