Chapter 16
ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR
Robur, the Conqueror! This then was the likeness I had vaguelyrecalled. Some years before the portrait of this extraordinary manhad been printed in all the American newspapers, under date of thethirteenth of June, the day after this personage had made hissensational appearance at the meeting of the Weldon Institute atPhiladelphia.
I had noted the striking character of the portrait at the time; thesquare shoulders; the back like a regular trapezoid, its longer sideformed by that geometrical shoulder line; the robust neck; theenormous spheroidal head. The eyes at the least emotion, burned withfire, while above them were the heavy, permanently contracted brows,which signified such energy. The hair was short and crisp, with aglitter as of metal in its lights. The huge breast rose and fell likea blacksmith's forge; and the thighs, the arms and hands, were worthyof the mighty body. The narrow beard was the same also, with thesmooth shaven cheeks which showed the powerful muscles of the jaw.
And this was Robur the Conqueror, who now stood before me, whorevealed himself to me, hurling forth his name like a threat, withinhis own impenetrable fortress!
Let me recall briefly the facts which had previously drawn upon Roburthe Conqueror the attention of the entire world. The Weldon Institutewas a club devoted to aeronautics under the presidency of one of thechief personages of Philadelphia, commonly called Uncle Prudent. Itssecretary was Mr. Phillip Evans. The members of the Institute weredevoted to the theory of the "lighter than air" machine; and undertheir two leaders were constructing an enormous dirigible balloon,the "Go-Ahead."
At a meeting in which they were discussing the details of theconstruction of their balloon, this unknown Robur had suddenlyappeared and, ridiculing all their plans, had insisted that the onlytrue solution of flight lay with the heavier than air machines, andthat he had proven this by constructing one.
He was in this turn doubted and ridiculed by the members of the club,who called him in mockery Robur the Conqueror. In the tumult thatfollowed, revolver shots were fired; and the intruder disappeared.
That same night he had by force abducted the president and thesecretary of the club, and had taken them, much against their willupon a voyage in the wonderful air-ship, the "Albatross," which hehad constructed. He meant thus to prove to them beyond argument thecorrectness of his assertions. This ship, a hundred feet long, wasupheld in the air by a large number of horizontal screws and wasdriven forward by vertical screws at its bow and stern. It wasmanaged by a crew of at least half a dozen men, who seemed absolutelydevoted to their leader, Robur.
After a voyage almost completely around the world, Mr. Prudent andMr. Evans managed to escape from the "Albatross" after a desperatestruggle. They even managed to cause an explosion on the airship,destroying it, and involving the inventor and all his crew in aterrific fall from the sky into the Pacific ocean.
Mr. Prudent and Mr. Evans then returned to Philadelphia. They hadlearned that the "Albatross" had been constructed on an unknown isleof the Pacific called Island X; but since the location of thishiding-place was wholly unknown, its discovery lay scarcely withinthe bounds of possibility. Moreover, the search seemed entirelyunnecessary, as the vengeful prisoners were quite certain that theyhad destroyed their jailers.
Hence the two millionaires, restored to their homes, went calmly onwith the construction of their own machine, the "Go-Ahead." Theyhoped by means of it to soar once more into the regions they hadtraversed with Robur, and to prove to themselves that their lighterthan air machine was at least the equal of the heavy "Albatross." Ifthey had not persisted, they would not have been true Americans.
On the twentieth of April in the following year the "Go-Ahead" wasfinished and the ascent was made, from Fairmount Park inPhiladelphia. I myself was there with thousands of other spectators.We saw the huge balloon rise gracefully; and, thanks to its powerfulscrews, it maneuvered in every direction with surprising ease.Suddenly a cry was heard, a cry repeated from a thousand throats.Another airship had appeared in the distant skies and it nowapproached with marvelous rapidity. It was another "Albatross,"perhaps even superior to the first. Robur and his men had escapeddeath in the Pacific; and, burning for revenge, they had constructeda second airship in their secret Island X.
