Had it not been for the mouthpieces which all were now compelled to keep
constantly in use the crew would have cheered him. As it was they
tramped the gallery, swinging their arms, beating their fingers, and
muffling their faces in the first article of clothing upon which they
could come. The cold was too intense for words, in spite of the heating
arrangements aboard the ship. Indeed, but for active movement many of
the crew would not have been able to bear it. And steadily,
relentlessly, the ship ascended, while Dick, at Joe's bidding, emptied
first one and then the remaining tanks aboard the vessel. It was with a
shout of triumph that Joe announced that they had ascended to forty
thousand feet.