Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1876-03-18

STORY OF THE FUTURE.
BIZ JULIA g. FERN.
! CHAPTER VII.

4
openly on our streets some summer
morning, and walk, or float, or fly in
full view for half an hour, and hundreds
OF people should observe it, Il would
probably he Impossible the next day TO
get an accurate description OF what had
been seen. Some would estimate di-
mensions by tons that others would set
down in hundreds. One would see blue
where another would see pink, and 20
on, till the truth would be utterly lost
in the confusion of various estimates and
recollections. At any rate, though the
records OF the worlds history is full of
the appearance of these heavenly mes
sengers, no observer has yet recorded
anything concerning the feathers of
their wings, nor the texture of their
robes. H / suppose the reason Of this is.
that when man is in the presence of
the supernatural, or thinks himself to
be In the presence Of the supernatural,
the critical faculty slumbers, the scien-
tific spirit that examines and questions
is overborne by the emotion of wonder,
and OF awe, and possibly of fear. So,
when Robert Dale Owen was permitted,
as he believed, to touch and handle the
materialized body of spirit, he had
not the common sense to see and know
that he was touching body of flesh
and blood, belonging to cunning wo-
man, who was shamelessly practicing
upon his credulity. -.
These things being true, and this FAC
ulty OF wondering belonging to our
common human nature, it will not soem
strange when we relate that, Of our
twenty men floating on the inside sea
upon the iceberg, only one looked with
accurate, scientific eye, upon the beau
tiful figure that dropped from the sky
into their midst. That one was Arthur
Thomas. What he saw will soon be
told; but first, we must tell of how the
men received their heavenly visitor.
Have you seen o picture of the landing
OF Columbus, where the Indians are
represented as bowling down before the
whites, as to superior beingsp (The
benighted people on our eastern coast
who use greenbacks instead of money
see the picture often.) Well, in was
something like that, only this time it
was the proud discoverers who bowed
before the visitor of the discovered
world. Captain Cannon took out his
money, a handful OF silver and gold pro-
vided apparently for some such emer-
gency, and took of his watch, the latter
hopelessly damaged by salt water, and
made sort of peace offering of them,
and showed great amazement when the
gift was utterly disregarded. E ''
The poet was endeavoring to attract
attention and win favor by throwing
himself into the most violent attitudes
and contortions Of form and feature,
intended to represent love, alteration,
and supplication for mercy and favor.
As for Inman, he was simply wild with
excitement. He threw his hat away on
the FIRST approach of their visitor, and
with his yellow hair streaming behind
him in the breeze, rushed up an icy in
cline OF 0 hundred feet or more from
where he happened TO be-, to the place
where the visitor had alighted. No
lIreverencs, fear, or wonder made him
hesitate., He did not wait for an inyi-
tation, but with three successive leaps
cleared the space between them, and,
with extended arms, was rushing upon
the fair creature as II to take complete
external possession OF her, when she
quickly moved to one side, giving him
at the same time q slap with ono Of her
wings, that sent him headlong over the
craggs in way that would have hurt
him seriously upon the outside, hat
which, on account Of his lose of weight,
only resplted in . slight check upon his
Meanwhile. Arthur 10, saw VI that this .i, angel
was only . human being. She was
beautifdl: on that point there was no
room for doubt. With her long, dark
hair, her great brown eyes and fresh
\ youthful complexion, she would have
passed for beauty III any country in
the world, or outside Of IL, without The
marvslously sweet expression with
which she regarded her somewhat rude
admirers. ID But she was human! Arthur
saw at o glance what all might have
seen had they retained their ordinary
/ powers OF observation, that the wings
were simply q sort OF flying machine
which the girl had put on over her arms
| and shoulders as abe would put on. %
4 coat. Such machine has been dream
ed of ID all ages, bur when tested has
4 always failed, because .of the thinness
Of the atmosphere compared with the
enormous force Of gravitation. But on
the inside 1t was easy enough, and
after his experiments in leaping, Arthur
undersood instantly and at q glance at
their visitors wings, how they were
made, how and why tbey would work.
Then, how clossly he observed her form
and clothingl The former may have
been divine, he would leave that to In
man to decide, but the latter Was eyii-
: IDENTIFY spun and woven and sswed.