of the building. But perhaps the strangest sight of all, could
one but have gained admission into the forge to see it, was the huge
main shaft of the ship, which, after having been mercilessly pounded and
battered into shape by the giant Nasmith hammers, was coolly seized by
only a couple of men, and by them easily carried into the machine-shop,
there to receive its finishing touches in the lathe.

And so the work went on, steadily yet rapidly, until at length it so
nearly approached completion that the professor was every week enabled
to dispense with the services of and pay off an increasingly large
number of men. Finally, the day arrived when the score or so of
painters and decorators, who then constituted the sole remnant of the
professor's late army of workmen, completed their task of beautifying
the interior of the aerial ship, and, receiving their pay, were
dismissed to seek a new field of labour. The official staff now alone
remained, and to these, after making them a pleasant little
complimentary speech expressing his appreciation of the zeal and ability
with which they had discharged their duties, Herr von Schalckenberg
announced the pleasant intelligence that, although he had now no further
need of their services, Sir Reginald Elphinstone had, upon his--the
professor's--earnest recommendation, successfully used his influence to
secure them other and immediate employment. The professor then handed
each man a cheque for his salary, including three months' extra pay in
lieu of the usual notice of dismissal to which he was entitled, together
with a letter of introduction to his new employer, and, shaking hands
with the staff all round, bade them good-bye, wishing them individually
success in their new posts. Then, watching them file out of the office
for the last time, he waited until all had left the premises, when he
turned the key in the door, and making his way into the interior of the
building shed, found himself at length alone with his completed work.

How the professor spent the next few hours no man but himself can say;
but it is reasonable to suppose that, man of science though he was, he
was still sufficiently human to regard with critical yet innocent pride
and exultation the wonderful fabric which owed its existence to the
inventive ingenuity of his fertile brain. It is probable, too, that
when he had at length gratified himself with an exhaustive contemplation
of its many points of interest, h