Within the distance of about a mile it swung round at right angles to
the steamer's course with a rapidity which plainly showed that it was
entirely obedient to the control of a guiding intelligence, and hundreds
of eager eyes on board the liner saw, sweeping down from the grey-blue
of the early morning sky, a vessel whose hull seemed to be constructed
of some metal which shone with a pale, steely lustre.
It was pointed at both ends, the forward end being shaped something like
a spur or ram. At the after end were two flickering, interlacing circles
of a glittering greenish-yellow colour, apparently formed by two
intersecting propellers driven at an enormous velocity. Behind these was
a vertical fan of triangular shape. The craft appeared to be
flat-bottomed, and for about a third of her length amidships the upper
half of her hull was covered with a curving, domelike roof of glass.
"She's an air-ship of some sort, there's no doubt about that," said the
Captain, "so I guess the great problem has got solved at last. And yet
it ain't a balloon, because it's coming against the wind, and it's
nothing of the aeroplane sort neither, because it hasn't planes or kites
or any fixings of that kind. Still it's made of something like metal and
glass, and it must take a lot of keeping up. It's travelling at a pretty
healthy speed too.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25