Doctor Jones' Picnic

by S. E. Chapman

  CHAPTER VIII.

  Relating how the Beautiful Picnic Progressed.

  Shortly before six o'clock all arose. The Doctor and his wife, at herearnest solicitation, ascended to the observatory to witness thesunrise. Mattie had manifested symptoms of vertigo that morning on firstlooking out, and decided not to go up with them. The exertion ofclimbing that long flight of stairs flushed the lovely face of Mrs.Jones, and her cheeks were like twin roses when they reached theobservatory. Once there, she was glad to sit and rest. The Doctor openedthe windows and then sat beside her. Mrs. Jones sat quiet and dumb,hands clasped, looking out upon the most glorious scene her eyes hadever beheld. The sun was just peeping above the horizon. The painting ofthe clouds; the variegated face of the earth; the pure, balmyatmosphere; the great globe beneath their feet; the exquisitely gracefulshaft that pierced the vault nearly one hundred feet above their heads,bearing our beautiful symbol of liberty; all these, combined with theinspiration that always attends looking out upon the works of God fromgreat elevations, thrilled the souls of the two spectators as they hadnever been before in their lives. Thus they sat in silence drinking inthe beauties of the morning for nearly a quarter of an hour. Approachingsteps upon the stairway broke the spell, and the Professor and Fredstepped into the observatory. As they looked out upon the transcendentloveliness of the scene, the Professor raised his hands above his headand cried: "'What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, or the son ofman that Thou visitest him? Thou hast made him little lower than theangels, and crowned him with glory and honor.' You told us yesterdaythat you never felt so little as when you looked out from thismagnificent aerie; but I declare to you, Doctor, that I feel now thatGod has made man a wonderful being. As we go thus sailing through theseroseate skies in this most splendid creation that ever came from thehands of man, I feel like crying with old Elisha, 'My father! My father!The chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof.'"

  They sat a few minutes and then descended to the cabin. Mattie, Will,and Denison were upon the balcony, speculating as to what city they wererapidly approaching. Dr. Jones looked at it through his glasses, andsaid: "That is Columbus, the capital city of Ohio. Those great stonebuildings you see there, inclosed by high stone walls, constitute thestate prison. It contains at present, I believe, nearly three thousandconvicts."

  "The poor things!" said Mattie. "Just think of the contrast betweensailing so smoothly and easily as we are doing, away above the worldwith all its cares and sorrows, and being incarcerated within thosegloomy walls, many of them for life. I am sure that if they could become'Children of the Skies,' they would all reform in a short time."

  "No, no, Mattie," replied the Doctor, "God did infinitely more than thatfor man. He placed him in the garden of Eden, and he transgressed theonly restrictive law laid upon him. And he became so vile that the Lordwas compelled to drown them like so many rats. Beautiful and inspiringthough our present circumstances and surroundings are, yet they couldnever change the hearts of the majority of those miserable men."

  Breakfast was now announced by Sing. The bracing atmosphere of thisupper region seemed to be very appetizing, for they all ate heartily.

  The ship was acting splendidly, continuing at nearly the same level ofthe day before, and but little fuel had been burned during the night.The wind had shifted to the south, and they were sailing twenty miles anhour, due north. The Doctor rubbed his hands gleefully. "We're gettingthere now, ladies and gentlemen, we're getting there finely. Nothingcould be better."

  The sweet, happy valleys of Ohio were so exceedingly beautiful; thelittle towns appeared so pure and lovely to the voyagers; and the peoplewere out in such crowds, cheering them so lustily, that our friendscould do little else than sit through the day and watch them throughtheir glasses. And numerous were the dispatches they wrote and castfrom the balcony. They could see the people rushing eagerly for them, asthey reached the earth.

  "I wish we had a morning paper," sighed Fred. "I do not doubt that wereceive some mention in it."

  "That is about the only thing I have missed so far," said the Professor."But we can well afford to forego that luxury for what we are nowenjoying."

  "And I really do wish we could attend church Sunday mornings," saidMattie.

  "Oh! we will have a church service," replied Denison. "I notice that theDoctor has brought with him a book of sermons and a Bible. Then we havean organ, and the best choir I ever heard. The Doctor or Professor canact as parson; and, to make the thing realistic and homelike, I willpass the contribution box."

  "I will see that he uses a bell punch," cried Fred. This suggestion wasimmediately rejected as unworthy of one of the Children of the Skies.

  The Professor sat consulting a map. "We are heading straight forCleveland," he remarked.

  "I am really glad of that," said Dr. Jones. "That is my old native town,and I have not seen it for many years. The population has doubledseveral times since I left it, immediately after the war."

  An hour or so later, as he stood upon the balcony, the Doctor suddenlyshouted, "There's Cleveland! And that town this side of it is Berea, thegreat stone quarry place. Do you see on the north side of the town thosebrick and stone buildings in a campus? That is Baldwin University, whereI attended school several years. You didn't dream, dear old girl," saidhe, tenderly and apostrophizingly to said institution of learning, "thatyou would ever turn out such a sky traveler as I am, did you?"

  All the glasses were turned upon the University. "We shall pass directlyover it," said Fred.

  "They have sighted us!" cried the Doctor excitedly. "See the studentspouring out of the buildings! Let's give them some messages." This theydid in a liberal shower.

  They had lowered to the five hundred foot level, so that a good viewmight be taken of the beautiful metropolis of Ohio--Cleveland. They werejust about passing over it.

