A Columbus of Space | Page 5

difficult, and,
besides, I had no idea of the seriousness of the affair. 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 stayed outside,
and when Stonewall called me I did not answer.
"When he came out to open the roof of the shed, he did not see me in
the shadow where I stood. The opening of the roof revealed the whole
scheme in a flash. I had had no suspicion that the car was any kind of a
balloon, and even after he had so significantly thrown the roof open,
and then entered the car and closed the door, I was fairly amazed to see
the thing began to rise without the slightest noise, and as if it were
enchanted. It really looked diabolical as it floated silently upward and
passed through the opening, and the sight gave me a shiver.
"But I was greatly relieved when it stopped at a height of a hundred feet
or so, and then I said to myself that I should have been less of a fool if I
had stayed with the others, for now they would have the laugh on me
alone. Suddenly, while I watched, expecting every moment to see them
drop down again, for I supposed that it was merely an experiment to
show that the thing would float, the car started upward, very slowly at
first, but increasing its speed until it had attained an elevation of
perhaps five hundred feet. There it hung for a moment, like some
mail-clad monster glinting in the quavering light of the street arcs, and
then, without warning, made a dart skyward. For a minute it circled like
a strange bird taking its bearings, and finally rushed off westward until

I lost sight of it behind some tall buildings. I ran into the house to reach
the street, but found the outer door locked, and not a person visible. I
called but nobody came. Returning to the yard I discovered a place
where I could get over the fence, and so I escaped into the street.
Immediately I searched the sky for the mysterious car, but could see no
sign of it. They were gone! I almost sank upon the pavement in a state
of helpless excitement, which I could not have explained to myself if I
had stopped to reason; for why, after all, should I take the thing so
tragically. But something within me said that all was wrong. A
policeman happened to pass.
"'Officer! officer!' I shouted, 'have you seen it?'
"'Seen what?' asked the blue-coat, twirling his club.
"'The car--the balloon,' I stammered.
"'Balloon in your head! You're drunk. Get long out o' here!'
"I realized the impossibility of explaining the matter to him, and
running back to the place where I had got over the fence I climbed into
the yard and entered the shed. Fortunately the policeman paid no
further attention to my movements after I left him. I sat down on the
empty cradle and stared up through the opening in the roof, hoping
against hope to see them coming back. It must have been midnight
before I gave up my vigil in despair, and went home, sorely puzzled,
and blaming myself for having kept my suspicions unuttered. I finally
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 car. But there was not a word. I watched
the news columns for several days without result. Whenever the coast
was clear I haunted Stonewall's yard, but the fatal shed yawned empty,
and there was not a soul about the house. I cannot describe my feelings.
My friends seemed to have been snatched away by some mysterious
agency, and the horror of the thing almost drove me crazy. I felt that I
was, in a manner, responsible for their disappearance.

"One day my heart sank at the sight of a cousin of Jack Ashton's
motioning to me in the street. He approached, with a troubled look. 'Mr.
Church,' he said, 'I think you know me; can you tell me what has
become of Jack? I haven't seen him for several days.' What could I say?
Still believing that they would soon come back, I invented, on the spur
of the moment, a story that Jack, with a couple of intimate friends, had
gone off on a hunting expedition. I took a little comfort in the reflection
that my friends, like myself, were bachelors, and consequently at
liberty to disappear if they chose.
"But when more than a week had passed with out any news of them I
was thrown