, sleeping as well as he
could, except at meal times.

Tapage then favored him with his company and amused himself at his
expense. "Eh! eh! my boy!" said he. "So you are not crying any more?
Perhaps it hurt you too much? That two hours hanging cured you of it?
At our present rate, what a splendid air-bath you might have for your
rheumatics!"

"It seems to me we shall soon go to pieces!"

"Perhaps so; but we shall go so fast we shan't have time to fall!
That is some comfort!"

"Do you think so?"

"I do."

To tell the truth, and not to exaggerate like Tapage, it was only
reasonable that owing to the excessive speed the work of the
suspensory screws should be somewhat lessened. The "Albatross" glided
on its bed of air like a Congreve rocket.

"And shall we last long like that?" asked Frycollin.

"Long? Oh, no, only as long as we live!"

"Oh!" said the Negro, beginning his lamentations.

"Take care, Fry, take care! For, as they say in my country, the
master may send you to the seesaw!" And Frycollin gulped down his
sobs as he gulped down the meat which, in double doses, he was
hastily swallowing.

Meanwhile Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans, who were not men to waste
time in wrangling when nothing could come of it, agreed upon doing
something. It was evident that escape was not to be thought of. But
if it was impossible for them to again set foot on the terrestrial
globe, could they not make known to its inhabitants what had become
of them since their disappearance, and tell them by whom they had
been carried off, and provoke--how was not very clear--some
audacious attempt on the part of their friends to rescue them from
Robur?

Communicate? But how? Should they follow the example of sailors in
distress and enclose in a bottle a document giving the place of
shipwreck and throw it into the sea? But here the sea was the
atmosphere. The bottle would not swim. And if it did not fall on
somebody and crack his skull it might never be found.

The colleagues were about to sacrifice one of the bottles on board
when an idea occurred to Uncle Prudent. He took snuff, as we know,
and we may pardon this fault in an American, who might do worse. And
as a snuff-taker he possessed a snuff-box, which was now empty. This
box was made of aluminum. If it was thrown overboard any honest
citizen that found it would pick it up, and, being an honest citizen,
he would take it to the police-office, and there they would open it
and disc