ANOTHER DISAPPEARANCE This was not the first occasion on which, at the end of their stormy discussions, the members of the Weldon Institute had filled Walnut Street and its neighborhood with their tumult.

Several times had the inhabitants complained of the noisy way in which the proceedings ended, and more than once had the policemen had to interfere to clear the thoroughfare for the passersby, who for the most part were supremely indifferent on the question of aerial navigation.

But never before had the tumult attained such proportions, never had the complaints been better founded, never had the intervention of the police been more necessary.
But there was some excuse for the members of the Weldon Institute.
They had been attacked in their own house.

To these enthusiasts for "lighter than air" a no less enthusiast for "heavier than air" had said things absolutely abhorrent.

And at the moment they were about to treat him as he deserved, he had disappeared.
So they cried aloud for vengeance.