y to check one's reckoning by means of frequent
observations."

"Do you think that any of the people in those ships down there will see
us?" asked Feodorovna. "We can see them very plainly, and it is only
reasonable, therefore, to suppose that they can see us equally plainly.
Yet, when I looked at them just now through Sir Reginald's telescope, I
could not detect any indication that we were seen. One would suppose
that the sight of such an enormous object as this, floating in the air,
would occasion tremendous excitement among the beholders."

"And no doubt it would; indeed, we have had proof that such is the case
whenever we happen to be seen," replied the professor. "But we have
also had the best of reasons for believing that this polished hull of
ours, perfectly reflecting, as it does, every hue and tint of the
surrounding atmosphere, renders it difficult, if not impossible, to
distinguish the ship when she is afloat among the clouds. Nevertheless,
you have reminded us that some keen-eyed individual may by chance
discover our presence, so, as we are really anxious not to attract
attention, we may as well get above the clouds again, when you have all
looked your fill."

This hint proved sufficient, and five minutes later the _Flying Fish_
was once more above the clouds, with the pilot-house door and every
scuttle closed, sweeping to the northward and eastward at full speed.

At length, well on in the afternoon, the professor announced that,
according to his reckoning, they had reached their destination, and the
engines were stopped. It had remained cloudy all day, and after that
one brief descent early in the morning, nothing had been seen. Mildmay,
after studying the clouds attentively, was of opinion that a breeze had
sprung up, and had been blowing for some two or three hours--a
circumstance that, if his opinion proved correct, would have an
important influence upon their position--and he was anxious to ascertain
how far his surmise was verified by facts. A descent was therefore
effected until the ship was once more below the cloud curtain, when it
was found that, instead of being immediately over the city of Saint
Petersburg--as she should have been, according to the professor's
reckoning--the _Flying Fish_ was floating almost exactly over a town of
considerable size situate on the northern shore of a lake of somewhat
triangular shape, measuring some forty-five miles long by about twenty
miles wide. Th