  "What a splendid city it has grown to be," said Professor Gray.

  "Yes, indeed," replied Dr. Jones. "That portion of the city," continuedhe, pointing with his finger, "was formerly called Brooklyn Center. Iwas born a mile or so from there. Yes!" he cried, looking earnestlythrough his glass, "I am quite sure that I can see the old two-storyfarmhouse where I was born. It is, sure as shooting! There isgrandfather's farm where the 'Gunpowder tea' party was held that I toldyou of. And off here are the Heights, or South Cleveland. In 1862, whenI joined the army, that was Camp Cleveland. It was then covered withrough wooden barracks, but now you see that it is densely built up withhouses. My regiment, the 124th O.V.I. was in camp there three monthsbefore we went south."

  "You must have been a very small soldier at that time," said Mattie.

  "Yes," he replied, "I was but fifteen years old at that time. I didn'tdo much good or harm, for I was but a snare drummer the first two yearsof my soldiering, and the last year I was detailed as mounted orderly atbrigade headquarters. But just see the people! Give them some messages!We shall be out of 'Yankee Doodle' land very soon."

  So the half million (more or less) of Clevelanders were treated to ashower of greetings.

  "If I had thought sooner, I would have dropped anchor here and given myold townies a handshake," said the Doctor.

  "Too late now, Doctor. We have passed the principal portion of the city,and will be above Lake Erie in two or three minutes."

  "Yes, yes, I see," sighed the Doctor. "But we may see you again.Good-bye, Cleveland."

  The blue water of Lake Erie was now rolling beneath them. Steamers andsail vessels thickly dotted the face of the beautiful lake; for thetraffic and travel upon these great inland seas are exceedingly large.The Canadian shores were visible, and when Sing announced dinner, thesplendid domain of Her Majesty Victoria, Ontario, lay widespread beforethem. It was hard to realize that they were not still in their ownland, so much like it did the peaceful towns, villages, and farmsappear.

  After dinner, the five men, in the little smoking-room, lighted theirpipes and cigars, and entered into a general chat.

  "If this wind hol
ds, we shall be in the Arctics in two or three days,"said Will.

  "I suppose that we shall then be obliged to get out our furs," repliedFred.

  "No," returned the architect. "These walls are double as well as thefloor, with air chambers between, and I can turn hot air into them atpleasure. The windows and doors are all double, also, and Jack Frost cannever penetrate this cabin."

  "What a contrast between this luxurious sail through the sky, and thebuffetings upon sea and land, the hunger, cold, and oftentimes death,suffered by former Arctic explorers," said the Professor. "And, Doctor,"he continued, "if we make a successful trip, the matter of aerialnavigation will have been settled. What a power this ship would havebeen in the late war of the Rebellion."

  "The war would have been very quickly terminated if our globe had beenin existence at that time," returned Dr. Jones. "We could have sailedabove the reach of their best guns and dropped bombs upon them thatwould have destroyed their forts, gunboats, and armies at will. But I amglad things were as they were. We fought a fair fight to the finish, andsettled forever the question of human slavery in America. Had the firstfew battles of the war been won by the North, the South might have laiddown their arms, and have been permitted to retain their institution ofslavery. When Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, I rememberthat even we soldiers in the field received the news with a sort ofshock, and thought our President over-bold. We had not thought of thatextreme measure as a result of the war. We were simply out to preservethe Union."

  "And right well you did it, Doctor," said Denison. "I have alwaysnoticed in reading the history of that war, that in the latter part ofit you fought with much greater skill and judgment than you did in thefirst year or two."

  "That is quite true, and nothing more than what might have beenexpected," replied Dr. Jones. "It is marvelous what we accomplished withan absolutely empty treasury, no credit, no standing army to speak of,and our little navy scattered to the four ends of the earth. The vast,splendidly drilled armies which we brought into existence as if bymagic, were the wonder of the world. We had everything to learn, bothNorth and South, in the matter of logistics. Long lines ofcommunications had to be kept open, and such splendid raiders as JohnMorgan, Forest, Mosby, etc., were not slow to break them frequently, sothat I remember going to bed supperless many times after a hard day'smarch, because our rations had been captured and burned. Our wagontrains were something immense, while the big Bell tents were in use; butafter what were called by the boys 'pup tents,' or 'dog tents,' wereintroduced, the wagon trains were cut down at least three-fourths. Forthe pup tents we carried upon our backs, and so dispensed with the greatBell tents that were hauled in wagons. Our trains had been so large andcumbersome that military movements were inconceivably slow, and the warcould never have been fought to a successful issue by the North on thoselines."

  "I suppose, Doctor, that you were in some of the great battles?" askedFred.

  "Yes, I was in the battles of Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, through theAtlantic campaign; then under General Geo. H. Thomas we marched backinto Tennessee, fought a desperate battle at Franklin, and a few weekslater annihilated the army at Nashville. While we were doing this,Sherman was making his renowned march to the sea. But I'll spin you someof my experiences before we get back home. Let's join the ladies."

  "I should never tire hearing your war stories," said Fred.

  "Yes; and you would be the first one to go to sleep if I should tell youof the battle of Chickamauga or Missionary Ridge."

  This Fred stoutly denied. "All right," said the Doctor. "I'll test youone of these evenings."

  "The sooner the better," replied Fred. "And now let's have some music."

  They sang several anthems and choruses, and all retired at an earlyhour, except Denison, who stood watch.