Doctor Jones' Picnic
Page 8
CHAPTER VI.
Off on a Shoreless Sea.
About the middle of April appeared the following in one of the leadingpapers:
"Last night our citizens, and a tremendous overflow of visitors weretreated to the most magnificent sight their eyes ever beheld. The greataluminum globe, about which all the world has been agog for so long,arose and stood for three hours above the city, some two hundred andfifty feet. The whole mighty sphere was ablaze with myriads of electriclights, from the ball of the tapering flagstaff to the beautiful cabinbelow. As it hung suspended above the city, connected with the earth bybut a slender aluminum chain that looked like a thread of silverpiercing the skies, a great hush fell upon the hundreds of thousands ofgazers below. All Nature seemed auspicious to the occasion. Scarcely azephyr was stirring, and the stars shone brightly down upon the scenefrom cloudless skies. One hundred people, consisting of the Presidentand cabinet, senators, congressmen, editors, scientific and literary menand women, were the favored party who occupied the gigantic ship.
"Suddenly there fell upon the ears of the waiting multitude the glorioussoprano voice of Mrs. Jones. So far above, yet so thrillingly sweet anddistinct, one could scarcely refrain from imagining that the PearlyGates had opened, and we were listening to the voice of one of theRedeemed. But that illusion was soon dispelled, and we recognized thefamiliar strains of "Star Spangled Banner." And when the whole hundredvoices swelled the splendid chorus, a great shout arose from themultitude like the sound of many waters, beginning directly beneath theglobe, and spreading away in every direction like billows from a greatrock, dropped into the center of a quiet lake.
"And so, under the direction of Professor Marsh, brother of thearchitect of the globe, a beautiful and appropriate musical program wasrendered, lasting nearly an hour.
"We venture the assertion that no performance was ever rendered to sogreat an audience, and certainly not to one more appreciative. And wepredict that there will be a great demand for liniments and plasters forsome weeks to come. For standing two hours or more with the back ofone's head resting upon the cervical portion of one's spinal column, andscreaming at the top of one's lungs a good portion of the time, witheyes unblinkingly and unwinkingly set upon the inconceivably splendidglobe, all this we assert to be highly conducive to stiff neck and sorethroat. And it is a question whether many of that innumerable, entrancedaudience will be able to keep their hearts and minds upon thingsterrestrial for a considerable time to come. From the bottom of ourhearts, we commiserate every member of the race who missed the sightsand sounds of last evening.
"All arrangements are now completed, and day after to-morrow, weatherfavorable, Dr. Jones and party expect to sail at the hour of noon, awayfor the North Pole. Nothing has been omitted that could insure thesuccess of the expedition, and we feel confident of all that could behoped for, or desired by the enterprising Doctor and friends."
The hour set for sailing had arrived. The day was beautiful, and amoderate breeze was blowing toward northwest. With proud, happy heartsthe party of navigators stood upon the balcony that ran about the foursides of the cabin. This balcony was one of the chief embellishments andconveniences of the cabin. It was five feet wide, and extended, asbefore said, about the four sides of the cabin. A balustrade four feethigh was built along its outer edge. A more exhilarating promenade couldnot be conceived, and right well did our friends enjoy it during thenotable voyage which we are about to record.
The party consisted of Professor J.Q. Gray, the scientificrepresentative of the Smithsonian Institute; Miss Mattie Bronson;Professor Fred Marsh; our four friends with whom the reader isacquainted; and last, but not least, so far as bodily comforts wereconcerned, Ah Sing, the cook.
As the globe arose slowly to the length of its cable, five hundred feet,it seemed to the little company upon the balcony as if the universe hadassembled to see them off. On the streets, public squares, housetops,decks of all ships upon the river, were crowds on crowds of people;people anywhere, everywhere; far as the eye could reach was one vast,countless host. What wonder that the heart of the Doctor swelled andquickened as he looked upon the ocean of upturned faces below, andrealized that from his fertile brain had sprung the mighty object of allthis attention. How it pulled and surged at its silver-like cable, as ifit were a thing of life, and desired to be away toward its destination,the North Pole!
The hour of noon was announced by hundreds of bells and whistles. TheDoctor waved a flag over the balustrade, the anchor was cut loose fromits fastenings, and away bounded the colossal sphere toward the etherealblue. Upward and still up it arose to the height of three thousand feet,trending slowly toward the northwest.
The voices of the multitude sounded like the roar of the sea, and as itgrew fainter and fainter, the stout-hearted little party realized thatthey were effectually cut off from the world--off on a limitless sea,alone with God.