The Greeley tribune., 1905-12-07

the atmosphere of the earth. fact that all
scientists accept Some of these bodies are
us small as pinheads. while others may be
larger. That this last was correct was evi-
dent; yet now 1t had never been discovered
by the earth's astronomers was puzzle
~ n!e.
I" That Is a simple matter Of explann-
tion,' said our leader; this asteroid has
never been discovered, for the same rea
son that many small but important things
have been for years overlooked by scicn-
lists in search OF greater fields to con-
Quer. 1t is within loss than one hundred
miles of earth, while the very nearest
object that has ever attracted the tele
scopes OF Our astronomers Is the moon.
distant quarter of a million miles Can
you not understand that astronomer
would ever train his Instrument so as to
focus an object less than hundred miles
distant.
"That sounds reasonable, yet I asked
him how 1t was that it had never been
seen with the naked eye.
Simpler STILL he answered, because
this little planet is less than ten miles In
diameter. So small an object. with
color nearly identical with that of the
earth's atmosphere, would never be no
,iccd. and having no light Of its own
could not be seen at any time. 1t is n
mere spcck In the sky. and no man can
earth. Thcrc may be many more OF
them, but for the present we will confne
ourselves to this one. and soon shall land
and see what there is to see.'
"An aneroid barometer was then ier
through the trap In the floor, in order to
ascertain the pressure of the atmosphere
before we dared to open the car and step
onto the little world we had discovered.
The planet was growing lnr""r every mo-
ment, an we were now within less than
mile its surface. The instrument
showed hat the pressure was ci"ht
pounds to he SQUARE inch. which about
equaied THAI on hig mountains on the
earth, so we '"n Ufe to land. The
ancmomcter attac, - the car at this
time showed mn cut, 7'l Of brcezc. and
we gently dropped to surface of the
.Nchula' as I had va'urtecred to call the
discovery. As we looked upon the land
scape, 1t seemed as If we had suddenly
droprcd into southern r0lifn"nia. and l
could not possibly Justify this condition
of rcr1"re with tho s'uH' size Of the tiny
world. for such a little thing could not be
expected to ohstrrrt enough of the neat
OF the sun to produce such n condition.
Puzzled. 7 myself dropped a Thermometer
through the trnndoor and noted ITS r"r
istcr IT WIS eighty degrees-a fact that
further surprised me-nnd 7 said so.
=" 7 dare saw we shall f'd that there
said one of my companions: ana no
sooner had opened the car door and
bc"un 10 climb down the anchor rome
which he'd been cast ont. than we dis
rhorc wc-c boiling srr'nrs everywhere.
ard the vordure was mn rntfcent.
"TyiuG the anchor rome about n howl
der. hc"nn n survey Of world
But first Of al. took y good look nj the
earth we had left n fcw hours before.
1t was n more magnificent sight than
words can ever tell 1t filed almost the
entire dome of the sky. nnd the continent
Of North Ar'"-'ra locked exactly as II
does on n raised globe such as we have
In scbool-rooms. could locate San
Francisco rs well ns II ] had had map
and pointer: and from that Western ne
I troro's could trace the outline of the
United States to the city of Chicago, and
so on to the gateway Of Furonc-New
York. 1t was wonderful, Tho air was
not so rare MS to hc hard on lungs nsed
to mountain conditions; hut some of the
party complained. and one suffered nose
blccd There was rirpling brook near
at hand Its banks lined with plant NE,
and 7 won't toward " to got drnt. ]
felt wonderfully clated In mind and body,
and ran lightly toward 1t, falling on my
chest, and quenching my thirst with tne
most refreshing wafer | had eyer drank
The stream was not more than ten ieet
wide, and. as far we coud see rom
whore We stood. there was no narrower
place. We wrntcd tn cross 1t. ana !
fancied 7 could make the leap, old man
though nm. took few steps pa'h,
ward and then ran toward the BANK auu
sprang into the air. 49,,
81 scared through that air like bird;
and landed Mt least twenty yards beyond
the farther bank. My companions. as
alirhted with the ease Of feather, nrst
looked bewidered. and then broke III ~.
penls of almost unceasing laughter r@nr 70
they understood the reason before oiu'
"No. Well. the explanation Is as sim-
pie us all the others have BEEN anu t''