Afterwhichwetalkednomoreofaeronautics。
Beatricesatbunchedtogetherinachairandregardedmewithexactlythesamescrutiny，Ithought，thesameadventurousaggression，thatIhadfacedlongagoatthetea-tableinmymother’sroom。ShewasamazinglylikethatlittlePrincessofmyBladesovermemories，thewilfulmisbehavioursofherhairseemedthesame——hervoice；thingsonewouldhaveexpectedtobechangedaltogether。Sheformedherplansinthesamequickway，andactedwiththesameirresponsibledecision。
Shestoodupabruptly。
“Whatistherebeyondtheterrace？”shesaid，andfoundmepromptlybesideher。
Iinventedaviewforher。
Atthefurthercornerfromthecedarsheperchedherselfupupontheparapetandachievedanairofcomfortamongthelichenousstones。“Nowtellme。”shesaid，“allaboutyourself。Tellmeaboutyourself；Iknowsuchduffersofmen！Theyalldothesamethings。Howdidyouget——here？AllmymenWEREhere。Theycouldn’thavegothereiftheyhadn’tbeenherealways。Theywouldn’thavethoughtitright。You’veclimbed。”
“Ifit’sclimbing。”Isaid。
Shewentoffatatangent。“It’s——Idon’tknowifyou’llunderstand——interestingtomeetyouagain。I’verememberedyou。
Idon’tknowwhy，butIhave。I’veusedyouasasortoflayfigure——whenI’vetoldmyselfstories。Butyou’vealwaysbeenratherstiffanddifficultinmystories——inready-madeclothes——aLabourMemberoraBradlaugh，orsomethinglikethat。
You’renotlikethatabit。AndyetyouARE！”
Shelookedatme。“Wasitmuchofafight？Theymakeoutitis。
Idon’tknowwhy。”
“Iwasshotupherebyanaccident。”Isaid。“Therewasnofightatall。Excepttokeephonest，perhapsandImadenogreatfigureinthat。Iandmyunclemixedamedicineanditblewusup。Nomeritinthat！Butyou’vebeenhereallthetime。Tellmewhatyouhavedonefirst。”
“Onethingwedidn’tdo。”Shemeditatedforamoment。
“What？”saidI。
“Producealittlehalf-brotherforBladesover。SoitwenttothePhillbrickgang。Andtheyletit！AndIandmystep-mother——welet，too。Andliveinalittlehouse。”
Shenoddedherheadvaguelyoverhershoulderandturnedtomeagain。“Well，supposeitwasanaccident。Hereyouare！Nowyou’rehere，whatareyougoingtodo？You’reyoung。IsittobeParliament？heardsomementheotherdaytalkingaboutyou。
BeforeIknewyouwereyou。Theysaidthatwaswhatyououghttodo。”。
Sheputmethroughmyintentionswithacloseandvitalcuriosity。Itwasjustasshehadtriedtoimaginemeasoldierandplacemeyearsago。Shemademefeelmoreplanlessandincidentalthanever。“Youwanttomakeaflying-machine。”shepursued，“andwhenyoufly？Whatthen？Woulditbeforfighting？
Itoldhersomethingofmyexperimentalwork。Shehadneverheardofthesoaringaeroplane，andwasexcitedbythethought，andkeentohearaboutit。Shehadthoughtalltheworksofarhadbeenamereprojectingofimpossiblemachines。ForherPilcherandLilienthalhaddiedinvain。Shedidnotknowsuchmenhadlivedintheworld。
“Butthat’sdangerous！”shesaid，withanoteofdiscovery。
“Oh！——it’sdangerous。”
“Bee-atrice！”LadyOspreycalled。
Beatricedroppedfromthewalltoherfeet。
“Wheredoyoudothissoaring？”
“BeyondthehighBarrows。EastofCrestHillandthewood。”
“Doyoumindpeoplecomingtosee？”
“Wheneveryouplease。Onlyletmeknow“
“I’lltakemychancesomeday。Somedaysoon。”Shelookedatmethoughtfully，smiled，andourtalkwasatanend。
AllmylaterworkinaeronauticsisassociatedinmymemorywiththequalityofBeatrice，withherincidenta]presence，withthingsshesaidanddidandthingsIthoughtofthathadreferencetoher。
InthespringofthatyearIhadgottoaflyingmachinethatlackednothingbutlongitudinalstability。Mymodelflewlikeabirdforfiftyorahundredyardsorso，andtheneitherdivedandbrokeitsnoseor，whatwascommoner，rearedup，slidbackandsmasheditspropeller。Therhythmofthepitchingpuzzledme。Ifeltitmustobeysomelawsnotyetquiteclearlystated。
Ibecamethereforeastudentoftheoryandliteratureforatime；
IhituponthestringofconsiderationsthatledmetowhatiscalledPonderevo’sPrincipleandmyF。R。S。，andIworkedthisoutinthreelongpapers。MeanwhileImadealotofturn-tableandglidermodelsandstartedinuponanideaofcombininggas-bagsandgliders。Balloonworkwasnewtome。IhadmadeoneortwoascentsintheballoonsoftheAeroClubbeforeIstartedmygasometerandtheballoonshedandgaveCothopeacoupleofmonthswithSirPeterRumchase。Myunclefoundpartofthemoneyforthesedevelopments；hewasgrowinginterestedandcompetitiveinthisbusinessbecauseofLordBoom’sprizeandtheamountofreclameinvolved，anditwasathisrequestthatInamedmyfirstnavigableballoonLordRobertsAlpha。
