Moreover, the search seemed entirely unnecessary, as the vengeful prisoners were quite certain that they had destroyed their jailers.
Hence the two millionaires, restored to their homes, went calmly on with the construction of their own machine, the "Go-Ahead." They hoped by means of it to soar once more into the regions they had traversed with Robur, and to prove to themselves that their lighter than air machine was at least the equal of the heavy "Albatross." If they had not persisted, they would not have been true Americans.
On the twentieth of April in the following year the "Go-Ahead" was finished and the ascent was made, from Fairmount Park in Philadelphia.

I myself was there with thousands of other spectators.
We saw the huge balloon rise gracefully; and, thanks to its powerful screws, it maneuvered in every direction with surprising ease.
Suddenly a cry was heard, a cry repeated from a thousand throats.
Another airship had appeared in the distant skies and it now approached with marvelous rapidity.

It was another "Albatross," perhaps even superior to the first.

Robur and his men had escaped death in the Pacific; and, burning for revenge, they had constructed a second airship in their secret Island X.
Like a gigantic bird of prey, the "Albatross" hurled itself upon the "Go-Ahead." Doubtless, Robur, while avenging himself wished also to prove the immeasurable superiority of the heavier than air machines.
Mr.Prudent and Mr.Evans defended themselves as best they could.
Knowing that their balloon had nothing like the horizontal speed of the "Albatross," they attempted to take advantage of their superior lightness and rise above her.

The "Go-Ahead," throwing out all her ballast, soared to a height of over twenty thousand feet.