Fenswood and the Great Air Lens [pp. 250-256]

Overland Monthly
"Why, it is, it is," she cried, after a few
moments, "perfect in every respect; I
see no difference whatever," and she left
the chair slowly and silently. Eagerly I
took her place, and there was the familiar
planet and his magnificent system, as
clearly defined as I had ever seen it.
Indeed, it was a rare night,-the air was
absolutely steady, and I could distinctly
see the markings upon the moons. He
removed the blind from the chart-lamp as
I left the chair, so that we might see more
clearly, and then, at once, the full force
of this great mind's wondrous work came
upon me, and I stood, gazing at him with
solemn eyes, awed as by a miracle. Thus
we stood in silence for some moments.
"Oh, come," he broke in, "this won't
do. This is only one more of those
inevitable advances which we make once
in a while upon nature's frontier. What
we must do now is to rush work with all
speed upon a field, or lens rather, as I
may call it, of sufficient power, so that we
may at last," he finished with emphasis,
"know something." But the impression
made upon us was too deep for his words
to lightly dispel, and he was himself quiet
and preoccupied as we slowly wended our
way back to the residence, a silent,
thoughtful group.
Upon what wonderful, nay, incredible
scenes, should we shortly gaze with wondering eyes! What entrancing knowledge should soon be ours, transcending
all the highest hopes of mankind! Aye,
who in all this world could say? It was
too much. I felt a sense of suffocation
at the vista opened out before even my
slow imagination, and involuntarily
straightened my shoulders and drew a
deep breath of the cool evening air. The
action did not escape notice, for Lady
Fenswood immediately followed my example.
"That is just the way I feel," she said;
"the thought of it is simply overpowering." That relieved the tension, and we
fell to eagerly discussing the probable
length of time, necessary for the completion of a field, or lens, as my cousin now
termed it, of sufficient size to give conclusive results. On arrival at the house,
he began immediate calculations as to the
necessary electrical power which would be
required for varying sizes, and finally an nounced his opinion that it would be best
to construct one first fifteen feet in
diameter.
"This will be of ample power," he said,
"to show us the actual physical conditions
on the planets, and it will be sufficiently
large so that when, in its construction, I
shall have overcome certain difficulties
which I foresee in the control of the cur rent over so large a surface, the
methods which shall prove necessary will
apply to any larger size." As may be
imagined we spent a joyous evening, and
it was late ere we retired.
We enthusiastically gave what assist ance we could in drawing up plans for the
necessary mechanical appliances, and at
length the orders and specifications were
sent out to the different firms for the tube,
standard, and even the observatory itself,
which he decided to locate adjoining the
laboratory. Arrangements were also made
with every power-house within available
distance for cables to be laid to the site
of the observatory that was to be, for, as
my cousin explained to us, the power needed for a field even fifteen feet in diameter
was simply enormous. He devoted himself meantime, to preparing such of the
necessary apparatus as could be constructed in the workshops on the premises.
The work went on apace by night and
day, and the scene was a busy one. The
observatory was soon up in its appointed
location, and the standard and tube in
place, but a delay in the construction of
some of the minor but still essential
mechanism, due to a misunderstanding of
the order, nearly drove him, and us as
well, frantic, for I could not resist the contagious excitement under which my
cousin and Lady Fenswood labored during
this time of preparation, and sadly neglected my duties at the office in my desire
to be on the ground and of what assistance I could. Meantime the cables had
been duly laid as ordered, until the group
of buildings was the center of a very
spiders-web of heavy wires and he himself had fully perfected the appliances for
governing their currents, so that we now
only waited for the belated mechanism.
254