LordRobertsAverynearlyterminatedallmyinvestigations。Myideabothinthisanditsmoresuccessfulandfamousyoungerbrother，LordRobertsB，wastoutilisetheideaofacontractileballoonwitharigidflatbase，aballoonshapedratherlikeaninvertedboatthatshouldalmostsupporttheapparatus，butnotquite。Thegas-bagwasofthechamberedsortusedfortheselongforms，andnotwithaninternalballoonette。Thetroublewastomakethethingcontractile。ThisIsoughttodobyfixingalong，fine-meshedsilknetoveritthatwasfastenedtoberolledupontwolongitudinalrods。PracticallyIcontractedmysausagegas-bagbynettingitdown。Theendsweretoocomplexformetodescribehere，butIthoughtthemoutelaboratelyandtheywereverycarefullyplanned。LordRobertsAwasfurnishedwithasinglebigscrewforward，andtherewasarudderaft。Theenginewasthefirstonetobe，sotospeak，rightintheplaneofthegas-bag。Ilayimmediatelyundertheballoononasortofgliderframework，farawayfromeitherengineorrudder，controllingthembywire-pullsconstructedontheprincipleofthewell-knownBowdenbrakeofthecyclist。
ButLordRobertsAhasbeenprettyexhaustivelyfiguredanddescribedinvariousaeronauticalpublications。Theunforeseendefectwasthebadnessoftheworkinthesilknetting。IttoreaftassoonasIbegantocontracttheballoon，andthelasttwosegmentsimmediatelybulgedthroughthehole，exactlyasaninnertubewillbulgethroughtherupturedoutercoverofapneumatictire，andthenthesharpedgeofthetornnetcuttheoiled-silkofthedistendedlastsegmentalongaweakseamandburstitwithaloudreport。
Uptothatpointthewholethinghadbeengoingonextremelywell。AsanavigableballoonandbeforeIcontractedit，theLordRobertsAwasanunqualifiedsuccess。Ithadrunoutoftheshedadmirablyatnineortenmilesanhourormore，andalthoughtherewasagentlesouthwesterblowing，ithadgoneupandturnedandfaceditaswellasanycraftofthesortIhaveeverseen。
Ilayinmycustomarygliderposition，horizontalandfacedownward，andtheinvisibilityofallthemachinerygaveanextraordinaryeffectofindependentlevitation。Onlybylookingup，asitwere，andturningmyheadbackcouldIseetheflataeroplanebottomoftheballoonandtherapidsuccessivepassages，swish，swish，swishofthevansofthepropeller。I
madeawidecircleoverLadyGroveandDuffieldandouttowardsEffinghamandcamebackquitesuccessfullytothestarting-point。
DownbelowintheOctobersunlightweremyshedsandthelittlegroupthathadbeensummonedtowitnessthestart，theirfacescranedupwardandmostofthemscrutinisingmyexpressionthroughfield-glasses。IcouldseeCarnabyandBeatriceonhorseback，andtwogirlsIdidnotknowwiththem；CothopeandthreeorfourworkmenIemployed；myauntandMrs。Levinstein，whowasstayingwithher，onfoot，andDimmock，theveterinarysurgeon，andoneortwoothers。Myshadowmovedalittletothenorthofthemliketheshadowofafish。AtLadyGrovetheservantswereoutonthelawn，andtheDuffieldschoolplaygroundswarmedwithchildrentooindifferenttoaeronauticstoceasetheirplaying。
ButintheCrestHilldirection——theplacelookedextraordinarilysquatanduglyfromabove——therewereknotsandstringsofstaringworkmeneverywhere——notoneofthemworking，butallagape。(ButnowIwriteit，itoccurstomethatperhapsitwastheirdinnerhour；itwascertainlyneartwelve。)Ihungforamomentorsoenjoyingthesoar，thenturnedabouttofaceaclearstretchofopendown，lettheengineouttofullspeedandsetmyrollersatworkrollinginthenet，andsotighteningthegas-bags。Instantlythepacequickenedwiththediminishedresistance。
InthatmomentbeforethebangIthinkImusthavebeenreallyflying。Beforethenetripped，justintheinstantwhenmyballoonwasatitssystole，thewholeapparatuswas，Iamconvinced，heavierthanair。That，however，isaclaimthathasbeendisputed，andinanycasethissortofpriorityisaverytrivialthing。
Thencameasuddenretardation，instantlyfollowedbyaninexpressiblydisconcertingtiltdownwardofthemachine。ThatI
stillrecallwithhorror。Icouldn’tseewhatwashappeningatallandIcouldn’timagine。Itwasamysterious，inexplicabledive。Thething，itseemed，withoutrhymeorreason，waskickingupitsheelsintheair。Thebangfollowedimmediately，andI
perceivedIwasfallingrapidly。
Iwastoomuchtakenbysurprisetothinkofthepropercauseofthereport。Idon’tevenknowwhatImadeofit。Iwasobsessed，Isuppose，bythatperpetualdreadofthemodernaeronaut，aflashbetweenengineandballoon。YetobviouslyI
