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