Didn’tyoufeelit？\"
\"Ifelteverything，\"saidBert。\"Ididn’tnoticeanyparticularsmash——\"
\"Theymusthavebeenprettydesperateiftheymeantit。Theyslasheddownonuslikeaknife;simplyrippedtheaftergas—chamberslikeguttingherrings，crumpleduptheenginesandscrew。Mostoftheenginesdroppedoffastheyfelloffus——orwe’dhavegrounded——buttherestissortofdangling。Wejustturnedupournosetotheheavensandstayedthere。Elevenmenrolledoffusfromvariouspoints，andpooroldWinterfeldfellthroughthedoorofthePrince’scabinintothechart—roomandbrokehisankle。Alsowegotourelectricgearshotorcarriedaway——nooneknowshow。That’stheposition，Smallways。We’redrivingthroughtheairlikeacommonaerostat，atthemercyoftheelements，almostduenorth——probablytotheNorthPole。Wedon’tknowwhataeroplanestheAmericanshave，oranythingatallaboutit。Verylikelywehavefinished’emup。Onefouledus，onewasstruckbylightning，someofthemensawathirdupset，apparentlyjustforfun。Theyweregoingcheapanyhow。Alsowe’velostmostofourdrachenflieger。Theyjustskatedoffintothenight。Nostabilityin’em。That’sall。Wedon’tknowifwe’vewonorlost。Wedon’tknowifwe’reatwarwiththeBritishEmpireyetoratpeace。Consequently，wedaren’tgetdown。Wedon’tknowwhatweareuptoorwhatwearegoingtodo。OurNapoleonisalone，forward，andIsupposehe’srearranginghisplans。WhetherNewYorkwasourMoscowornotremainstobeseen。We’vehadahigholdtimeandmurderednoendofpeople！War！Noblewar！I’msickofitthismorning。I
likesittinginroomsrightwayupandnotonslipperypartitions。
I’macivilisedman。IkeepthinkingofoldAlbrechtandtheBarbarossa……IfeelIwantawashandkindwordsandaquiethome。WhenIlookatyou，IKNOWIwantawash。Gott！\"——hestifledavehementyawn——\"WhataCockneytadpoleofaruffianyoulook！\"