The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1910-07-24

/ Good morning he said, taking nay
hand -Look out here ana tell ME
what you think OF the prospect
! pun ms face close to the glass, and
my heart jumped into my mouth.
Where are vVe2' cried out
Jack hearing my aSltated eXclama-
ton, Jumped up and ran 10 my side
IL vas truly enough 10 take away
one breath
we seemed TO be al an infinite height.
and the sky was as black as ink and
, light was streaming into the window
behind u.s. i could see nothing OF the
earth Evidently We were too hlgn FOR
tllL- II must lie way down under oAf
{ feet. I thOu2hJ 50 that even the hOrl-
Z1n had SUNK our OF sight 1 mad mat
queer uncomfortable qualm that comes
10 every one who stanos on the verge
UI an abyss.
Straight before us, so presently be-
came aware was a most singular dp-
pearauce I'm the sky. i thought az nrst
glance that IL was a round cloud curl
guSlE notified But Dc was strangely
clauSeiess for a cloud and u ha1,
( moreover a certain SoidiJy or aspect
. THAT could not exist Win Edpor.
Good Heaven cried Jack Catcllil2
siEhI of IT. w hats THAR
That's the EARTH
II was Edmund who had spoken ana
now he looked AT US with a quizzical
smile.
a thrill shot through me My mind
went into . Wnir- 7 saw that lt was Lue
here. al the moment that Edmund
spoke. the great cloud rounded out be
tore my eyes. the decepuon vanished,
and recognized the outlines Of ASA
and the Pacific ocean as clearly as ever
/ saw them on a school globe
Ia another minutes I had become TOO
weak 10 stand, and / sank. trembling.
upon seat Jack, whose eyes had nos
arcounoIaf ed themselves 10 the gIEZl-
NC perspective As rapidly as mine, re-
manned az the window declaring
H.. To- IN.
give us2 The earth is down below /
reckon
But in a little while he. too. saw the
thiug as It really was, and then his ex-
element a1llaIed mine In the mean
time, Henry, awakened by the noise, had
run 10 the window, and had gone
through the same experience our as
constituent and cismay were too great
20 recover from. but after some minutes
We gained a little SelI-COnJrol-
In heavens name. Edmund. Jack at
last exclaimed, what have you been
lU-uET
Nothing very extraordinary" I'd
muEG replied, ccOIlE. At least nothing
-I.at ought TO seem extraordinary. II
men had not been fools for so many
aEes they might have done this louS
a-u- They re been wasting their time
with steam AID coat and a hundred
other petty sources OF power when all
the while they had the limitless energy
Of The atoms under their thumbs and
DIDN'T know IT, It's the interatomIc en-
<
mat IS going 70 carry Us a good deal
farther before we are through
We simply listened in silence. for what
could we say There was not Jae
shadow OF doubt about q we Were
out In the middle OF space. and there
was the earth hanging on nothing. like
a. summer cloud Heaven knows how
far away u might have been a million
miles for all we could tell
We've made pretty good run duT-
iEE the night said Edmund finding
that we were specifies You must
be hungry by this time. for yOUv siCpI
late Let's have breakfast
So saying. he opened locker. took
out a folding table, covered C with .
white cloth turned on little electric
range and IL a few minutes had ready
as apuetlZinE q breakfast Of eggs and
as good a cup Of cohee as 1 ever tasted
IL - one or me compensation OF nu-
man nature that II is able 20 adjust
itself 20 the most uDheaTd of conditions.
provided that the inner man does not
md itself neglected The smell Of
breakfast would almost reconcile a man
Of P-1rgatOry- Anyhow il reconciled Us.
for the moment 20 our situation, ana
we ate and drank and tel INTO as cheer
full good couradeship as fishing party
after big mornings catch
When the breakfast things had been
cleared away We began 10 smoke AMI
chat frequently lnterruprl1E the talk
however TO take a turn at the window,
staring at the spectacle OF the world
we were leaving behind US Edmund
got OUT some binoculars. and with them
we could recognize many geographical
fea lures
We could see Japan and the Philip
pines, spots near the shoTe OF the Pa
cifIc. we recognized the CTinkliuE line
Of the snowy HimaIaya mountains ana
great white Smudge over the ocean
showed where a storm was raging and
where good ships were no doubt BAT
-IiUE with waves beneath
noticed that Edmund was continual
y going from one window 10 the other
---r--- % = rra
was at times a look almost Of apprene1-
sion in his eyes He had peep-hOle IN
the forward end Of the car. covered with
thick glass. and he frequently visited IT
Even while we we're at breakfast had
observed that he was not easy, but kept
jumping Up and running TO look out At
last 7 asked him.
What are you looking FOR Edmund 20
'AeteOrs,'- he replied, shortly
-'lTeteors out here2'
OF course. you're something Of an
astronomer Don't you know that they
hang around ali the planets They cldn
let me sleep last night They kept me
on feuder-hookS all the time I was halT
inclined TO get one of you up 90 help
me We passed some pretty ugly look
ing fellows during the night You know.
this Is an unknown sea that We are nav
iCatiuE. and I don't want 10 run on a
rock and wreck the ship
But We seem 10 be pretty Far from
the earth now I said, and tCere ought
not TO be much danger
It's not so dangerous as Il was, but
there NAV be some round vet III feel
easier when I've put a few more million
miles behind US"
Millions Of miles
When we had imagined that the earth
looked as though il might be q million
miles away il was merely q passing
thought which didn't impress US with its
real immensely, but now. when We heard
Edmund say that we actually had trav-
eIed such a distance. the idea struck
us with overwhelming force
In Heavens name, Edmund Jack
called out. at what rate are we travel
ing, them"
Just at present Edmund replied
ClaucinE at an indicator on the wall,
we're making twenty miles a second"
Twenty miles a second
why I exclaimed that's faster
than the earth goes in its oTbit-'
Yes Just q CrifIe faster" Edmund
replied. smiling But III probably
have TO work her up 10 a little bet
ter speed. in order 10 get where I
want To 20 before our goal begins 70
run away from us
All" that's it,, put in Jack
That's what I wanted TO know.
What is ngI- coal F,f-uuuf7 Where