matter was anything serious. Nevertheless, I determined to stay out of it, so that the laugh should not be on me, at any rate. Accordingly, when the others entered the car I kept away, and when Stonewall called me I did not answer.
“As he closed the door of the car, for the first time the impression came to me that it might be something serious, but it was then too late to interfere. I was greatly astonished when, without the slightest apparent reason, the car began to rise in the air. I hadn’t taken it for anything in the nature of a balloon, and this wasn’t the kind of practical joke I was looking for, though if I had not been so stupid I might have guessed it when I saw Stonewall open the roof of the shanty.
“It was with much trepidation that I saw the thing, which really looked diabolical with its polished sides glinting in the electric light, rise silently through the roof, and float mysteriously upward. I felt relieved when it stopped at a height of a couple of hundred feet, and I said to myself that they would soon drop down again, and perhaps, after all, they would turn the laugh against me for being afraid.
A Narrative of One of the Participators
But in a little while the car began to move again, slowly rising, and shining like some mail-clad monster in the light of the arc-lamps below. An indefinable terror commenced to creep over me, and I shivered as I watched the thing.
“It moved very deliberately, and in five minutes had not risen more than five hundred feet. Suddenly it made a dart, and seemed to shoot skyward. Then it circled, like a strange bird taking its bearings, and rushed off westward, until I lost sight of it behind some tall buildings. I ran out into the street, but could not catch sight of it again.
“They were gone! I almost sank upon the pavement in my helpless excitement. A policeman was passing:
“‘Officer! Officer!’ I said. ‘Have you seen it?’
“‘Seen what?’ asked the bluecoat, twirling his club.
“‘The car—the balloon,’ I stammered.
“‘I ain’t seen no balloon. I guess yer drunk. Ye’d better git along home.’
“There was no use trying to explain matters to him, so I entered the shanty again, and sat down on the supports on which the car had rested. I remained a long time staring up through the opening in the roof, and hoping against hope to see them come back. It must have been midnight before I finally went home, sorely puzzled in mind, bitterly blaming myself for having kept my suspicions unuttered. I got to sleep, but I had horrible dreams.
“The next day I was up early, looking through all the papers in the hope of finding something about the mysterious car. But there was not a word. I watched for several days with the same result.
“I cannot describe my feelings. My friends seemed to have been snatched away by some mystic agency, and the horror of the thing almost drove me crazy. Then members of their families—luckily none of them were married—began to come to me with inquiries. What could I say? Still believing that they would come back, I invented a story that they had gone off on a hunting expedition.
“But when a week had passed, and then two weeks, without any news, I was in despair. I had to give them up. Remembering how near we were to the coast, I concluded that they had drifted over the ocean and gone down. It was hard for me, after the lie I had told, to let the truth out at last.
“The authorities took the matter up and ransacked Stonewall’s laboratory, and the shanty, without finding anything to throw light on the mystery. After a while the sensation died out, the papers ceased to talk about it, and I was left to my loneliness and my regrets.
“A year has now passed with no news. I write this on the anniversary of their departure. My friends I know are dead—somewhere. What an experience it has been! When your friends die and you see them buried it is hard enough, but when they disappear in a flash, and leave no token behind, it is almost beyond endurance.”
CHAPTER II
A Trip of Terror
I take up the story from the point where I dropped it.
As minute after minute elapsed, and we continued to move, we changed our minds and concluded that the inventor was going to give us a longer ride than we had anticipated. We weren’t alarmed, for the car traveled so easily that it gave 'one a feeling of confidence. But we were a little indignant to think that Edmund should treat us like a lot of boys, without minds or wills of our own.
“See here,” said Jack at length. “I’d be obliged if you’d tell us just what you’re about. I’ve no objection to making a little trip in your car, which is certainly mighty comfortable, but I’d at least like to be asked whether I want to go or not.”
Edmund made no reply, but busied himself with his knobs. First he pressed one and then another. Suddenly we were all jerked off our feet as if we had been in a trolley with a green motorman at the handle.
We felt ourselves spinning through space at a fearful rate. Still Edmund said not a word; but while we staggered to our feet, and steadied ourselves with hands and knees on the leather-cushioned benches, like so many drunken men, he clung to his knobs and pushed and twisted. The car slowed down then, and the motion became more regular.
The Beginning of a Lecture
“Excuse me,” said Edmund, quite in his natural manner. “The thing is a little new yet, and I’ve got to learn the stops by experience. But there’s no occasion for alarm.”
“Maybe there isn’t,” replied Jack. “But will you
