The Washington times., 1903-04-26
CHAPTER XIV.
NEARING THE EARTH.

men with the intelligence that the
only penalty inflicted on them was 10
fetch the cbIorate back from the bot
tom Of the crater Rheticus
They did this with such aIacrity
that the ohIorate was all restored
within twelve hours. although this en-
tailed eDlarging the orifce Of the crater.
going down. and filling their sacks to
take them to the observatory twenty
seven times in succession
The fabrication of oxygen now, pro
ceeded rapidly. while the machines
were set going to charge the electro ac-
cumulators. At the expiration of for
ty-eight hours, the time fixed by Nor
bert. the preparations were completed.
The young scientist announced the
welcome fact at breakfast time. and
then proceeded quite calmly to establish
contact.
Now we start. he said. looking at his
chronometer and making q note in his
poeketboob. We shall arrive in hun
dred and ffty-fve hours and eight min
utes, not counting seconds"
Arrive where?' asked Gertrude
IN the soudan. I had a motive yester-
day in hurrying matters so. The position
Of the earth at this moment is such that
we have every chance Of descending on
the desert of Bayouda, Had I waited one
hour longer we should have fallen on
Bengal or Cochin China. It was, you see,
advisable TO make as much haste as
possible"
If you had asked me" said Gertrude,
pouting a little. I would have preferred
descending at KBartoum.
Believe me, I should have been only
too delighted to please you in this re
spec, murmured Norbert. but there
was o7s great difficulty in the way"
What was that2"
we should have had to wait seven
teen years longer"
Everyone laughed on hearing this. not
excepting Gertrude herself.
And if some accident" pursued Nor
bert. should have prevented our de
parture at the precise minute. the long
delay would have been perfectly useless
Life in the observatory went on the
same as before, and it was difficult to
believe that they were on the move
Only their implicit reliance on the cal
culations of the young astronomer led
them to place faith in his assurances that
they had really started. Before retiring
to rest. however. they perceived sensi-
bic difference in the diameter Of the
earth, now in her last quarter. and Nor
bert confirmed by micrometricaI meas
urement the fact Of her. increased size.
The descent proceeded rapidly. Sew
enty hours after starting. the earth
visibly increased in diameter, appear
ing like a large ball of uniform color
on which the continents stood out dis
unctly. and we're Of a yellow hue. while
the seas were steel gray.
The rotation was so plainly evident
that the different regions Of the globe
made each their separate entry at the
eastern side of the disc passed like light
clouds over its face. and disappeared On.
the other side.
1T reminds me of the figures
in a magic lantern" said Gertrude,
making their appearance to the right
and their exit at the left corner"
II was in truth a fairy-Iike scene
Through the telescope they could plain
Iy discern mountain and forest. snow
tipping the SUBMITS and clothing the
polar regions, while a line no thicker
than a hair was guessed TO be the Mis-
sissippi or the Amazon, and black
speck here and there was evidently some
large town.
Toward the one hundred and twentieth
hour. which corresponds TO the fifth
day. the interposiuon Of the earth be
tween the sun and the moon was sufi-
ciently marked to bring on night OF
seven hours. It could not be called an
eclipse. for II was not q partial nor
an instantaneous occultation of the
solar disc. but its total disappearance
behind q gigantic screen across all one
side Of the horizon
When the sun reap2eared the clouds
obscuring the earth parted for an in
stant and Norbert distinctly saw through
the telescope a sea dotted with vessels.
It was the Mediterranean. The waters
were so Iimpid that they did not hide
the conformation OF the ground inter
yening between Sicily. Sardinia, and
TripoU Then the clouds closed again.
TIE final movement was approaching
and It was tine To put the last touches
90 their preparations. Aided by the doe
tor. Virgil. and KaGdour. Norbert began
by fitting the parachute on a large
frame that had stood ready for the past