I was thinking back to the summer once more, and the strongest picture in my mind's eye, the one with the strongest, brightest after-storm colours, was that of the Lanky steamboat, Equity, rocking on the Humber, heading slowly out to Holland, and down by one passenger.
I'd not read the report of the inquest when it had appeared in the Courier a week later, but I'd had the notion of writing to Peter Robinson's solicitors telling the tale of the funny fellow, George Ogden, and mentioning that, since he'd put the stone on the line, their late client could have had nothing to do with the matter. That would have been a comfort to the boy, Lance. But, as the wife said, a letter of that kind would have made things hot for Cicely, who by rights ought to have spoken up earlier.
The Chief of Aeronautics had taken out his pocket watch.
A fellow I didn't know, who was standing nearby, turned to somebody in our little group of watchers, and said, 'I reckon he's been dashed to death.'
I watched the wife as she stared upwards. She was waiting for much more than the airship, of course.
A movement caught my eye – the loud-hailer going to the lips of the master of ceremonies; and there in the corner of the dark sky, tiny, but quite all right, was the dirigible.
I looked over to Arnold Dyson and saw that he was smiling.
The fellow with the loud-hailer was going forty to the dozen once again, giving us more credentials of the aeronaut. The fellow, it appeared, had three daughters; he was to be the principal attraction somewhere on Wednesday next. He valued his airship at no less than?3,000.
The attendants were all gathering to receive the airship.
The wife was next to me. 'Well, I hope they don't mean to catch it,' she said.
Arnold Dyson was alongside the wife and grinning up at me, just as though he'd been all smiles from the very start.
'She's all right, your missus,' he said.
'She is that,' I said.
'She can make her eyes go crossed, you know.'
I looked at the wife, but she was miles away, gazing up at the airship.
'Can she?' I said.
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