I think we all felt the solemnity of the moment as we stepped into the black hull which might prove our living coffin.  No friends were by to sadden us with their parting; but the old earth had grown dearer to us now that we were about to leave it, perhaps for ever.  Mr. Carmichael descended by the trap into the engine room, while we others stood on the landing beside the open door, mute and expectant.

Presently, a shudder of the vessel sent a strange thrill to our hearts, and almost before we knew it, we had left the ground.

“We’re off!” ejaculated Gazen, and although a slight vibration was all the movement we could feel, we saw the earth sinking away from us.  At first we rose very slowly, because the machine had to contend against the force of gravity; but as the weight of the car diminished the higher we ascended, our speed gradually augmented, and we knew that in the long run it would become prodigious.  The night was moonless, and a thick mantle of clouds obscured the heavens; but the planet Venus was now an evening star, and after attaining a considerable height, we steered towards the west.  Our course took us over the metropolis, which lay beneath us like a vast conflagration.

Far as the eye could see, myriads of lights glimmered like watch fires through the murk of the dismal streets, growing thicker and thicker as we approached the heart of the city, and appearing to blend their lustres.  Through the midst of the glittering expanse we could trace the black tide of the river, crossed by the sparkling lines of the bridges, and reflecting the red lanterns of the ships and barges.  The principal squares and thoroughfares were picked out, with rows and clusters of gas and electric lamps, as with studs of gold and silver.  The clock on the Houses of Parliament glowed like the full moon on a harvest night.  Now and again the weird blaze of a furnace, or the shifting beam of an advertisement, attracted our attention.  With indescribable emotion we hung over the immense panorama, and recognised the familiar streets and buildings—­the Bank and Post Office, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Newgate Prison, the Law Courts and Somerset House, the British Museum, the National Gallery of Arts, Trafalgar Square, and Buckingham Palace.  We watched the busy multitudes swarming like ants in the glare of the pavements from the dreary slums and stalls of Whitechapel to the newspaper offices of Fleet Street; the shops and theatres of the Strand; the music halls and restaurants of Piccadilly Circus.  A deep and continuous roar, a sound like that of the ocean ascended from the toiling millions below.

“Isn’t it awful!” exclaimed Miss Carmichael, in a tone of reverence.  “What a city!  I seem to understand how an angel feels when he regards the world in space, or a God when He listens to the prayers of humanity.”

“For my part,” said Gazen, “I feel as though I were standing on my head.”

By this time we had lost the sense of danger, and gathered confidence in our mode of travel.