H G Wells

The War in the Air H G Wells

"This here Progress," said Mr. Tom Smallways, "it keeps on.""You'd hardly think it could keep on," said Mr. Tom Smallways. It was along before the War in the Air began that Mr. Smallways made this remark. He was sittingon the fence at the end of his garden and surveying the great Bun Hill gas-works with an eye thatneither praised nor blamed. Above the clustering gasometers three unfamiliar shapes appeared, thin, wallowing bladders that flapped and rolled about, and grew bigger and bigger and rounder androunder-balloons in course of inflation for the South of England Aero Club's Saturday-afternoonascent."They goes up every Saturday," said his neighbour, Mr. Stringer, the milkman. "It's only yestiday, so to speak, when all London turned out to see a balloon go over, and now every little place in thecountry has its weekly-outings-uppings, rather. It's been the salvation of them gas companies.""Larst Satiday I got three barrer-loads of gravel off my petaters," said Mr. Tom Smallways."Three barrer-loads! What they dropped as ballase. Some of the plants was broke, and some wasburied.""Ladies, they say, goes up!""I suppose we got to call 'em ladies," said Mr. Tom Smallways."Still, it ain't hardly my idea of a lady-flying about in the air, and throwing gravel at people. Itain't what I been accustomed to consider ladylike, whether or no."Mr. Stringer nodded his head approvingly, and for a time they continued to regard the swellingbulks with expressions that had changed from indifference to disapprova