“We are passing through the cloud-belt at a very high speed,” he continued, as if the shock was a trifle. “My intention is, first, to let you see a storm from the quiet zone above it; secondly, to rush downwards into it that the _Attila_ may show her mettle.”
I said nothing, for my feelings were in truth somewhat mixed. With the ascent portion of the programme I concurred heartily; the second I would gladly have abandoned, as it seemed to me so utterly foolhardy. But faint heart was not the commodity for Hartmann, and wishing to earn his favour through his respect, I suppressed my fears resolutely. Not noticing my silence he kept on throwing in his comments on the situation. As the minutes wore on I observed that the mist masses were blowing thinner and thinner against the bow of the _Attila_. Suddenly the electric light was turned off, and a gentle silvery glow took its place. And as we swept on I perceived that the wind had fallen also. Hartmann pressed a bell-knob, and the two men on watch reappeared.
[Illustration: AMONGST THE CLOUD-BATTALIONS.]
“Now to the deck again, and you shall see a fine picture.”
As we stepped into the court of the citadel I had reason to appreciate this remark. Down in the conning-tower I had stood behind the captain and seen little save the dawn of a gentle radiance among the thinning mists. But up here the vista was glorious. A brisk but by no means stinging wind swept the deck. Above shone the horned moon in unclouded majesty, casting a weird light on the rolling masses of cloud-battalions underneath us. From below came the roar of the strife of elements and the crooked gleam of the levin-bolt, while the echoes of the thunder leapt grimly across the halls and palaces of the storm-king. As if arbiter of the struggle, the _Attila_ rode serenely over the turmoil in the quiet zone.
“How high are we now?” I asked Hartmann, for the air was oppressively rare.
“A trifle over two miles. A sublime spectacle this, is it not?”
“Uniquely so. The sense of serene power is so striking. But you do not propose to rest here?”
“Oh no. I must show that this serene power is not fraudulent. I shall shortly plunge the _Attila_ into the very vortex of the storm, and teach you how nobly she can wing her way through it.”