I could not imagine how I had come so far, for his voice sounded strangely distant. "Have you moved from where I left you?" I called. "No," was the answer, "and don’t intend to." "That’s right. I think I can find you if you keep talking." "All right; go ahead; but watch the ground carefully at every step!" The truth is I could not see much above a yard at a time, and a misstep would have been fatal. Torrence continued to talk, and I slowly advanced in the direction from which his voice seemed to come. Suddenly my way was blocked by a solid wall and in another instant I saw that it was the air ship. I now perceived why the voice had been so faint, for I had wandered clear around the machine, which had intercepted it. Feeling my way carefully to the ladder I called out that all was well. "No matter about the skins," came the answer, "let us get off as soon as possible. Go into the saloon and fetch a ball of twine from the locker; tie one end to the step, then make your way slowly!" I found the twine; groped forward with the ball in my hand, and reached camp without accident. Then we commenced carrying our cook tools back to the boat. "There is no place like home!" yelled Torrence, returning with the last load. In another minute he had climbed over the side, and drawing a breath of relief, added: "It is fortunate we travel by air instead of land or water, because we shan’t have to wait for the fog!" A few minutes more and the ladder was hauled in, the gangway closed, the hatch to the upper deck shut down, and we were comfortably established in our cosy cabin. Then Torrence going to his controlling board, pressed a button, moved a lever, turned a screw, and we were swung gently up, and resumed our journey north, 11° west, headed for Spitzbergen, which Torrence said we should reach within twenty-four hours. I don’t know why it was always such an indescribable pleasure to feel clear of earth; and yet this was the fact. The first sensation of being above the ground was a thrill of inexplicable delight. It seemed as if we were lifted into a higher plane of being, morally as well as bodily, involving a certain arrogant sympathy for those left behind. The poor creatures knew so little about life, and it even amazed me to think that I had been one of them for so many years without realizing the depravity of my state. Life without an air ship was not worth the living; but with it, I could answer Mr. Mallock’s question without thought or hesitation.