But there was some excuse for the members of the Weldon Institute. They had been attacked in their own house. To these enthusiasts9 for "lighter11 than air" a no less enthusiast10 for "heavier than air" had said things absolutely abhorrent12. And at the moment they were about to treat him as he deserved, he had disappeared.
So they cried aloud for vengeance13. To leave such insults unpunished was impossible to all with American blood in their veins14. Had not the sons of Amerigo been called the sons of Cabot? Was not that an insult as unpardonable as it happened to be just—historically?
The members of the club in several groups rushed down Walnut Street, then into the adjoining streets, and then all over the neighborhood. They woke up the householders; they compelled them to search their houses, prepared to indemnify them later on for the outrage15 on their privacy. Vain were all their trouble and searching. Robur was nowhere to be found; there was no trace of him. He might have gone off in the "Go-Ahead," the balloon of the Institute, for all they could tell. After an hour's hunt the members had to give in and separate, not before they had agreed to extend their search over the whole territory of the twin Americas that form the new continent.
By eleven o'clock quiet had been restored in the neighborhood of Walnut Street. Philadelphia was able to sink again into that sound sleep which is the privilege of non-manufacturing towns. The different members of the club parted to seek their respective houses. To mention the most distinguished16 amongst them, William T. Forbes sought his large sugar establishment, where Miss Doll and Miss Mat had prepared for him his evening tea, sweetened with his own glucose17. Truck Milnor took the road to his factory in the distant suburb, where the engines worked day and night. Treasurer18 Jim Chip, publicly accused of possessing an alimentary19 canal twelve inches longer than that of other men, returned to the vegetable soup that was waiting for him.
Two of the most important balloonists—two only—did not seem to think of returning so soon to their domicile. They availed themselves of the opportunity to discuss the question with more than usual acrimony. These were the irreconcilables, Uncle Prudent20 and Phil Evans, the president and secretary of the Weldon Institute.
At the door of the club the valet Frycollin waited for Uncle Prudent, his master, and at last he went after him, though he cared but little for the subject which had set the two colleagues at loggerheads.
It is only an euphemism21 that the verb "discuss" can be used to express the way in which the duet between the president and secretary was being performed. As a matter of fact they were in full wrangle22 with an energy born of their old rivalry23.
"No, Sir, no," said Phil Evans. "If I had had the honor of being president of the Weldon Institute, there never, no, never, would have been such a scandal."
"And what would you have done, if you had had the honor?" demanded Uncle Prudent.
"I would have stopped the insulter before he had opened his mouth."
"It seems to me it would have been impossible to stop him until he had opened his mouth," replied Uncle Prudent.
"Not in America, Sir; not in America."
And exchanging such observations, increasing in bitterness as they went, they walked on through the streets farther and farther from their homes, until they reached a part of the city whence they had to go a long way round to get back.
Frycollin followed, by no means at ease to see his master plunging24 into such deserted25 spots. He did not like deserted spots, particularly after midnight. In fact the darkness was profound, and the moon was only a thin crescent just beginning its monthly life. Frycollin kept a lookout26 to the left and right of him to see if he was followed. And he fancied he could see five or six hulking follows dogging his footsteps. Instinctively27 he drew nearer to his master, but not for the world would he have dared to break in on the conversation of which the fragments reached him.
In short it so chanced that the president and secretary of the Weldon Institute found themselves on the road to Fairmount Park. In the full heat of their dispute they crossed the Schuyllkill river by the famous iron bridge. They met only a few belated wayfarers28, and pressed on across a wide open tract29 where the immense prairie was broken every now and then by the patches of thick woodland—which make the park different to any other in the world.
There Frycollin's terror became acute, particularly as he saw the five or six shadows gliding30 after him across the Schuyllkill bridge. The pupils of his eyes broadened out to the circumference31 of his iris32, and his limbs seemed to diminish as if endowed with the contractility peculiar33 to the mollusca and certain of the articulate; for Frycollin, the valet, was an egregious34 coward.
He was a pure South Carolina Negro, with the head of a fool and the carcass of an imbecile. Being only one and twenty, he had never been a slave, not even by birth, but that made no difference to him. Grinning and greedy and idle, and a magnificent poltroon35, he had been the servant of Uncle Prudent for about three years. Over and over again had his master threatened to kick him out, but had kept him on for fear of doing worse. With a master ever ready to venture on the most audacious enterprises, Frycollin's cowardice36 had brought him many arduous37 trials. But he had some compensation. Very little had been said about his gluttony, and still less about his laziness.
Ah, Valet Frycollin, if you could only have read the future! Why, oh why, Frycollin, did you not remain at Boston with the Sneffels, and not have given them up when they talked of going to Switzerland? Was not that a much more suitable place for you than this of Uncle Prudent's, where danger was daily welcomed?
But here he was, and his master had become used to his faults. He had one advantage, and that was a consideration. Although he was a Negro by birth he did not speak like a Negro, and nothing is so irritating as that hateful jargon38 in which all the pronouns are possessive and all the verbs infinitive39. Let it be understood, then, that Frycollin was a thorough coward.
