Page:My Airships.djvu/342

 It would be just as possible to force a tallow candle through a brick wall!" "Pedro," said Luis, "do you remember your objections to my waggon wheels?"

. . ..

"To the locomotive engine?"

. . . . "To the steamboat?" "Our only hope to navigate the air," continued Pedro, "must, in the nature of things, be found in devices heavier than the air—in flying machines or aeroplanes. Reason by analogy. Look at the bird. . . ." "Once you desired me to look at the fish," said Luis. "You said the steamboat ought to wriggle through the water. . . ." "Do be serious, Luis," said Pedro in conclusive tones. "Exercise common-sense. Does man fly? No. Does the bird fly? Yes. Then, if man would fly, let him imitate the bird. Nature has made the bird. Nature never goes wrong."