ess
whatever, and would not hear of such things as Spars and Ribs; and the
Thrust objected to anything at all likely to produce Drift, and very
nearly wiped the whole thing off the Blackboard.

There was, indeed, the makings of a very pretty quarrel when the Letter
arrived. It was about a mile long, and began to talk at once.

"I'm from the Inventor," he said, and hope rose in the heart of each
heated Principle. "It's really absurdly simple. All the Pilot has to do
is to touch a button, and at his will, VARY the area of the Surface, the
Angle of Incidence, and the Camber! And there you are--Maximum Climb or
Maximum Speed as required! How does that suit you?"

"That suits us very well," said the Surface, "but, excuse me asking,
how is it done without apparatus increasing the Drift and the Weight
out of all reason? You won't mind showing us your Calculations,
Working Drawings, Stress Diagrams, etc., will you?"

Said the Letter with dignity, "I come from an Inventor so brilliantly
clever as to be far above the unimportant matters you mention. He is no
common working man, sir! He leaves such things to Mechanics. The point
is, you press a button and----"

"Look here," said a Strut, rather pointedly, "where do you think you
are going, anyway?"

"Well," from the Letter, "as a matter of fact, I'm not addressed yet,
but, of course, there's no doubt I shall reach the very highest quarters
and absolutely revolutionize Flight when I get there."

Said the Chalk, "I'll address you, if that's all you want; now drift
along quickly!" And off went the Letter to The Technical Editor, "Daily
Mauler," London.

And a League was formed, and there were Directors with Fees, and several
out-of-service Tin Hats, and the Man-who-takes-the-credit, and a fine
fat Guinea-pig, and all the rest of them. And the Inventor paid his
Tailor and had a Hair-Cut, and is now a recognized _Press_ Expert--but
he is still waiting for those Mechanics!

"I'm afraid," said the Slide-rule, who had been busy making those
lightning-like automatic calculations for which he is so famous, "it's
quite impossible to fully satisfy all of you, and it is perfectly plain
to me that we shall have to effect a Compromise and sacrifice some of
the Lift for Speed."

Thud! What was that?

Efficiency had fainted dead away! The last blow had been too much for
her. And the Principles gathered mournfully round, but with the aid of
the Propeller Slip[1] and a friendly lift fr