The Outlaws of the Air | Page 6

death-bed he had converted
his father to his own social views; and not only this, but he had made
him promise to give what would have been his inheritance to the
society to carry out the scheme of the social colony. Then he told us
that he had come to fulfil this promise, and, if we would allow him, to
take part in the venture himself.
"Well, we consented, on condition that he accepted the Constitution
which we had been, as I always thought, playing at drawing up, and
this he agreed to do, and then staggered us by saying how much he was
prepared to devote to the carrying out of the scheme. We expected a
few hundreds at most, perhaps just enough to give us a start with what
we could get together of ourselves, so you can imagine what we felt
like - and I in particular - when the figure came out at over a hundred
thousand pounds."
"Ein hundert tousand pound!" cried Hartog, unable to restrain his
enthusiasm. "Vy, I could build nearly tree ships of tirty-five knots mit
so mooch! Can you get hold of it, Monsieur Max?"
"I'm not going to get hold of that, friend Franz, but of something a good
deal more important than money. It turned out that our fairy godfather
was no other than Frederick Austen, the head of the big engineering
firm of Austen and Son, of Queen Victoria Street and Woolwich. The
death of his son has made it impossible for an Austen to succeed him in
the business, and that, combined with his change of social views, has
decided him to give up the business altogether.
"Of course, I needn't tell you that we accepted him and his money with
thanks. But there was something stranger to come yet. Last night, at a
meeting of the committee, of which I have the honour to be a member,
he confided to us a secret which, as he said, would enable the colony

not only to hold its own against any who might wish to interfere with it
in case it prospered, but which will enable the colonists to enforce an
object-lesson in peace, goodwill on earth, and all that sort of thing, on
the first nations that go to war with each other, after they are in a
position to wield the power that it will give them.
"Then" - and here Max Renault leant forward on the table and
instinctively lowered his voice while the others leant forward also to
catch what was coming- "he told us that just before his last illness his
son had completed a series of experiments which enabled him to say
with truth that the problem of aerial navigation had at last been solved,
and that he had solved it.
"He told the secret to his father, and he at once placed all the resources
of his business at his disposal, and, comrades, believe me or believe me
not, as you like, but I tell you that less than twenty-four hours ago I saw
in action a working model of a flying ship which Frederick Austen is
going to build with my assistance in the Brotherhood's New Utopia."
A murmur half of amazement and half of incredulity ran from lip to lip
as Renault uttered these momentous words, and Lea suddenly
straightened herself up in her chair, stretched her shapely arms upward,
and then, folding her hands behind her head, looked at Max with
undisguised admiration in her eyes, and said, with a ring of exultation
in her voice-
"Ah, now I understand you, after wondering all this time what your
parable was going to lead up to. Excellent, Monsieur Max, excellent!
You have not been playing the anarchist wolf in the socialist sheepskin
for nothing. You will emigrate with these good folks to their New
Utopia, wherever they may find it, absorb such ideas as may be useful,
appoint yourself aerial engineer to that excellent converted capitalist,
and then-"
"Yes, and then," said Max, with a significant movement of his hand
towards the pocket that contained his revolver, "when the Cruiser of the
Air is built and equipped, and I have satisfied myself of her working
power, she will be found missing some fine morning, and so shall I.

"I'm not going to exile myself with a lot of people like that for nothing,
I can tell you. If I'm the man I take myself for, within three years from
now that air-ship shall carry the red flag through the clouds, and
terrorise the whole earth from east to west and pole to pole.
"And now," he continued, rising to his feet, under the stimulus of his
own words, "if you've any more champagne, fill up. I've a toast for you.
For