"Well, I was so fascinated that I had forgotten to look at the watch. I held it before me, and soon noticed that it was nearly five o'clock, so that we were over an hour and a half in the thick of it. During this experience what gave me the queerest feeling was the compass, the needle of which could not be seen, it swung around with such velocity. Were we going with the storm, or not? That was the thing uppermost in my mind. If we were being carried along we might be even in Belgium by the time I noted the watch. "Then I tried an experiment. I ordered my assistant to make a turning movement. This convinced me that we were really going with the storm, and were now far over into German territory. Strange as it may seem, we were not thrown hither and thither; the ship sailed along smoothly. I feared to make the next experiment,--that is, to direct the machine toward the earth, for, while everything worked perfectly, I had a feeling that it would be safer to reach the earth with an engine running than with a dead one. Slowly the machine went down; it seemed to get lighter, but now the thunder came in sharp claps, and the form of the lightning changed. I could distinctly see what the observer sees when on the earth, long, zig-zag streaks multiplied a hundred times more than anything I ever witnessed while on earth." "How high were you up when you got out of the clouds?" asked Ralph. "Seven hundred and seventy meters (about 2,900 feet), as indicated on the barometer." "Could you see the earth?" asked Alfred. "No, indeed; the rain was pouring down; it was splashing over us and all about us, and I signalled to go up again, and we soon entered the clouds; but during all this time the needle of the compass kept spinning, so that we knew nothing of the direction we were traveling." "But couldn't you tell which way the wind was blowing?" asked Ralph. "No; we were moving with the great air current, sometimes sailing with it, and at other times against it, but with nothing below to indicate the direction. We could not possibly say whether we were going north or south." "I think if I should be in the air and couldn't see the earth I would know a way to tell which way the storm was moving," said Ralph. "How?" asked the lieutenant, as he leaned forward. "Why, the rain would come down at an angle, if the wind should be blowing, wouldn't it?" replied Alfred.