The Semi-weekly leader., 1905-11-29

lows. q well-known natural law. The
graYitation Of the little planet was almost
as much less than that Of the earth as
its size, and I weighed-had scales been
Rrov'aea1aponS Pre- W,sa ut ten pounds. more or
70 Jump seventy or eighty feet. the Diff
Guilty being TO keep on the ground at all
NOW, suppose you are wondering
how II was that the planet was not drawn
to the earth By the great attraction Of
the latter body. It took the scientists less
than i've minutes to determine the reason
accurately. 1t was because of the COM
position OF Nebuta, sueh ingredients hav.
Ing been put together in Its formation as
to repel the advances Of the earth toward
union, but not enough to drive the lit
tie fellow altogether away from a
motherly protection. He had come with
in certain distance, beyond which he
could not pass. My companions called
me back, as they wanted to make some
calculations, and ! sprang back as easily
as had jumped across.
BY looking at the earth, they had dis
covered that we were travelling around
that planet from east to west, while II
turned over from west to east. The COM
bined motions in opposite directions made
our speed about two thousands miles an
hour. SO that we should circle the eartn
every twelve hours. This calculation
was of the greatest Importance, since we
would have to time our departure ac-
curately in order to land where we
wanted to. If we allowed our balloon to
ascend at the wrong time, it was Just
as likely that we should find ourselves
over an ocean as over the land, and just
as likely over Africa as over America.
Figures We're jotted down, and we then
determined upon an exploration of our
kingdom.
."At this point I did some figuring my
self. 1t seemed reasonable to me to sup
pose that, If / could jump seventy feet
with little effort, 1 could run jnst so many
times faster here than could on the
earth. And I proved it I pointed out
to the others a clump of trees about a
mile away, and then, asking them to time
me, started. My work surprised me be-
yond expectations, for I leaped into the
air about thirty feet at each bound,
alighted easily some sixty feet beyond,
and took another bound. as simply as If
on the earth, yet with an ease that gave
me not the slightest WEAKNESS. I ran
back and found that I had made the two
miles in fraction under three minutes!
" AT that rate said /, i can run
| around this ball at the rate of forty-fye
miles an hour; and If your calculations
are correct, and 1t is eight miles in di-
| ameter, it must be about twenty-five miles
| in circumference. I can, therefore, If
don't get winded, circle it in less tnan
forty minutes, and I'm going to do II"
"Two of the party volunteered to ac-
company me, and off we started at a
good clip, the stop watches being out al
the word Got None or us seemed to
mind the exertion. if floating lightly in
the air can be called exertion; and we ran
| along through the forests and across the
plains with the ease and grace of grey
hounds. For half an hour we did not
slaeken( our pace; but there ap-
peared before us a deep gulley, at
the bottom of which was a stream.
Here we came to a standstill The
gulch was quite fifty feet deep and
far as we could see, there was no better
crossing in sight. Elated at our work,
and feeling certain we could make the
leap. we all ran at it together. Every
bound we took was better than the pre-
yious one; and when we reached the edge
of the arroyo, we sprang into the air like