shall take a voyage round the room.

"You see it is steered by this rudder-fan under the stern propeller.
In the real ship it will be worked by a wheel, like the rudder of a
sea-going vessel; but in the model it is done by this lever, so that
I can control it by a couple of strings from the ground."

He went round to the other side of the table while he was speaking,
and adjusted the steering gear, stopping the engines meanwhile. Then
he put the model down on the floor, set all four engines to work, and
stood behind with the guiding-strings in his hands. The spectators
heard a louder and somewhat shriller whirring noise than before, and
the beautiful fabric, with its shining, silvery hull and side-planes,
rose slantingly from the ground and darted forward down the room,
keeping Arnold at a quick run with the rudder-strings tightly
strained.

Like an obedient steed, it instantly obeyed the slightest pull upon
either of them, and twice made the circuit of the room before its
creator pulled it down and stopped the machinery.

The experiment was a perfect and undeniable success in every respect,
and not one of those who saw it had the slightest doubt as to
Arnold's air-ship having at last solved the problem of aerial
navigation, and made the Brotherhood lords of a realm as wide as the
atmospheric ocean that encircles the globe.

As soon as the model was once more resting on the table, the
President came forward and, grasping the engineer by both hands, said
in a voice from which he made but little effort to banish the emotion
that he felt--

"Bravo, brother! Henceforth you shall be known to the Brotherhood as
the Master of the Air, for truly you have been the first among the
sons of men to fairly conquer it. Come, let us go back and talk, for
there is much to be said about this, and we cannot begin too soon to
make arrangements for building the first of our aerial fleet. You can
leave your model where it is in perfect safety, for no one ever
enters this room save ourselves."

So saying the President led the way to the Council-chamber, and
there, after the _Ariel_--as it had already been decided to name the
first air-ship--had been christened in anticipation in twenty-year
old champagne, the Circle settled down at once to business, and for a
good three hours discussed the engineer's estimate and plans for
building the first vessel of the aerial fleet.

At length all the practical details were settled, and the Pres