And now it was midnight, and the pale crescent of the moon began to sink in the west behind the trees in the park. The rays streaming fitfully through the branches made the shadows darker than ever. Frycollin looked around him anxiously. "Brrr!" he said, "There are those fellows there all the time. Positively40 they are getting nearer! Master Uncle!" he shouted.
It was thus he called the president of the Weldon Institute, and thus did the president desire to be called.
At the moment the dispute of the rivals had reached its maximum, and as they hurled41 their epithets42 at each other they walked faster and faster, and drew farther and farther away from the Schuyllkill bridge. They had reached the center of a wide clump43 of trees, whose summits were just tipped by the parting rays of the moon. Beyond the trees was a very large clearing—an oval field, a complete amphitheater. Not a hillock was there to hinder the gallop44 of the horses, not a bush to stop the view of the spectators.
And if Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans had not been so deep in their dispute, and had used their eyes as they were accustomed to, they would have found the clearing was not in its usual state. Was it a flour mill that had anchored on it during the night? It looked like it, with its wings and sails—motionless and mysterious in the gathering45 gloom.
But neither the president nor the secretary of the Weldon Institute noticed the strange modification46 in the landscape of Fairmount Park; and neither did Frycollin. It seemed to him that the thieves were approaching, and preparing for their attack; and he was seized with convulsive fear, paralyzed in his limbs, with every hair he could boast of on the bristle47. His terror was extreme. His knees bent48 under him, but he had just strength enough to exclaim for the last time, "Master Uncle! Master Uncle!"
"What is the matter with you?" asked Uncle Prudent.
Perhaps the disputants would not have been sorry to have relieved their fury at the expense of the unfortunate valet. But they had no time; and neither even had he time to answer.
A whistle was heard. A flash of electric light shot across the clearing.
A signal, doubtless? The moment had come for the deed of violence. In less time that it takes to tell, six men came leaping across from under the trees, two onto Uncle Prudent, two onto Phil Evans, two onto Frycollin—there was no need for the last two, for the Negro was incapable49 of defending himself. The president and secretary of the Weldon Institute, although taken by surprise, would have resisted.
They had neither time nor strength to do so. In a second they were rendered speechless by a gag, blind by a bandage, thrown down, pinioned50 and carried bodily off across the clearing. What could they think except that they had fallen into the hands of people who intended to rob them? The people did nothing of the sort, however. They did not even touch Uncle Prudent's pockets, although, according to his custom, they were full of paper dollars.
Within a minute of the attack, without a word being passed, Uncle Prudent, Phil Evans, and Frycollin felt themselves laid gently down, not on the grass, but on a sort of plank51 that creaked beneath them. They were laid down side by side.
Then there came a continuous buzzing, a quivering, a frrrr, with the rrr unending.
And that was the only sound that broke the quiet of the night.
Great was the excitement next morning in Philadelphia Very early was it known what had passed at the meeting of the Institute. Everyone knew of the appearance of the mysterious engineer named Robur—Robur the Conqueror—and the tumult among the balloonists, and his inexplicable53 disappearance54. But it was quite another thing when all the town heard that the president and secretary of the club had also disappeared during the night.
Long and keen was the search in the city and neighborhood! Useless! The newspapers of Philadelphia, the newspapers of Pennsylvania, the newspapers of the United States reported the facts and explained them in a hundred ways, not one of which was the right one. Heavy rewards were offered, and placards were pasted up, but all to no purpose. The earth seemed to have opened and bodily swallowed the president and secretary of the Weldon Institute.
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1
walnut
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| n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色 | |
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2
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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3
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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4
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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5
passersby
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| n. 过路人(行人,经过者) | |
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6
supremely
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| adv.无上地，崇高地 | |
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7
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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8
intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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9
enthusiasts
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| n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 ) | |
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10
enthusiast
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| n.热心人，热衷者 | |
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11
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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12
abhorrent
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| adj.可恶的，可恨的，讨厌的 | |
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13
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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14
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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15
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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16
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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17
glucose
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| n.葡萄糖 | |
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18
treasurer
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| n.司库，财务主管 | |
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19
alimentary
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| adj.饮食的，营养的 | |
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20
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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euphemism
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| n.婉言，委婉的说法 | |
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22
wrangle
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| vi.争吵 | |
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23
rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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24
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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28
wayfarers
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| n.旅人，（尤指）徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
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29
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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30
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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32
iris
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| n.虹膜，彩虹 | |
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33
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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34
egregious
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| adj.非常的，过分的 | |
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35
poltroon
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| n.胆怯者；懦夫 | |
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36
cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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37
arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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38
jargon
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| n.术语，行话 | |
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39
infinitive
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| n.不定词；adj.不定词的 | |
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40
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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41
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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42
epithets
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| n.（表示性质、特征等的）词语( epithet的名词复数 ) | |
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43
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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44
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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45
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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46
modification
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| n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻 | |
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47
bristle
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| v.（毛发）直立，气势汹汹，发怒；n.硬毛发 | |
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48
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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49
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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50
pinioned
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| v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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52
staple
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| n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类 | |
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53
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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54
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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