Charlevoix county herald., 1905-12-02

the atmosphere Of the EARTH a fact that all
scientists accept. Some of these bodies are
as small as pinheads, while others may be
larger. That this i"it was correct W. D..
dent; yet now IL had never been discovered
by the earth's astronomers was a puzzle
10 me.
" That is n simple matter OF explana.
ton, 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 sclen-
lists IN search Of greater fields to con-
quer. 1t is within less than one hundred
miles or earth, while the very nearest
object that has ever attracted the tele-
scopes of our astronomers is the moon
distant a quarter Of a million miles. Can
YOU not understand that no astronomer
would ever train his instrument so as 10
focus an object less than a hundred miles
distant.
THAT sounds reasonable, yet asked
him how II was that 1t 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 n
color nearly identical with that OF the
earth's atmosphere, would never be no.
ticcd. and having no light of its own.
could not be seen at any time. It Is
mere speck In the sky, and no man can
tell how long 1t has foated around our
earth. There may be many more of
them, but for the present we will connne
and see what there is TO see.'
Gan aneroid barometer was then Ter
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 larger every mo-
ment, and we were now within less than.
n mile Of its surface The instrument
showed that the pressure was eight
pounds to the square inch, which about
QnnOIn6 fnh nNot,,
earth, so we were safe to land The
thermometer attached to the car at this
time showed an entire lack of breeze. and
we gently dropped to the surface OF the
Nebula,' as | had volunteered TO call the
discovery As we looked upon the land
scape, 1t seemed as If we had suddenly
dropped into southern California. and /
could not possibly Justify this condition
OF Lcrdure with tho small size Of the tiny
world. for such n little thing could not be
expected to obstruct enough Of the heat
or the sun to produce such n condition
Puzzled, | myself dropped thermometer
through the trapdoor and noted its reg
istcr. tt was eighty degrees-a fact that
further surprised me-and I said so.
dare say we shall find that there
are other sources OF heat besides the SUM-
said one Of my cOmpanions: ana no
sooner had we opened the car door and
begun TO climb down the anchor rome.
which had been cast out than we dis.
covered the correctness Of his prophecy
Therc were boiling springs everywhere,
ard tha verdure was magnificent.
Tying the anchor rope about n bowl
DER. we hogan n survey of our world
But first Of all. took n good look Mt the
earth we had left n few hours before
lt was more magnificent sight than
words can ever tell IT filed almost tho
entire dome Of the sky. and tae continent
or North Ar'"r'"a looked exactly re ~
does on raised globe such ms we have
IN IN, school-rooms;,, could locate San
Francisco rs well ms II 7 had had man
and pointer: and from that Western mr..
tropolis could trace the outline OF the
United States TO the city Of Chicago and
so on to the gateway Of Europe-New
York. IL was wonderful. The air was
not so rare as TO be hard on lungs used
to mountain conditions; but some OF the
party complained, and one suffered nose
bleed. There was ripping brook near
at hand. Its banks lined with plant life,
md 1 went toward II 10 get drink.
felt wonderfully elated In mind and body,
and ran lightly toward IL, falling on nv
chest, and quenching my thirst with the
most refreshing water I had over drank
The stream was not more than ten feet
wide, and, MS far ms we could see from
where we stood. there was no narrower
place. We wanted TO cross II, and I
fancied 1 could make the leap, old man
though am. / took few steps back
ward and then ran toward the bank and
sprang into the air.
scared through that air like bird.
the farther bank. My companions, rs
alighted with the ease OF n feather, first
looked bewildered, and then broke into
peals OF almost unceasing laughter. For
they understood the reason before I did.
mo. Well. the explanation Is as sim
pie as all the others have been. and fol-