Like a gigantic bird of prey, the "Albatross" hurled itself upon the"Go-Ahead." Doubtless, Robur, while avenging himself wished also toprove the immeasurable superiority of the heavier than air machines.
Mr. Prudent and Mr. Evans defended themselves as best they could.Knowing that their balloon had nothing like the horizontal speed ofthe "Albatross," they attempted to take advantage of their superiorlightness and rise above her. The "Go-Ahead," throwing out all herballast, soared to a height of over twenty thousand feet. Yet eventhere the "Albatross" rose above her, and circled round her with ease.
Suddenly an explosion was heard. The enormous gas-bag of the"Go-Ahead," expanding under the dilation of its contents at thisgreat height, had finally burst.
Half-emptied, the balloon fell rapidly.
Then to our universal astonishment, the "Albatross" shot down afterher rival, not to finish the work of destruction but to bring rescue.Yes! Robur, forgetting his vengeance, rejoined the sinking"Go-Ahead," and his men lifted Mr. Prudent, Mr. Evans, and theaeronaut who accompanied them, onto the platform of his craft. Thenthe balloon, being at length entirely empty, fell to its destructionamong the trees of Fairmount Park.
The public was overwhelmed with astonishment, with fear! Now thatRobur had recaptured his prisoners, how would he avenge himself?Would they be carried away, this time, forever?
The "Albatross" continued to descend, as if to land in the clearingat Fairmount Park. But if it came within reach, would not theinfuriated crowd throw themselves upon the airship, tearing both itand its inventor to pieces?
The "Albatross" descended within six feet of the ground. I rememberwell the general movement forward with which the crowd threatened toattack it. Then Robur's voice rang out in words which even now I canrepeat almost as he said them:
"Citizens of the United States, the president and the secretary ofthe Weldon Institute are again in my power. In holding them prisonersI would but be exercising my natural right of reprisal for theinjuries they have done me. But the passion and resentment which havebeen roused both in them and you by the success of the 'Albatross,'show that the souls of men are not yet ready for the vast increase ofpower which the conquest of the air will bring to them. UnclePrudent, Phillip Evans, you are free."
The three men rescued from the balloon leaped to the ground. Theairship rose some thirty feet out of reach, and Robur recommenced:
"Citizens of the United States, the conquest of the air is made; butit shall not be given into your hands until the proper time. I leave,and I carry my secret with me. It will not be lost to humanity, butshall be entrusted to them when they have learned not to abuse it.Farewell, Citizens of the United States!"
Then the "Albatross" rose under the impulse of its mighty screws, andsped away amidst the hurrahs of the multitude.
I have ventured to remind my readers of this last scene somewhat indetail, because it seemed to reveal the state of mind of theremarkable personage who now stood before me. Apparently he had notthen been animated by sentiments hostile to humanity. He was contentto await the future; though his attitude undeniably revealed theimmeasurable confidence which he had in his own genius, the immensepride which his almost superhuman powers had aroused within him.
It was not astonishing, moreover, that this haughtiness had little bylittle been aggravated to such a degree that he now presumed toenslave the entire world, as his public letter had suggested by itssignificant threats. His vehement mind had with time been roused tosuch over-excitement that he might easily be driven into the mostviolent excesses.
As to what had happened in the years since the last departure of the"Albatross," I could only partly reconstruct this even with mypresent knowledge. It had not sufficed the prodigious i
nventor tocreate a flying machine, perfect as that was! He had planned toconstruct a machine which could conquer all the elements at once.Probably in the workshops of Island X, a selected body of devotedworkmen had constructed, one by one, the pieces of this marvelousmachine, with its quadruple transformation. Then the second"Albatross" must have carried these pieces to the Great Eyrie, wherethey had been put together, within easier access of the world of menthan the far-off island had permitted. The "Albatross" itself hadapparently been destroyed, whether by accident or design, within theeyrie. The "Terror" had then made its appearance on the roads of theUnited States and in the neighboring waters. And I have told underwhat conditions, after having been vainly pursued across Lake Erie,this remarkable masterpiece had risen through the air carrying me aprisoner on board.